Northampton Town

1976–77 season
Chairman	Neville Ronson
Manager	Pat Crerand
Stadium	County Ground
Division Three	22nd
FA Cup	First round
League Cup	First round
Top goalscorer	League: Paul Stratford (12) All: Paul Stratford (13)
Highest home attendance	7,782 vs Brighton & Hove Albion
Lowest home attendance	3,911 vs Chesterfield
Average home league attendance	5,750
←  1975–76 1977–78 →

The 1976–77 season was Northampton Town's 80th season in their history and the first season back in the Third Division following promotion the previous season. Alongside competing in Division Three, the club also participated in the FA Cup and League Cup.

Players

As of match played 7 May 1977. ^[1]

Name	Position	Nat.	Place of Birth	Date of Birth (Age)	Apps	Goals	Previous club	Date signed	Fee
Goalkeepers
Jeff Parton	GK		Swansea	(1953-02-24)24 February 1953 (aged 24)	18	0	Burnley	Summer 1975
Defenders
Steve Bryant	LB		London	(1953-09-05)5 September 1953 (aged 23)	28	0	Birmingham City	December 1976
John Gregory	U		Scunthorpe	(1954-05-11)11 May 1954 (aged 22)	203	10	Apprentice	Summer 1972	N/A
Alex Malcolm	LB		Hamilton	(1956-02-13)13 February 1956 (aged 21)	2	0	Luton Town	August 1976
Stuart Robertson	CB		Nottingham	(1946-12-16)16 December 1946 (aged 30)	194	20	Doncaster Rovers	Summer 1972
Barry Tucker	FB		Swansea	(1952-08-28)28 August 1952 (aged 24)	202	2	Apprentice	August 1970	N/A
Midfielders
Billy Best ( c)	U		Glasgow	(1942-09-07)7 September 1942 (aged 34)	233	53	Southend United	Summer 1973
Derrick Christie	W		Bletchley	(1957-03-15)15 March 1957 (aged 20)	89	7	Apprentice	January 1974	N/A
John Farrington	W		Lynemouth	(1947-06-19)19 June 1947 (aged 29)	121	11	Cardiff City	Summer 1974
Don Martin	U		Corby	(1944-02-15)15 February 1944 (aged 33)	223	72	Blackburn Rovers	November 1975
Andy McGowan	CM		Corby	(1956-07-17)17 July 1956 (aged 20)	77	8	Apprentice	June 1975	N/A
Keith Williams	CM		Dudley	(1957-04-12)12 April 1957 (aged 20)	17	1	Aston Villa	February 1977
Forwards
Keith Bowen	FW		Northampton	(1958-02-26)26 February 1958 (aged 19)	1	0	Apprentice	Summer 1976	N/A
Jim Hall	FW		Northampton	(1945-03-21)21 March 1945 (aged 32)	125	34	Peterborough United	Summer 1975
Ray Haywood	FW		Dudley	(1949-01-12)12 January 1949 (aged 28)	13	2	Shrewsbury Town	March 1977
George Reilly	FW		Bellshill	(1957-09-14)14 September 1957 (aged 19)	23	2	Corby Town	June 1976
Paul Stratford	FW		Northampton	(1955-09-04)4 September 1955 (aged 21)	186	61	Apprentice	Summer 1972	N/A

Competitions

Division Three

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
20	Portsmouth	46	11	14	21	53	70	−17	36
21	Reading	46	13	9	24	49	73	−24	35	Relegated
22	Northampton Town	46	13	8	25	60	75	−15	34
23	Grimsby Town	46	12	9	25	45	69	−24	33
24	York City	46	10	12	24	50	89	−39	32

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
46	13	8	25	60	75	0.8	34	9	4	10	33	29	22	4	4	15	27	46	12

League position by match

Matches

  Win   Draw   Loss

FA Cup

League Cup

Appearances and goals

Pos	Player	Division Three			FA Cup			League Cup			Total
		Starts	Sub	Goals	Starts	Sub	Goals	Starts	Sub	Goals	Starts	Sub	Goals
GK	Jeff Parton	12	–	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	13	–	–
DF	Steve Bryant	28	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	28	–	–
DF	John Gregory	46	–	4	1	–	–	3	–	1	50	–	5
DF	Alex Malcolm	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2	–	–
DF	Stuart Robertson	41	–	4	1	–	–	3	–	–	45	–	4
DF	Barry Tucker	37	–	–	1	–	–	3	–	–	41	–	–
MF	Billy Best	40	–	11	1	–	–	3	–	–	44	–	11
MF	Derrick Christie	37	7	5	1	–	–	3	–	1	41	7	6
MF	John Farrington	35	6	4	–	1	–	–	2	–	35	9	4
MF	Andy McGowan	25	6	4	–	–	–	3	–	–	28	6	4
MF	Don Martin	32	5	3	1	–	–	3	–	1	36	5	4
MF	Keith Williams	17	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	17	–	1
FW	Keith Bowen	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	–
FW	Ray Haywood	11	2	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	11	2	2
FW	George Reilly	19	3	2	1	–	–	–	–	–	20	3	2
FW	Paul Stratford	40	2	12	1	–	–	3	–	1	44	2	13
Players who left before end of season:
GK	Alan Starling	26	–	–	–	–	–	3	–	–	29	–	–
GK	Bob Ward	8	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	8	–	–
DF	Dave Carlton	6	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	6	–	–
DF	Ian Ross	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2	–	–
MF	John Gilligan	5	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	5	–	1
FW	Keith Bowker	4	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	4	–	–
FW	Jim Hall	11	–	2	1	–	–	3	–	–	15	–	2
FW	Bobby Owen	5	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	5	–	–
FW	Steve Phillips	16	1	2	1	–	–	3	–	–	20	1	2

References

Books

• Grande, Frank (1997). Northampton Town F.C.: The Official Centenary History. London: Yore Publications. ISBN  978-1874427674.