Two games to go and next up was a trip to Layer Road to face Colchester United, where Cobblers boss Ian Atkins made only one change to the side that beat Exeter 4-1 at Sixfields just a week Prior, Maddison returned for Parrish and the Cobblers side was as followed: Woodman, Clarkson, Frain, Sampson, Warburton, Rennie, Parrish, Grayson, Gayle, Cooper, Hunter.

With 2 games to go the Cobblers needed a minimum of two points to reach the play offs but 8th place Colchester kept their heads and the Cobblers couldn’t break deadlock, the game ended 0-0 and a point gained which meant the Cobblers needed 1 point from the final game of the season at home v Scunthorpe.
Saturday 3rd May was the final game of the season and there were two changes to the Cobblers side that faced Scunthorpe United at Sixfields Stadium, Parrish and Grayson replaced Maddison and White. It took time for the Cobblers to make things count in an edgy tense game but, Parrish on 76 minutes secured everything for the Cobblers, his shot was covered by Clark but it hit Sertori on the shoulder and deflected into the net.
Ian Atkins said, ‘I told the players to go out and get legless on Saturday and enjoy the bank holiday weekend.’
Cardiff city were the opponents in the semi-finals with the first game being a trip to Ninian Park. There was only one goal in the first leg of the semi-final and it came late in the game as Hunter broke free from midfield and fed Parrish a long ball that he latched onto and scored in the 76th minute. The Cobblers did go down to 10 men as Mark Cooper was sent off, he was also sent of earlier in the season against the same side, on the same ground by the same referee! Cobbler’s boss said, ‘We killed off the game in front of a near full house.’
Three days later Cardiff visited Sixfields with the Cobblers a goal up they really had all to play for, there was an enforced change for the Cobblers with White in for the suspended Cooper. Sampson opened the scoring when he headed home a Frain free kick to put the Cobblers one up. Just over 10 minutes later Cardiff equalised as Hunter misjudged the ball and Fowler nipped in to score. The Cobblers still lead on aggregate at half time. More goals did come in the second half as Warburton gave the Cobblers a two goal aggregate advantage when he headed home a Hunter corner to make it 2-1. Gayle made it safe for Northampton when he latched on to a Lee pass and clipped the ball into the net to make it 3-1. Haworth pulled a goal back for the Welsh club when he drilled through a group of players. The Cobblers won 4-2 on aggregate, setting up a final with Swansea at Wembley.

The Cobblers went to Wembley on 24th May 1997 to face Swansea City in the Division Three play-off final. There was only one change for the Cobblers as Lee replaced White who dropped down to the bench. The Cobblers side was as followed, Woodman, Clarkson, Frain, Sampson, Warburton, Rennie, Parrish, Grayson, Gayle ,Lee, Hunter.
There wasn’t much to make off the game, the Cobblers having five shots on target and Swansea only having two, but in the dying seconds of the game, Frain stepped up to score with a twice taken free kick and send the crowd into a frenzy.
Cobblers boss Ian Atkins, centre-half Ian Sampson and striker Neil Grayson have fond memories of the day.
“We’d been in the doldrums for years,” said Sampson.
“It was like going to an FA Cup final. We had press days, getting fitted for suits and making a song.
“It was called Sixfields Boys by a local group called Warehouse. We didn’t really sing the song but it was commentary played in the background to the song.
“But there was always a serious note to everything. The manager didn’t let us lose focus – he was single-minded and it rubbed off on the players.”