Tom Cliffe re-elected as supporters representative on Cobblers' board of directors

Tom Cliffe has been elected unopposed to continue as the supporters representative on Northampton’s board of directors.

The two-week nomination period for supporters to be nominated closed on Thursday with Tom the only person to be nominated, meaning he will continue in his role for the next two years.

"I think this is a sign of the respect and the high regard the fanbase hold Tom in, and the job he has done over the last two years," said chairman Kelvin Thomas. "Absolutely any supporter had the opportunity to stand, that's the beauty of this process, but the fact that no one wanted to oppose Tom is a huge tribute to Tom and his work so far.

"For us as a club, the role has been a huge success. We felt we were a club who engaged strongly with the fanbase even before this role was created but the fact that supporters know that Tom is there to represent their views on the club's board of directors underlines that and there have been many many fans that have contacted us through Tom over the past couple of years, which shows both the benefit of the position and Tom’s role within that.

"Tom is not someone who makes a big fuss, he goes about his work helping and communicating with supporters on a one to one basis and from a club point of view, that work is very much appreciated."

Writing on his nomination form, Tom himself added: "Having played a part in establishing the role, I now feel that I have a crucial, further, role to play in embedding the directorship in the future; I plan to do so by further developing links with supporters, forming a sustainable group of people committed to seeing the growth of Northampton Town Football Club both on and off the pitch.

"I feel my connection with the fans, and in representing them, our input has shaped the club for the better at both ends of this spectrum. Having celebrated the first 125 years of Northampton Town Football Club, through this role I want to see the fans continue to play a crucial role in the next 125. As an elected director I feel that so far I have been able to represent a wide variety of the club’s fanbase, and would like to extend this even further.

"As a director it is not about ‘me’, it is about representing the supporters of Northampton Town Football Club and contributing towards the future development of our club. Reviewing the two years since the role was created we are now in a higher division, with a higher budget, a new training ground facility, our women’s team have their own ground for matchdays and have an increased number of games at Sixfields, the new community pitch to help improve what we can offer the local community is close to opening, and a new big screen has been installed, to name but a few.

"As I say all the above are not things I can say that I have achieved, but I can say that ‘we’ as the club and supporters have made this happen, and although the fan rep roles plays a small part in this, I feel I am well paced to continue supporting the club to make such excellent progress."

If any supporter wishes to contact Tom, he is available at [email protected]