- Founded: 1878
- Nickname: The Tractor men
- Honours: Division One Winners 1961/62 FA Cup Winners 1977-78 UEFA Cup winners 1980-81
Ipswich Town were formed as an amateur club in 1878, but it was not until 1936 when they turned professional. After winning the Southern League at the first attempt and finishing third the following season, they were elected to the Football League on May 30th, 1938.
They started in the Third Division (South) and their first success came in the 1953-54 season when they won the title. Town found life in the Second Division tough and a year later they were down again.
On the 30th of May 2018, Town appointed Paul Hurst as the Club’s new manager on a three-year deal. Paul was joined by his assistant, Chris Doig.
However, the Blues parted company with Hurst at the end of October with the Club at the bottom of the league. Paul Lambert was appointed his successor, with the Scot signing a two-and-a-half year deal at Portman Road, keeping him at the Club until 2021.
In April 2019, following a 1-1 draw with Birmingham City, the Blues were relegated to League One.
Peterborough 3 Northampton 2- League One
Peterborough took a giant stride towards automatic promotion with a derby triumph that plunged Northampton deeper into relegation trouble.
Sammie Szmodics hit a brace before leading scorer Jonson Clarke-Harris helped himself to his 30th goal of the campaign as Posh moved level with League One leaders Hull.
Szmodics provided a 33rd-minute breakthrough when he darted into the box to fire home a low Dan Butler cross from the left, but skipper Mark Beevers then handed Cobblers a lifeline.
Beevers clumsily impeded Town frontman Alex Jones as he attempted to cut out a Nathan Thompson back-pass and Sam Hoskins struck from the penalty spot in the 43rd minute to level.
Posh regained the initiative as Szmodics provided a perfect start to the second half, lifting the ball over advancing Cobblers keeper Jon Mitchell and finishing into the empty net in the 48th minute after being picked out by Jack Taylor.
And the points were sealed when Clarke-Harris slammed a 67th-minute penalty past Mitchell after Nathan Thompson was dumped to the deck by Hoskins with Northampton remaining in the bottom four.
Posh move eight points clear of third-placed Sunderland, who travel to Blackpool on Saturday, while Northampton remain a point from safety ahead of the rest of the weekend’s action.
Charlton 0 Ipswich 0 – League One
Charlton and Ipswich played out a goalless draw at The Valley in a disappointing contest that did little to boost either side in their League One play-off pushes.
The Addicks remain seventh, but are now two points adrift of sixth-placed Portsmouth, with Ipswich two points further back.
Having made five changes from their defeat at Wimbledon in the week, the visitors made a bright start.
James Norwood saw his third-minute effort stopped by keeper Ben Amos, while Jason Pearce blocked Keanan Bennetts’ follow-up.
Charlton started to press and Ryan Innis directed a header straight at Tomas Holy after nine minutes.
Ipswich were forced to replace Norwood with Kayden Jackson on 25 minutes and the substitute almost turned provider for Bennetts on 37 minutes, but the midfielder blasted over.
The hosts were the better side in the second half and had the best chance after the break when Holy parried away a close-range header from Diallang Jaiyesimi on 57 minutes.
The Ipswich goalkeeper was in action again three minutes later, when he collected an effort from Liam Millar.
In a game of few chances, Jake Forster-Caskey put a sweeping effort over the crossbar on 73 minutes, before Jayden Stockley put his shot three minutes later into the arms of Holy.
16 February 2020 – Ipswich 0 The Cobblers 0
Referee Darren Drysdale locked heads with Ipswich midfielder Alan Judge in an extraordinary exchange during their goalless League One draw with Northampton.
The official moved his head towards the Irishman late in the game and then briefly appeared to square up to the 32-year-old, before being ushered away by Northampton’s Lloyd Jones.
Judge, who had protested after being penalised for simulation, was then shown a yellow card, the fifth booking of the match.
The Football Association has been contacted and is aware of the incident.
Ipswich manager Paul Lambert wants the EFL to investigate the confrontation between Drysdale and Judge.
“I’ve texted Mike Jones [EFL head of referees] this morning to say have a look at the footage of the head thing,” Lambert told Talksport.
“It looks as if the referee went in there and I said to him after the game, ‘Did you put your head in my player?’
“He couldn’t answer it and that’s the reason I spoke to Mike. I haven’t seen that in a long, long while.”
In the third minute of stoppage time, Ipswich’s Flynn Downes was sent off for violent conduct in an ugly end to the match.
Lowly Northampton defied the odds to secure a draw, but will be frustrated they only came away with one point instead of all three.
It lifted the Cobblers up two places, but they remain inside the relegation zone on goal difference. Ipswich, who finished with 10 men, moved up a place to 11th but are four points off the top six.
Ipswich keeper Tomas Holy had to gather a shot from Sam Hoskins and then hack clear after Troy Parrott’s loose pass was seized on by Mark Marshall.
Holy smothered Jack Sowerby’s effort and Luke Matheson blocked an effort by Hoskins while, with the half drawing to a close, Peter Kioso hit the post and Marshall pulled his shot wide.
James Norwood, who came on as a 71st-minute replacement for Ipswich, forced Northampton keeper Jonathan Mitchell into his first save of the game and to heap further misery on a woeful Ipswich, Downes was sent off in stoppage time.
| Played | Won | Draw | Lost | F | A |
| 136 | 50 | 38 | 48 | 205 | 202 |
| Biggest Win over Bristol Rovers | 28/12/1931 – County Ground – Jack English – 6-0 |
| Biggest Loss over Bristol Rovers | 16/01/1935 – Eastville -Jack English – 7-1L |
| First-Ever Game | 06/09/1902 – County Ground – 3-1L |
Played for both – Bristol Rovers
Here’s an in depth look at a player that has played for both the Cobblers and Bristol Rovers.
The Hertfordshire-based official will travel to The PTS Academy Stadium for his twenty-eighth game of the season and his 13th in Sky Bet League Two. The current campaign is Rock’s second in the EFL after being promoted ahead of the 2019-20 season.
His first game of the campaign was the Carabao Cup match between Crawley Town and Millwall which ended 3-1 to the Lions. He showed one yellow card in the match. Meanwhile, his latest match was the League Two encounter between Cambridge and Morecombe on Good Friday with Mr Buck giving 6 cards and sending one player off.
He will be assisted by Marvyn Amphlett and Andrew Aylott and the Fourth Official is Carl Boyeson.
His latest Cobblers Game
| Date | Comp | Match | Y | R | |
| 06/10/20 | LEAGUE TROPHY | Northampton 5–0 Southampton U21 | 2 | 0 | |
| 10/10/19 | LEAGUE TWO | Port Vale 1–1 Northampton | 0 | 0 | |
All season ticket holders will have access to watch the Bristol Rovers game on Saturday on iFollow.
To check….
1. Log in to iFollow
2. Click your name in the top navigation bar to get to the ‘My Account page’
3. Click the + sign next to ‘Purchased Packages’blob:https://cobblerspast.com/94b8f29f-b59d-49f9-9f33-dc55d662ba17
If you have access, you will see ‘Season Ticket – Northampton Town’ listed here.
If you experience any issues, please email ifollow@ntfc.co.uk
- In their last 10 encounters in the Football League, Northampton Town have only gotten the better of Bristol Rovers on two occasions (D3 L5) – both of those victories were settled by a single goal margin (1-0).
- Bristol Rovers won 6-0 in their last visit to Northampton in October 2017 – to date, this is their largest away victory in the Football League this century.
- Northampton have won four of their last five home games in League One (L1), having won just three of their first 15 on home soil this season (D4 L8).
- Bristol Rovers have failed to win any of their last 12 league games away from the Memorial Stadium (D2 L10). They’ve lost their last six away games in League One in a row – the last time the Gas lost seven consecutive away games was between December 2010 and February 2011.
| Stats | NORTHAMPTON | Bristol Rovers |
|---|---|---|
| Games Played | 40 | 40 |
| Goals | 33 | 39 |
| Shots on target | 120 | 148 |
| Shooting accuracy | 42.40% | 41.70% |
| Goals conceded | 57 | 63 |
| Clean sheets | 11 | 7 |
| Yellow cards | 80 | 60 |
| Red Cards | 3 | 2 |
OnThisDay Morecambe 1 The Cobblers 1
Lee Collins
Interview – Andy Holt
Looking back on our last long campaign in the League Trophy back in the season 2003/2004 UnderI interviewed ex-cobbler Andy Hot, Andy played for the Cobblers between 2004 – 2012 making over 190 appearances scoring over 15 goals.
