1977–78 Northampton Town F.C. season

Northampton Town

1977–78 season
Chairman	Bob Brett
Manager	John Petts (until January) Dave Bowen (caretaker) Mike Keen (from February)
Stadium	County Ground
Division Four	10th
FA Cup	Second round
League Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: George Reilly (21) All: George Reilly (22)
Highest home attendance	8,041 vs Watford
Lowest home attendance	2,278 vs Halifax Town
Average home league attendance	3,517
← 1976–77 1978–79 →

The 1977–78 season was Northampton Town's 81st season in their history and the first season back in the Fourth Division following relegation the previous season. Alongside competing in Division Four, the club also participated in the FA Cup and League Cup.

Players

As of match played 29 April 1978.^[1]

Name	Position	Nat.	Place of Birth	Date of Birth (Age)	Apps	Goals	Previous club	Date signed	Fee
Goalkeepers
Carl Jayes	GK		Leicester	(1954-03-15)15 March 1954 (aged 24)	27	0	Leicester City	November 1977
Jeff Parton	GK		Swansea	(1953-02-24)24 February 1953 (aged 25)	30	0	Burnley	Summer 1975
Defenders
Steve Bryant	LB		London	(1953-09-05)5 September 1953 (aged 24)	74	2	Birmingham City	December 1976
Tony Geidmintis	RB		London	(1949-07-30)30 July 1949 (aged 28)	18	0	Watford	February 1978	£8,000
Steve Litt (c)	CB		Carlisle	(1954-05-21)21 May 1954 (aged 23)	22	0	Minnesota Kicks	September 1977
Dave Lyon	CB		Altrincham	(1951-01-18)18 January 1951 (aged 27)	6	0	Cambridge United	October 1977
Peter Mead	LB		Luton	(1956-09-09)9 September 1956 (aged 21)	39	1	Luton Town	August 1977
Stuart Robertson	CB		Nottingham	(1946-12-16)16 December 1946 (aged 31)	237	23	Doncaster Rovers	Summer 1972
Midfielders
Billy Best	U		Glasgow	(1942-09-07)7 September 1942 (aged 35)	271	56	Southend United	Summer 1973
Derrick Christie	W		Bletchley	(1957-03-15)15 March 1957 (aged 21)	136	17	Apprentice	January 1974	N/A
John Farrington	W		Lynemouth	(1947-06-19)19 June 1947 (aged 30)	170	19	Cardiff City	Summer 1974
David Liddle	CM		Bedford	(1957-05-21)21 May 1957 (aged 20)	32	2	Apprentice	July 1977	N/A
Don Martin	U		Corby	(1944-02-15)15 February 1944 (aged 34)	252	81	Blackburn Rovers	November 1975
Andy McGowan	CM		Corby	(1956-07-17)17 July 1956 (aged 21)	111	14	Apprentice	June 1975	N/A
Kim Wassell	W		Wolverhampton	(1957-06-09)9 June 1957 (aged 20)	7	0	West Bromwich Albion	September 1977
Keith Williams	CM		Dudley	(1957-04-12)12 April 1957 (aged 21)	49	3	Aston Villa	February 1977
Forwards
Keith Bowen	FW		Northampton	(1958-02-26)26 February 1958 (aged 20)	1	0	Apprentice	Summer 1976	N/A
Jim Hall	FW		Northampton	(1945-03-21)21 March 1945 (aged 33)	136	35	Peterborough United	Summer 1975
George Reilly	FW		Bellshill	(1957-09-14)14 September 1957 (aged 20)	72	24	Corby Town	June 1976
Paul Stratford	FW		Northampton	(1955-09-04)4 September 1955 (aged 22)	188	61	Apprentice	Summer 1972	N/A

Competitions

Division Four

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
8	Reading	46	18	14	14	55	52	+3	50
9	Torquay United	46	16	15	15	57	56	+1	47
10	Northampton Town	46	17	13	16	63	68	−5	47
11	Huddersfield Town	46	15	15	16	63	55	+8	45
12	Doncaster Rovers	46	14	17	15	52	65	−13	45

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
46	17	13	16	63	68	0.926	47	9	8	6	32	30	26	8	5	10	31	38	21

League position by match

Matches

  Win   Draw   Loss

FA Cup

League Cup

Appearances and goals

Pos	Player	Division Four			FA Cup			League Cup			Total
		Starts	Sub	Goals	Starts	Sub	Goals	Starts	Sub	Goals	Starts	Sub	Goals
GK	Carl Jayes	25	–	–	2	–	–	–	–	–	27	–	–
GK	Jeff Parton	10	–	–	–	–	–	2	–	–	12	–	–
DF	Steve Bryant	39	2	2	2	–	–	3	–	–	44	2	2
DF	Tony Geidmintis	18	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	18	–	–
DF	Steve Litt	19	1	–	2	–	–	–	–	–	21	1	–
DF	Dave Lyon	6	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	6	–	–
DF	Peter Mead	37	1	1	–	–	–	–	1	–	37	2	1
DF	Stuart Robertson	38	–	3	2	–	–	3	–	–	43	–	3
MF	Billy Best	33	1	2	1	–	–	3	–	–	37	1	2
MF	Derrick Christie	39	4	9	2	–	1	1	1	–	42	5	10
MF	John Farrington	44	–	7	2	–	–	3	–	1	49	–	8
MF	David Liddle	25	2	2	2	–	–	3	–	–	30	2	2
MF	Andy McGowan	30	2	6	–	–	–	2	–	–	32	2	6
MF	Don Martin	16	9	7	2	–	1	2	–	1	20	9	9
MF	Kim Wassell	3	4	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	3	4	–
MF	Keith Williams	25	3	1	–	1	–	3	–	1	28	4	2
FW	Keith Bowen	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
FW	Jim Hall	10	–	1	1	–	–	–	–	–	11	–	1
FW	George Reilly	44	–	21	2	–	–	3	–	1	49	–	22
FW	Paul Stratford	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2	–	–
Non-professional:
DF	Arthur Poppy	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	–
Players who left before end of season:
GK	Stuart Garnham	11	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	12	–	–
DF	Barry Tucker	28	–	1	2	–	–	3	–	–	33	–	1
FW	Ray Haywood	3	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	4	–	–

References

Books

• Grande, Frank (1997). Northampton Town F.C.: The Official Centenary History. London: Yore Publications. ISBN 978-1874427674.