It is a cruel and unsettling contrast that as things fall apart off the pitch, Northampton Town’s performances on it are growing more impressive with each passing week. The club’s existence is in genuine threat due to a desperate state of financial affairs but the team sit fourth in League Two after Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Stevenage at Sixfields. Taking the football solely into account, they must be considered among the favourites for promotion.
First, though, an expanding list of monetary issues must be rectified and the harsh reality is that the club is a matter of weeks from being wound up. The chairman, David Cardoza, is still desperately seeking someone to take the club from his possession. A consortium of London-based Indian businessmen were said to be interested but then withdrew their interest “reluctantly” due to “insurmountable” complications. Little wonder potential buyers are hard to find as a court date looms on 16 November due to a winding-up order from HMRC, the council wanting repayment of a £10.25m loan and builders from the Buckingham Group having downed tools with the new East Stand half-finished because they are owed £3m.
More than a dozen flags were draped across the concrete structure, not that it made it look any less dismal. “Born to suffer” read one near the halfway line. The teams emerged to Harry J Allstars’ The Liquidator and it was difficult to think of a song more apposite considering the precarious state in which the club resides.
Just as well the supporters have a team worth getting excited about. In the face of such off-field adversity, on the pitch things have been going swimmingly for the Cobblers under the shrewd management of Chris Wilder.
Having gone behind – Steven Schumacher driving home off a post after capitalising on some slack defensive play from the shoe makers to put Stevenage in front after 24 minutes – they knuckled down and dominated the second half to ensure a fifth win from eight. “It was a bit helter-skelter and not as controlled as we’d have liked,” Wilder said of the first half.
They dominated the second. Dominic Calvert-Lewin struck the equaliser four minutes after the restart and Alfie Potter scored the winner soon after the hour, both scrappy close-range attempts that should have been better dealt with by the visiting defence. “There was only going to be one winner in the second half,” Wilder concluded.
Heaps of credit should be piled on the players for their attitude. “As long as we are getting paid to allow us to support our families, then we won’t get too concerned,” said the captain Marc Richards. An unmistakable air of worry hung over the three usable stands, though. Outside the ground members of the Northampton Town Supporters Trust, the first of its kind, having been set up in 1992, encouraged those making their way for the turnstiles to bolster their ranks; 58 new members signed up. They will hold a town hall style meeting on Monday evening to “look forward to our future options” but as things stand, that future appears bleak.
Understandably emotions are running high. Before the game Emily Lomax, daughter of Brian, who founded the trust 23 years ago but was unable to attend the game due to ill health, delivered a passionate speech. “This is a battle you have to fight deeply,” she said, struggling to hold back the tears. “Don’t accept tin-pot saviours and two-bit con men.”
“We’ll never play you again,” taunted the Stevenage supporters. After a sluggish start to the campaign Teddy Sheringham’s team had shown signs of improvement by going three games unbeaten. Boro were full value for their lead at the interval, but they seldom threatened in the second half and have kept only one clean sheet all season. Asked what he could take from the game, Sheringham’s verdict was: “Not a lot.”
They struggled to keep tabs on the midfielder John-Joe O’Toole, with two of those aforementioned flags dedicated to the Harrow-born Republic of Ireland underage international.
Wilder removed O’Toole from the transfer list last week on account of his impressive run. Football issues seem trivial in the current climate, though, and while Wilder will be hoping focus is soon trained on such matters, treacherous obstacles must be negotiated first.
