1979–80 Northampton Town F.C. season

Northampton Town
1979–80 season
Chairman	Neville Ronson
Manager	Clive Walker
Stadium	County Ground
Division Four	13th
FA Cup	First round
League Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: Keith Bowen (11); All: Keith Bowen (12)
Highest home attendance	10,713 vs Portsmouth
Lowest home attendance	1,852 vs Crewe Alexandra
Average home league attendance	3,024

The 1979–80 season was Northampton Town's 83rd season in their history and the third successive season in the Fourth Division. Alongside competing in Division Four, the club also participated in the FA Cup and the League Cup.

Players

As of match played 3 May 1980.^[1]

Name	Position	Place of Birth	Date of Birth (Age)	Apps	Goals	Previous club	Date signed	Fee
Goalkeepers
Carl Jayes	GK	Leicester	(1954-03-15)15 March 1954 (aged 26)	77	0	Leicester City	November 1977
Andy Poole	GK	Chesterfield	(1960-07-06)6 July 1960 (aged 19)	108	0	Mansfield Town	July 1978
Defenders
Dennis Byatt	CB	Hillingdon	(1958-08-08)8 August 1958 (aged 21)	36	3	Peterborough United	June 1979
Kevin Farmer	CB/FW	Ramsgate	(1960-01-24)24 January 1960 (aged 20)	40	6	Leicester City	August 1979	£20,000
Wakeley Gage	CB	Northampton	(1958-05-05)5 May 1958 (aged 21)	72	5	Desborough Town	October 1979	£8,000^[2]
Phil Sandercock	LB	Plymouth	(1956-06-21)21 June 1956 (aged 23)	39	2	Huddersfield Town	September 1979
Paul Saunders	U	Watford	(1959-12-17)17 December 1959 (aged 20)	71	1	Watford	July 1978
Tony Taylor	LB	Glasgow	(1946-09-06)6 September 1946 (aged 33)	7	0	Albion Rovers	August 1979
Des Waldock	CB	Northampton	(1961-12-04)4 December 1961 (aged 18)	32	3	Apprentice	November 1979
Ricky Walker	RB	Northampton	(1959-04-04)4 April 1959 (aged 21)	57	0	Coventry City	August 1978
Midfielders
Peter Denyer	W	Chiddingfold	(1957-11-26)26 November 1957 (aged 22)	52	6	Portsmouth	July 1979	P/E
John Farrington	W	Lynemouth	(1947-06-19)19 June 1947 (aged 32)	253	31	Cardiff City	Summer 1974
Mark Heeley	W	Peterborough	(1959-09-08)8 September 1959 (aged 20)	40	4	Arsenal	March 1980	£33,000
Gary Leonard	CM	Northampton	(1962-03-23)23 March 1962 (aged 18)	1	0	Apprentice	March 1980
Jim McCaffrey	W	Luton	(1951-10-12)12 October 1951 (aged 28)	63	7	Portsmouth	December 1978
Maurice Muir	W	London	(1963-03-19)19 March 1963 (aged 17)	2	0	Apprentice	April 1980	N/A
Adam Sandy	U	Peterborough	(1958-09-22)22 September 1958 (aged 21)	68	5	Wolverton Town	February 1980
Keith Williams	CM	Dudley	(1957-04-12)12 April 1957 (aged 23)	102	5	Aston Villa	February 1977
Forwards
Keith Bowen	FW	Northampton (ENG)	(1958-02-26)26 February 1958 (aged 22)	36	12	Apprentice	August 1976
Godfrey Ingram	FW	Luton	(1959-10-26)26 October 1959 (aged 20)	10	4	Luton Town	March 1980	Loan
Gary Sargent	FW	Bedford	(1952-09-11)11 September 1952 (aged 27)	46	4	Peterborough United	August 1979	£10,000
Steve Ward	FW	Derby	(1959-07-21)21 July 1959 (aged 20)	19	3	Brighton & Hove Albion	August 1979

Competitions

Division Four

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
11	Bournemouth	46	13	18	15	52	51	+1	44
12	Doncaster Rovers	46	15	14	17	62	63	−1	44
13	Northampton Town	46	16	12	18	51	66	−15	44
14	Scunthorpe United	46	14	15	17	58	75	−17	43
15	Tranmere Rovers	46	14	13	19	50	56	−6	41

Source:

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	16	12	18	51	66	0.773	44	14	5	4	33	16	33	2	7	14	18	50	11

Last updated: 25 November 2024.
Source:

League position by match

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46
Ground	A	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H
Result	L	L	L	D	D	L	L	W	L	W	W	L	L	W	W	L	W	L	D	W	D	D	D	W	L	W	L	W	D	D	W	W	W	L	D	D	W	W	L	L	D	L	W	D	L	L
Position	14	20	22	22	20	23	23	22	22	21	18	20	20	19	16	16	18	19	19	16	17	18	16	14	15	13	17	17	16	16	14	12	10	10	10	11	11	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	13

Source: 11v11.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

Win Draw Loss

18 August 1979 (1979-08-18) 1	Doncaster Rovers	2–1	Northampton Town	Doncaster
15:00 BST			J.McCaffrey	Stadium: Belle Vue Attendance: 4,402

22 August 1979 (1979-08-22) 2	Northampton Town	1–2	Bradford City	Northampton
19:30 BST	P.Denyer			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,555

25 August 1979 (1979-08-25) 3	Northampton Town	1–2	Walsall	Northampton
15:00 BST	K.Bowen			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 3,136

1 September 1979 (1979-09-01) 4	Torquay United	2–2	Northampton Town	Torquay
15:00 BST			P.Denyer S.Ward	Stadium: Plainmoor Attendance: 2,825

7 September 1979 (1979-09-07) 5	Northampton Town	0–0	Halifax Town	Northampton
19:30 BST				Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,759

15 September 1979 (1979-09-15) 6	Port Vale	5–0	Northampton Town	Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent
15:00 BST	N.Chamberlain B.Wright P.Sproson			Stadium: Vale Park Attendance: 2,847

18 September 1979 (1979-09-18) 7	Newport County	2–1	Northampton Town	Newport, Wales
19:30 BST	T.Tynan H.Goddard pen.'		D.Waldock	Stadium: Rodney Parade Attendance: 3,185

22 September 1979 (1979-09-22) 8	Northampton Town	1–0	Peterborough United	Northampton
15:00 BST	K.Bowen			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 3,680

29 September 1979 (1979-09-29) 9	Crewe Alexandra	2–1	Northampton Town	Crewe
15:00 BST			D.Waldock	Stadium: Gresty Road Attendance: 1,909

2 October 1979 (1979-10-02) 10	Northampton Town	3–2	Newport County	Northampton
19:30 BST	D.Waldock J.McCaffrey G.Reilly		N.Bailey S.Warriner	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,346

6 October 1979 (1979-10-06) 11	Northampton Town	2–1	Tranmere Rovers	Northampton
15:00 BST	G.Reilly G.Sargent			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,324

10 October 1979 (1979-10-10) 12	Bradford City	3–1	Northampton Town	Bradford
19:30 BST			G.Reilly	Stadium: Valley Parade Attendance: 4,534

13 October 1979 (1979-10-13) 13	Aldershot	2–0	Northampton Town	Aldershot
15:00 BST				Stadium: Recreation Ground Attendance: 3,799

20 October 1979 (1979-10-20) 14	Northampton Town	2–0	Hereford United	Northampton
15:00 BST	K.Farmer 29', 52'			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,319

23 October 1979 (1979-10-23) 15	Northampton Town	4–2	Huddersfield Town	Northampton
19:30 BST	G.Sargent J.Farrington K.Farmer		D.Cowling D.Byatt o.g.'	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 3,210

26 October 1979 (1979-10-26) 16	Rochdale	3–2	Northampton Town	Rochdale
19:30 BST	C.Jones 44', 72', 89'		K.Farmer 1' D.Byatt 62'	Stadium: Spotland Stadium Attendance: 1,468

3 November 1979 (1979-11-03) 17	Northampton Town	1–0	Doncaster Rovers	Northampton
15:00 GMT	P.Sandercock			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 3,427

6 November 1979 (1979-11-06) 18	Huddersfield Town	5–0	Northampton Town	Huddersfield
19:30 GMT	I.Robins M.Laverick D.Cowling D.Sutton			Stadium: Leeds Road Attendance: 6,552

10 November 1979 (1979-11-10) 19	Darlington	0–0	Northampton Town	Darlington
15:00 GMT				Stadium: Feethams Attendance: 1,559

17 November 1979 (1979-11-17) 20	Northampton Town	2–1	Hartlepool United	Northampton
15:00 GMT	M.O'Donoghue J.Farrington			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,251

1 December 1979 (1979-12-01) 21	Wigan Athletic	0–0	Northampton Town	Wigan
15:00 GMT				Stadium: Springfield Park Attendance: 6,158

7 December 1979 (1979-12-07) 22	Northampton Town	0–0	Scunthorpe United	Northampton
15:00 GMT				Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,120

21 December 1979 (1979-12-21) 23	AFC Bournemouth	2–2	Northampton Town	Bournemouth
19:30 GMT			P.Denyer	Stadium: Dean Court Attendance: 2,335

26 December 1979 (1979-12-26) 24	Northampton Town	2–0	Stockport County	Northampton
15:00 GMT	K.Bowen			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 3,054

29 December 1979 (1979-12-29) 25	Portsmouth	6–1	Northampton Town	Portsmouth
15:00 GMT			K.Bowen	Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 15,579

5 January 1980 (1980-01-05) 26	Northampton Town	2–0	York City	Northampton
15:00 GMT	S.Ward K.Farmer			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,095

26 January 1980 (1980-01-26) 27	Walsall	5–1	Northampton Town	Walsall
15:00 GMT			K.Bowen	Stadium: Fellows Park Attendance: 5,646

2 February 1980 (1980-02-02) 28	Northampton Town	3–1	Port Vale	Northampton
15:00 GMT	G.Sargent W.Gage K.Bowen		A.Woolfall	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 1,946

9 February 1980 (1980-02-09) 29	Peterborough United	0–0	Northampton Town	Peterborough
15:00 GMT				Stadium: London Road Attendance: 4,960

13 February 1980 (1980-02-13) 30	Lincoln City	0–0	Northampton Town	Lincoln
19:30 GMT				Stadium: Sincil Bank Attendance: 3,652

16 February 1980 (1980-02-16) 31	Northampton Town	1–0	Crewe Alexandra	Northampton
15:00 GMT	P.Saunders			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 1,852

23 February 1980 (1980-02-23) 32	Northampton Town	2–1	Aldershot	Northampton
15:00 GMT	J.Farrington P.Denyer			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,592

1 March 1980 (1980-03-01) 33	Hereford United	0–1	Northampton Town	Hereford
15:00 GMT			K.Bowen 68'	Stadium: Edgar Street Attendance: 2,299

4 March 1980 (1980-03-04) 34	Halifax Town	2–1	Northampton Town	Halifax
19:30 GMT			D.Byatt	Stadium: The Shay Attendance: 1,377

8 March 1980 (1980-03-08) 35	Northampton Town	0–0	Rochdale	Northampton
15:00 GMT				Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,370

14 March 1980 (1980-03-14) 36	Tranmere Rovers	1–1	Northampton Town	Birkenhead
19:30 GMT			K.Bowen	Stadium: Prenton Park Attendance: 1,500

18 March 1980 (1980-03-18) 37	Northampton Town	3–0	Torquay United	Northampton
19:30 BST	D.Byatt K.Bowen G.Ingram			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,659

22 March 1980 (1980-03-22) 38	Northampton Town	2–0	Darlington	Northampton
15:00 BST	K.Bowen G.Ingram			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 3,209

29 March 1980 (1980-03-29) 39	Hartlepool United	2–1	Northampton Town	Hartlepool
19:30 BST			G.Ingram	Stadium: Victoria Park Attendance: 1,995

4 April 1980 (1980-04-04) 40	Stockport County	2–0	Northampton Town	Stockport
15:00 BST				Stadium: Edgeley Park Attendance: 2,499

7 April 1980 (1980-04-07) 41	Northampton Town	0–0	Lincoln City	Northampton
15:00 BST				Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 3,371

8 April 1980 (1980-04-08) 42	Northampton Town	0–1	AFC Bournemouth	Northampton
19:30 BST				Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 3,175

12 April 1980 (1980-04-12) 43	York City	1–2	Northampton Town	York
15:00 BST			G.Ingram P.Sandercock	Stadium: Bootham Crescent Attendance: 2,161

19 April 1980 (1980-04-19) 44	Northampton Town	1–1	Wigan Athletic	Northampton
19:30 BST	G.Sargent			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,378

25 April 1980 (1980-04-25) 45	Scunthorpe United	3–0	Northampton Town	Scunthorpe
19:30 BST				Stadium: Old Show Ground Attendance: 1,810

3 May 1980 (1980-05-03) 46	Northampton Town	0–2	Portsmouth	Northampton
15:00 BST				Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 10,713

FA Cup

24 November 1979 (1979-11-24) First round	Hereford United	1–0	Northampton Town	Hereford
15:00 GMT				Stadium: Edgar Street

League Cup

13 August 1979 (1979-08-13) First round 1st leg	Northampton Town	2–1	Millwall	Northampton
19:30 BST	G.Reilly			Stadium: County Ground

15 August 1979 (1979-08-15) First round 2nd leg	Millwall	2–2 (3–4 agg.)	Northampton Town	Millwall, London
19:30 BST			J.McCaffrey K.Bowen	Stadium: The Den

28 August 1979 (1979-08-28) Second round 1st leg	Northampton Town	3–0	Oldham Athletic	Northampton
19:30 BST	G.Reilly S.Ward			Stadium: County Ground

4 September 1979 (1979-09-04) Second round 2nd leg	Oldham Athletic	3–1 (3–4 agg.)	Northampton Town	Oldham
19:30 BST			P.Denyer	Stadium: Boundary Park

27 September 1979 (1979-09-27) Third round	Northampton Town	0–1	Brighton & Hove Albion	Northampton
19:30 BST				Stadium: County Ground

Appearances and goals

Pos	Player	Division Four			FA Cup			League Cup			Total
Pos	Player	Starts	Sub	Goals	Starts	Sub	Goals	Starts	Sub	Goals	Starts	Sub	Goals
GK	Carl Jayes	14	–	–	–	–	–	2	–	–	16	–	–
GK	Andy Poole	32	–	–	1	–	–	3	–	–	36	–	–
DF	Dennis Byatt	32	1	3	1	–	–	2	–	–	35	1	3
DF	Kevin Farmer	30	4	6	1	–	–	4	1	–	35	5	6
DF	Wakeley Gage	21	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	21	–	1
DF	Phil Sandercock	38	–	2	1	–	–	–	–	–	39	–	2
DF	Paul Saunders	10	2	1	–	–	–	3	–	–	13	2	1
DF	Tony Taylor	4	–	–	–	–	–	2	1	–	6	1	–
DF	Des Waldock	27	1	3	1	–	–	3	–	–	31	1	3
DF	Ricky Walker	38	–	–	1	–	–	3	–	–	42	–	–
MF	Peter Denyer	46	–	5	1	–	–	5	–	1	52	–	6
MF	John Farrington	29	–	3	1	–	–	1	–	–	31	–	3
MF	Mark Heeley	8	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	8	–	–
MF	Gary Leonard	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	–
MF	Jim McCaffrey	31	1	2	–	1	–	5	–	1	36	2	3
MF	Maurice Muir	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	–
MF	Adam Sandy	21	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	21	1	–
MF	Keith Williams	3	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	3	–	–
FW	Keith Bowen	24	–	11	1	–	–	4	–	1	29	–	12
FW	Godfrey Ingram	10	–	4	–	–	–	–	–	–	10	–	4
FW	Gary Sargent	38	2	4	1	–	–	5	–	–	44	2	4
FW	Steve Ward	13	2	2	–	–	–	4	–	1	17	2	3
Players who left before end of season:
MF	Russell Ashenden	2	3	–	–	–	–	3	1	–	5	4	–
MF	Russ Townsend	12	1	–	1	–	–	1	–	–	14	1	–
FW	Mike O'Donoghue	4	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	4	–	1
FW	George Reilly	18	–	3	–	–	–	5	–	4	23	–	7

References

^ Rothmans Football Yearbook 1980/81, p.250.
^ Focus on Wakeley Gage, Chester City v. Burnley matchday programme, 5/10/85, p. 13

Books

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

[1] Rothmans Football Yearbook 1980/81, p.250.

[Focus_on-2] Focus on Wakeley Gage, Chester City v. Burnley matchday programme, 5/10/85, p. 13

[1]

[2]