Following the sad demise of Newport County in February 1989, a new club, Newport AFC, was created by a group of County supporters three months later. The intention was to play at the highest level possible in the Football League Pyramid, with the ultimate aim of returning League football to Newport. The new club was founded, financed and run by supporters. Its motto was “Football with a Future”.

After ten years, when we were advised that no one could chase us for Newport County’s debts, the fans were asked if they wanted to change the club’s name. Should we remain Newport AFC, revert to Newport County, or combine the old and the new as Newport County AFC? Following the vote Newport County AFC was adopted.

The old club, founded in 1912, had a roller coaster existence, often experiencing financial problems and flirting with re-election and relegation. And there were highlights. 1937/38 saw promotion to what we now call the “Championship” but the Second World War put an end to that. We blame Hitler! In 1948/49 the club reached the 5^th round of the FA Cup but lost at Portsmouth 3-2 in injury time. In the 1960s the County beat 1^st Division Sheffield Wednesday in the Cup. Promotion was narrowly missed in 1972/3 and again in 1982/3.

Forest Green 1Northampton 0 – Leauge Two

Jamille Matt’s second-half header sent Forest Green back to the top of League Two in a turgid clash against Northampton.

Rovers fashioned the first opportunity when Regan Hendry fizzed the ball out to Nicky Cadden and he flicked it up to send a sumptuous strike towards the Northampton goal but keeper Liam Roberts did well to palm over.

Jack Aitchison broke free to feed Matty Stevens and his fierce goalbound shot was touched over by Roberts on the stroke of half-time.

The tempo increased after the break, with Aitchison forcing Roberts into a diving save and Cadden bending an effort over.

Northampton were indebted to Roberts with 23 minutes to go as he parried a well-struck shot from Wilson straight to Matt but his poked attempt was cleared spectacularly off the line by McGowan.

Rovers grabbed the only goal of the game with 13 minutes to go when Cadden arrowed the ball into the box for Matt to plant a cushioned header beyond Roberts for his fifth goal of the season.

Meanwhile, earlier on Saturday Northampton confirmed defender Sid Nelson will be out for “some considerable time” after suffering a knee ligament injury in training.

Scunthorpe applied some late pressure but the home side made sure of all three points in stoppage-time when Hoskins forced the ball home after Dylan Connolly’s shot was cleared off the line.

Exeter City 0 Forest Green Rovers 0 – Leauge Two

Harrogate moved a point clear at the top of League Two and preserved the division’s only remaining unbeaten record after twice fighting back to earn a 2-2 draw against Newport.

Town strikers Jack Muldoon and Luke Armstrong both grabbed first-half equalisers to cancel out Scot Bennett and Robbie Willmott efforts for the visitors.

Newport took a third-minute lead when Bennett stabbed in from 12 yards after Harrogate failed to deal with a Willmott corner.

Muldoon levelled in the 34th minute when he sprinted on to Armstrong’s header following a long goal kick by Mark Oxley and fired emphatically into the bottom-left corner of Joe Day’s net from 10 yards.

However, County forged back ahead four minutes later with Willmott directing a free header past Oxley from Cameron Norman’s right-wing cross.

But Harrogate grabbed a second equaliser on the stroke of half-time when Day could only parry a Muldoon shot and Armstrong pounced from three yards to score his fifth goal of the season.

The second half was much less eventful, although Oxley was required to make a smart save from Alex Fisher’s well-struck, 35-yard attempt.

Northampton ended Newport’s unbeaten start to the League Two season with a 2-0 victory.

The Exiles sat second ahead of kick-off but were out-of-sorts at Sixfields and goals from Andy Williams and Sam Hoskins either side of half-time condemned them to defeat.

Newport conceded their first goal since the opening day of the season just five minutes in when Jordan Turnbull’s shot was blocked and the ball fell to Williams, whose effort was sliced into the net by defender Mark O’Brien.

Hoskins headed at Tom King as the home side pushed for a second, while Newport’s best chance of the first half fell to Joss Labadie, who nodded over.

O’Brien nearly diverted into his own net after half-time but Northampton did have a second with 18 minutes to go as Charlie Goode slipped in Chris Lines who squared to Hoskins and he was left with a simple tap-in.

Newport’s day went from bad to worse in the final minute when Jamille Matt picked up two bookings in a matter of moments and was sent off.

Played	Won	Draw	Lost
92	47	15	30

Played for both

Here’s an in-depth look at we look at Marlon Jackson playing profile.

Craig Hicks will be the man in the middle for The cobblers away game with Newport County.

The Surrey-born official last took charge of a County game in April 2021 where he oversaw the Exiles’ 4-0 win against Scunthorpe United at Rodney Parade.

During the 2020/21 season, Hicks produced 95 yellow cards and five reds across 34 games.blob:https://cobblerspast.com/f872227d-b0fa-4345-af71-e8b7dfca2d0d

He will be assisted by Ollie Williams and Kevin Howick, while Ravel Cheosiaua will be the fourth official.

Program

Tickets

Follow the match

Newport have lost just one of their last 12 home league games against Northampton (W8 D3), going down 2-1 in January 2014.
Northampton have won seven of their last 10 league meetings with Newport (D1 L2), though all three failures to win in that time have come away from home.
Newport have kept five clean sheets in their last seven home league games (W4 D2 L1), and are unbeaten in their last four at Rodney Parade (W3 D1).
Northampton have won three of their last four league games played on a Tuesday (L1), as many as they had in their last 14 such games.