1986–87 Northampton Town F.C. season

Northampton Town

1986–87 season
Chairman	Derek Banks
Manager	Graham Carr
Stadium	County Ground
Division Four	1st
FA Cup	Third round
Littlewoods Cup	First round
Freight Rover Trophy	First round
Top goalscorer	League: Richard Hill (29) All: Richard Hill (33)
Highest home attendance	11,138 vs Cardiff City
Lowest home attendance	3,558 vs Torquay United
Average home league attendance	6,316

Players

As of match played 9 May 1987.[1]

Name	Position	Nationality	Place of birth	Date of birth	Apps[2]	Goals	Signed from	Date signed	Fee
Goalkeepers
Peter Gleasure	GK		Luton	8 October 1960 (aged 26)	179	0	Millwall	Summer 1982
Alan Harris	GK		Nuneaton	13 April 1969 (aged 18)	0	0	Nuneaton Town	Summer 1986	£15,000[3]
Defenders
Bobby Coy	CB		Birmingham	30 November 1961 (aged 25)	17	0	Chester City	20 August 1986
David Logan	LB		Middlesbrough	5 December 1963 (aged 23)	15	1	Mansfield Town	20 February 1987
Keith McPherson	CB		Greenwich	11 September 1963 (aged 23)	66	5	West Ham United	23 January 1986	£10,000[4]
Graham Reed	RB		Doncaster	24 June 1961 (aged 25)	73	2	Frickley Athletic	Summer 1985	£6,000
Russ Wilcox	CB		Hemsworth	25 March 1964 (aged 23)	35	1	Frickley Athletic	30 June 1986	£15,000[5]
Midfielders
Paul Bunce	W		Coalville	7 January 1967 (aged 20)	2	1	Leicester City	27 March 1987
Phil Chard	U		Corby	16 October 1960 (aged 26)	81	19	Peterborough United	19 August 1985
Warren Donald	CM		Hillingdon	7 October 1964 (aged 22)	84	8	West Ham United	4 October 1985	Undisclosed
Dave Gilbert	W		Lincoln	22 June 1963 (aged 23)	45	8	Boston United	Summer 1986
Richard Hill	CM		Hinckley	20 September 1963 (aged 23)	86	46	Nuneaton Town	Summer 1985	£10,000
Aidy Mann	W		Northampton	12 July 1967 (aged 19)	81	4	Apprentice	May 1984	N/A
Eddie McGoldrick	W		Islington	30 April 1965 (aged 22)	39	5	Nuneaton Town	Summer 1986	£15,000[6]
Forwards
Ian Benjamin	FW		Nottingham	11 December 1961 (aged 25)	136	57	Peterborough United	Summer 1984
Glen Donegal	FW		Northampton	20 June 1969 (aged 17)	0	0	Apprentice	January 1987	N/A
Trevor Morley (c)	FW		Nottingham	20 March 1962 (aged 25)	80	29	Nuneaton Town	Summer 1985	£20,000[7]

Competitions

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	HW	HD	HL	HGF	HGA	AW	AD	AL	AGF	AGA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Northampton Town	46	20	2	1	56	20	10	7	6	47	33	+50	99	Division Champions, promoted
2	Preston North End	46	16	4	3	36	18	10	8	5	36	29	+25	90	Promoted
3	Southend United	46	14	4	5	43	27	11	1	11	25	28	+13	80
4	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	12	3	8	36	24	12	4	7	33	26	+19	79	Participated in play-offs
5	Colchester United	46	15	3	5	41	20	6	4	13	23	36	+8	70

Source:

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
46	30	9	7	103	53	+50	99	20	2	1	56	20	+36	10	7	6	47	33	+14

Last updated: 6 April 2020.
Source:

League position by match

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46
Ground	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	H	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	H	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	A
Result	D	W	W	W	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	W	W	D	W	W	W	W	D	W	W	W	W	D	W	W	D	L	D	W	W	D	W	W	L	W	L	L	W	L	W	L	W	D	D	W
Position	7	4	4	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

Source: Rothmans Football Yearbook 1986-87
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

  Win   Draw   Loss

23 August 1986 1	Scunthorpe United	2–2	Northampton Town	Scunthorpe
15:00 BST	Cammack Hunter		Hill Reed	Stadium: Old Showground Attendance: 2,302

31 August 1986 2	Northampton Town	1–0	Torquay United	Northampton
15:00 BST	Benjamin			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 3,558

6 September 1986 3	Rochdale	1–2	Northampton Town	Rochdale
15:00 BST	Taylor		Benjamin Chard	Stadium: Spotland Stadium Attendance: 1,606

14 September 1986 4	Northampton Town	2–1	Peterborough United	Northampton
12:00 BST	Morley Chard  pen.'		Gregory	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 5,517

17 September 1986 5	Northampton Town	2–0	Tranmere Rovers	Northampton
19:30 BST	McGoldrick Hill			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 3,873

20 September 1986 6	Swansea City	2–1	Northampton Town	Swansea
15:00 BST	McCarthy Love		Chard	Stadium: Vetch Field Attendance: 6,902

27 September 1986 7	Northampton Town	2–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Northampton
15:00 BST	Morley Hill		Mutch	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 5,713 Referee: M James

30 September 1986 8	Halifax Town	3–6	Northampton Town	Halifax
19:30 BST	Brown Holden Longhurst		Donald Hill  pen.' Benjamin Chard	Stadium: The Shay Attendance: 1,034 Referee: Ken Lupton

4 October 1986 9	Northampton Town	4–2	Aldershot	Northampton
15:00 BST	Hill Morley Chard		Langley Ring	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 4,304 Referee: Kelvin Morton

17 October 1986 10	Cambridge United	2–3	Northampton Town	Cambridge
19:30 BST	Cooper Crown		McPherson Chard  pen.' Morley	Stadium: Abbey Stadium Attendance: 6,283

22 October 1986 11	Northampton Town	4–2	Burnley	Northampton
19:30 BST	Morley Benjamin Hill		James  60' Hoskin  84'	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 5,718

25 October 1986 12	Northampton Town	3–2	Hereford United	Northampton
15:00 BST	Morley Benjamin Hill		Phillips Devine	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 5,336 Referee: David Ellary

27 October 1986 13	Stockport County	0–3	Northampton Town	Stockport
19:30 BST			Hill Morley	Stadium: Edgeley Park Attendance: 1,729

1 November 1986 14	Hartlepool United	3–3	Northampton Town	Hartlepool
15:00 GMT	Hogan  pen.' Dixon Wilcox  o.g.'		Chard  pen.' Hill	Stadium: Victoria Park Attendance: 1,657

4 November 1986 15	Orient	0–1	Northampton Town	Leyton
19:30 GMT			Benjamin	Stadium: Brisbane Road Attendance: 3,496 Referee: John Martin

8 November 1986 16	Northampton Town	3–1	Preston North End	Northampton
15:00 GMT	Benjamin McPherson Hill		Taylor	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 6,537 Referee: Jim Ashworth

28 November 1986 17	Crewe Alexandra	0–5	Northampton Town	Crewe
19:30 GMT			Benjamin McPherson Hill	Stadium: Gresty Road Attendance: 2,331

2 December 1986 18	Northampton Town	4–0	Exeter City	Northampton
19:30 GMT	Morley McGoldrick Hill			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 6,639

13 December 1986 19	Northampton Town	2–2	Wrexham	Northampton
15:00 GMT	Wilcox Benjamin		Steel	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 6,070

21 December 1986 20	Northampton Town	3–1	Lincoln City	Northampton
15:00 GMT	Gilbert  pen.' McGoldrick Benjamin		Lund	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 7,063 Referee: Keren Barratt

26 December 1986 21	Southend United	0–4	Northampton Town	Southend-on-Sea
15:00 GMT			Hill Benjamin Donald Gilbert	Stadium: Roots Hall Attendance: 8,541

28 December 1986 22	Northampton Town	4–1	Cardiff City	Northampton
15:00 GMT	Benjamin Gilbert  pen.' Morley Hill		Pike	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 11,138 Referee: Malcolm Cotton

1 January 1987 23	Northampton Town	3–2	Colchester United	Northampton
15:00 GMT	Benjamin  50' Morley  56' Gilbert  86' (pen.)	Report	Adcock  52', 63'	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 8,215 Referee: D Vickers

3 January 1987 24	Exeter City	1–1	Northampton Town	Exeter
15:00 GMT	Biggins		Hill	Stadium: St James Park Attendance: 4,331

24 January 1987 25	Northampton Town	5–0	Rochdale	Northampton
15:00 GMT	McMenemy Chard McGoldrick Hill			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 5,484

31 January 1987 26	Peterborough United	0–1	Northampton Town	Peterborough
15:00 GMT			Benjamin	Stadium: London Road Attendance: 7,911

6 February 1987 27	Tranmere Rovers	1–1	Northampton Town	Birkenhead
15:00 GMT	Muir		Hill	Stadium: London Road Attendance: 2,583

14 February 1987 28	Northampton Town	0–1	Swansea City	Northampton
15:00 GMT			Pascoe	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 8,288

21 February 1987 29	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–1	Northampton Town	Wolverhampton
15:00 GMT	Holmes		Chard	Stadium: Molineux Stadium Attendance: 9,991

24 February 1987 30	Torquay United	0–1	Northampton Town	Torquay
19:30 GMT			Donald	Stadium: Plainmoor Attendance: 1,780

27 February 1987 31	Northampton Town	1–0	Halifax Town	Northampton
19:30 GMT	Benjamin			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 6,351

4 March 1987 32	Northampton Town	1–1	Hartlepool United	Northampton
19:30 GMT	Benjamin		Hogan	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 5,470

11 March 1987 33	Northampton Town	1–0	Scunthorpe United	Northampton
19:30 GMT	Morley			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 5,352

14 March 1987 34	Northampton Town	3–0	Cambridge United	Northampton
15:00 GMT	Gilbert  pen.'  pen.' Hill			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 6,201

17 March 1987 35	Burnley	2–1	Northampton Town	Burnley
19:30 GMT	Hoskin  39' Gallagher  70'		Henry	Stadium: Turf Moor

21 March 1987 36	Northampton Town	2–1	Stockport County	Northampton
15:00 GMT	Chard		Entwistle	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 5,466

3 April 1987 37	Preston North End	1–0	Northampton Town	Preston
19:30 BST	Brazil			Stadium: Deepdale Attendance: 16,566

8 April 1987 38	Hereford United	3–2	Northampton Town	Hereford
19:30 BST	Phillips Spooner Kearns		Chard Morley	Stadium: Edgar Street Attendance: 2,758

12 April 1987 39	Northampton Town	2–0	Orient	Northampton
15:00 BST	Gilbert McPherson			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 6,711

17 April 1987 40	Colchester United	3–1	Northampton Town	Colchester
19:30 BST	Wilkins  39' Chatterton  57' (pen.) Hedman  76'	Report	Logan  15'	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 3,676 Referee: Colin Downey

20 April 1987 41	Northampton Town	2–1	Southend United	Northampton
15:00 BST	Hill McPherson		Cadette	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 7,383 Referee: Joe Worrall

26 April 1987 42	Lincoln City	3–1	Northampton Town	Lincoln
15:00 BST	Gilligan Gamble Chard  o.g.'		McGoldrick	Stadium: Sincil Bank Attendance: 4,012

29 April 1987 43	Northampton Town	2–1	Crewe Alexandra	Northampton
19:30 BST	Gilbert  pen.' Hill		Bodak	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 8,890

4 May 1987 44	Cardiff City	1–1	Northampton Town	Cardiff
15:00 BST	Curtis		Benjamin	Stadium: Ninian Park Attendance: 4,012

6 May 1987 45	Aldershot	3–3	Northampton Town	Aldershot
19:30 BST	McDonald King Johnson		Gilbert Benjamin Morley	Stadium: Recreation Ground Attendance: 3,377

9 May 1987 46	Wrexham	1–3	Northampton Town	Wrexham
15:00 BST	Buxton		Bunce Morley	Stadium: Racecourse Ground Attendance: 2,709

FA Cup

16 November 1986 1st round	Northampton Town	3–0	Peterborough United	Northampton
15:00 GMT	McGoldrick Gilbert  pen.' Benjamin			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 9,114 Referee: Jim Ashworth

5 December 1986 2nd round	Southend United	4–4	Northampton Town	Southend-on-Sea
19:45 GMT	Cadette McDonough		Donald Hill Benjamin	Stadium: Roots Hall Attendance: 7,412 Referee: Ray Lewis

16 December 1986 2nd round (R)	Northampton Town	3–2	Southend United	Northampton
19:45 GMT	Benjamin Gilbert  pen.'  pen.'		Pennyfather Cadette	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 10,603 Referee: Ray Lewis

21 January 1987 3rd round	Newcastle United	2–1	Northampton Town	Newcastle-upon-Tyne
19:30 GMT	Goddard Thomas	Report	Hill	Stadium: St James' Park Attendance: 23,177

Littlewoods Cup

25 August 1986 1st round 1st leg	Gillingham	1–0	Northampton Town	Gillingham
19:30 BST	Weatherly			Stadium: Priestfield Attendance: 2,948

3 September 1986 1st round 2nd leg	Northampton Town	2–2	Gillingham	Northampton
19:30 BST	Coy Benjamin		Cascarino	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,724 Referee: Howard Taylor

Freight Rover Trophy

Group 2

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Gillingham	2	2	0	0	6	0	+6	6
Northampton Town	2	1	0	1	3	1	+2	3
Notts County	2	0	0	2	0	8	−8	0

Source:

16 December 1986 Prelim round (S)	Gillingham	1–0	Northampton Town	Gillingham
19:30 GMT	Pritchard			Stadium: Priestfield Stadium Attendance: 2,046

5 January 1987 Prelim round (S)	Northampton Town	3–0	Notts County	Northampton
19:30 GMT	Hill Gilbert Mann			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 3,578

26 January 1987 1st round	Fulham	3–2	Northampton Town	Fulham
19:30 GMT	Achampong Barnett Marshall		Chard Benjamin	Stadium: Craven Cottage Attendance: 2,080

Appearances and goals

Pos	Player	Division Four			FA Cup			League Cup			League Trophy			Total
		Starts	Sub	Goals	Starts	Sub	Goals	Starts	Sub	Goals	Starts	Sub	Goals	Starts	Sub	Goals
GK	Peter Gleasure	46	–	–	4	–	–	2	–	–	3	–	–	55	–	–
GK	Alan Harris	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
DF	Mark Bushell	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
DF	Lee Carter	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
DF	Bobby Coy	15	2	–	–	–	–	2	–	1	1	–	–	18	2	1
DF	David Logan	15	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	15	–	1
DF	Keith McPherson	46	–	5	4	–	–	2	–	–	3	–	–	55	–	5
DF	Graham Reed	36	1	1	4	–	–	2	–	–	2	–	–	44	1	1
DF	Russ Wilcox	34	1	1	3	–	–	–	–	–	3	–	–	40	1	1
MF	Paul Bunce	1	1	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	1	1
MF	Phil Chard	39	1	12	3	–	–	2	–	–	1	–	1	45	1	13
MF	Warren Donald	41	–	3	3	–	1	1	–	–	2	–	–	47	–	4
MF	Dave Gilbert	45	–	8	3	–	3	2	–	–	3	–	1	53	–	12
MF	Richard Hill	45	–	29	4	–	3	2	–	–	3	–	1	54	–	33
MF	Aidy Mann	7	2	–	1	1	–	1	–	–	1	2	1	10	5	1
MF	Eddie McGoldrick	35	4	5	4	–	1	2	–	–	3	–	–	44	4	6
FW	Ian Benjamin	46	–	18	4	–	3	2	–	1	3	–	1	55	–	23
FW	Glen Donegal	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	1	–
FW	Trevor Morley	37	–	16	4	–	–	2	–	–	2	–	–	45	–	16
Players who left before end of season:
DF	Irvin Gernon	9	–	–	3	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	13	–	–
MF	Keith Gorman	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	2	–
MF	Charlie Henry	4	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	4	–	1
MF	John Millar	1	–	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	2	–	–	4	–	–
MF	Mark Schiavi	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	–
FW	Paul McMenemy	4	–	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	4	–	2
FW	Paul Sugrue	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee
Summer 1986	CB		Bobby Coy	Chester City
Summer 1986	W		Dave Gilbert	Boston United
Summer 1986	GK		Alan Harris	Nuneaton Town	Joint £15,000
Summer 1986	W		Eddie McGoldrick	Nuneaton Town	Joint £15,000
30 June 1986	CB		Russ Wilcox	Frickley Athletic	£15,000
20 February 1987	LB		David Logan	Mansfield Town

Loans in

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Date until
November 1986	LB		Irvin Gernon	Ipswich Town	January 1987
November 1986	W		Keith Gorman	Ipswich Town	December 1986
January 1987	LB		John Millar	Chelsea	January 1987
January 1987	FW		Paul McMenemy	West Ham United	February 1987
February 1987	AM		Charlie Henry	Swindon Town	March 1987

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee
Summer 1986	RB		Paul Curtis	Corby Town
Summer 1986	CB		Russell Lewis	Kettering Town
August 1986	FW		Paul Sugrue	Newport County
September 1986	AM		Mark Schiavi	Cambridge United

Loans out

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Date until
March 1987	W		Aidy Mann	Torquay United	End of Season
	FB		Lee Carter	Gravesend & Northfleet

References

1. Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. Harpenden: Queen Anne Press. p. 258. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
2. Football League appearances only.
3. Joint buy with Eddie McGoldrick
4. "Welcome to the Wonderful World of West Ham United Statistics - Keith McPherson". www.westhamstats.info. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
5. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2002). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2002/2003. Harpenden: Queen Anne Press. p. 438. ISBN 978-1-85291-648-0.
6. Joint buy with Alan Harris
7. Paul Newman (21 November 1986). "Non-League Football: Troubled Nuneaton face a fight for survival". The Times.

Books

• Beesley, Mark (2011). Champagne Cobblers: Northampton Town 1986-87. London: Desert Island Books. ISBN 9781905328949.
• Grande, Frank (1997). Northampton Town F.C.: The Official Centenary History. London: Yore Publications. ISBN 978-1874427674.