Northampton Town Football Club will reach a historic milestone at Cambridge United this Saturday.
The game will be the Cobblers’ 5,000th league game across all leagues the club have completed in since 1897/98, including the Northants League, Midland League, Southern League and the Football League/EFL.
The record would actually have been reached a little sooner had seven league games not have been expunged from the records, which included two games v Earls Barton in 1897/98, three in 1939/40 when World War 2 broke out and two v Aldershot in 1991/92 after the Shots were wound up.
Including club reformations and, in the early days, reserve sides, the Cobblers have played upwards of 150 different opponents in league matches, at almost 200 different venues.
The most common opponents have been Gillingham and Swindon Town, whom we have met 138 times each, followed by Bristol Rovers on 130. There are seven other sides we have met more than a hundred times, Bristol Rovers, Exeter City, Southend United, Reading, Torquay United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Watford.
Although it is some time now since regional football, such as the Southern League and Division 3 North/South, our most common opponents list is still clearly dominated by the sides we met in that era.
Of the 4,998 league games played, the Cobblers have won 1,913, drew 1,202 and lost 1,883. Northampton Town have scored 7,294 goals and conceded 7,183. Just dealing with Football League/EFL games, the record breaks down to 1,650 wins, 1,060 draws and 1,656 defeats, with 6,252 goals scored and 6,222 goals conceded.
The club we have beaten most often is Gillingham, emerging victorious against the Kent side 67 times, Exeter City are second in that list (62 wins for the Cobblers) with Southend United third on 50. Swindon and Bristol Rovers have both lost to the Cobblers 49 times each, while Brighton & Hove Albion have suffered 46 losses against us. Torquay are next with 45, followed by Crystal Palace with 41. We have beaten Newport County 47 times, 39 of those were in their previous existence before they folded in the late 1980s, and eight of those wins have come against the reformed club, so you can have your own opinion whether they sit above Brighton in that list or not!
In terms of draws, we have shared the spoils most with Bristol Rovers (36 times) and Exeter City (35). Southend are next with 31, followed by Swindon and Brighton (29 each).
We have shared nine goalless draws with both Gillingham and Exeter City, while we have played Cheltenham Town 34 times without a single nil-nil draw!
The club we have lost to most often is Reading, who are due here in three weeks of course, with the Royals having beaten us 61 times. Swindon are next with 60, followed by Millwall on 49 and Bristol Rovers and Watford both on 45. Gillingham come next on 44.
We have found the net most often against Exeter City, 237 goals, followed by Gillingham whom we have scored against 229 times. Southend follow next having conceded 212 times against us, with the next on the list being Swindon Town (200).
The list of teams who have scored against us continues to be dominated by the same teams and is headed by Reading on 223, with Swindon Town in second on 212. Bristol Rovers are third on 191 with Southend United fourth on 189. Gillingham are fifth with 173, with Exeter City next on 171 and Watford with 163.
The most common result has been a 1-1 draw, with 541 such results recorded. We have won 1-0 on 431 occasions and lost by the same score 409 times.
Northampton Town finished 4th in our inaugural season in the Northants League behind Kettering Town Reserves, Rothwell Town Swifts and Wellingborough Town Reserves. Our first league game was a 0-2 defeat at Desborough Town, followed by the first home game a week later against Earls Barton. However that game was later expunged from the records when Earls Barton failed to complete the season.
The Cobblers have played a league game against all the other 92 current Premier League and EFL clubs apart from Bromley who we have never faced at all in any competition.
There are six current Premier League teams who we only ever met in a league game during our Division One season of 1965/66. They are Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool and Manchester United. Consequently we can boast a 100% league record against Aston Villa and also having never lost in the league to Arsenal.
In terms of player records (league games only of course), Tommy Fowler is top with 521 appearances, followed by Ian Sampson with 390 and Sam Hoskins on 366.
Hoskins is also 5th equal on the league goal scorers list with 85 and top of the list of successful penalty takers in league football for the club with 15.
The most substitute league appearances is 86 by Derek Asamoah, with Hoskins also 5th on that list with 49 games off the bench.
In terms of the biggest wins, we have won three games by ten goals, these were on December 30th 1909 with an 11-1 success v Southend United in the Southern League, a 10-0 win against Croydon Common on September 25th 1909 and a 10-0 success v Walsall in the Football League on 5th November 1927. On the other side of the coin, the biggest defeat was an 11-0 loss at Southampton on 28 December 1901. In terms of draws, we have drawn 4-4 six times in league football, the most recent coming at Scunthorpe United on December 13th 2008.
So, there you have it, league game number 5,000 takes place at Cambridge United this Saturday. It has been some ride so far – here’s to the next 5,000!