Of all the Cobblers manager probably the one with the lowest profile was ‘Fred’ Lessons who never managed a club before the Cobblers and never got a chance to afterwards

Born in 1883 the centre forward became an efficient two footed player and scored a lot of goals for Nottinghamshire local junior sides Lawrence and Notts. Jardine.

At the age of 21 he was signed on by Nottingham Forest but struggled to hold down a regular first team spot and in three years he made just 34 appearances and scored eight goals. In the season the club won the second division championship he made just three appearances and sadly not entitled to a championship medal. Herbert Chapman signed him for the Cobblers in the 1907 close season and it was not long before he formed a formidable partnership with Albert Lewis.

In the season the club won the Southern League championship he netted 23 goals in 40 appearance and won a championship medal at last. In 1912 Chapman had the chance to manage Leeds City, closer to his Sheffield home and Walter Bull of Tottenham was offered the managers post, ironically Bull had been offered the job before Chapman but turned it down as he wanted to continue playing.

The ‘Walter Bull era’ only lasted a few months he left after an incident at a training stint that was never enlarged on and never reported on.

The ‘committee’ went back to selecting the team and Captain Edwin Lloyd Davies, the club captain was offered the position as trainer which he rejected as he had business interests at his home in Wales, hence the position was then passed to Fred who accepted it.

Fred had a home in Nottingham and a wife, Ethel and he liked to return as often as possible. With motorways some 50 years off all travelling was done by train and it was a case of when train times fitted in with football. He was offered the position of manager in 1914 and most of his first team appearances were at emergency centre half, a position at which he excelled.

World war one broke out and all football was cancelled Fred joined the first battalion of the Northants regiment and during hostilities he rose to the position of lance corporal. Fred was one of the last people to lose their life in the Great War when he was killed in Pas-de-Calais on the 7th. September 1918 aged 34. He was buried at the British Eterpigny.