# 1997–98 Northampton Town F.C. season

The 1997–98 season was Northampton Town's 101st season in their history and the first season back in the Second Division after promotion the previous season. Alongside competing in Division Two, the club also participated in the FA Cup, League Cup and Football League Trophy.

## Players

    As of match played 24 May 1998.
| Name | Position | Place of Birth | Date of Birth (Age) | Apps | Goals | Previous club | Date signed | Fee |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| Billy Turley | GK | Wolverhampton | (1973-07-15)15 July 1973 (aged 24) | 6 | 0 | Evesham United | 10 July 1995 | Free |
| Andy Woodman | GK | Camberwell | (1971-08-11)11 August 1971 (aged 26) | 174 | 0 | Exeter City | 10 March 1995 | Free |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| Charlie Bishop | CB | Nottingham | (1968-02-16)16 February 1968 (aged 30) | 9 | 0 | Wigan Athletic | 1 December 1997 | £20,000 |
| David Brightwell | CB | Lutterworth | (1971-01-07)7 January 1971 (aged 27) | 47 | 1 | Bradford City | 29 July 1997 | Free |
| Ian Clarkson | RB | Solihull | (1970-12-04)4 December 1970 (aged 27) | 109 | 2 | Stoke City | 2 August 1996 | Free |
| Lee Colkin | LB | Nuneaton | (1974-07-15)15 July 1974 (aged 23) | 119 | 4 | Apprentice | 31 August 1992 | N/A |
| Jason Drysdale | LB | Bristol | (1970-11-17)17 November 1970 (aged 27) | 1 | 0 | Swindon Town | 27 March 1998 | Free |
| John Frain | LB | Birmingham | (1968-10-08)8 October 1968 (aged 29) | 56 | 2 | Birmingham City | Summer 1997 | Free |
| Colin Hill | CB | Uxbridge (ENG) | (1963-11-12)12 November 1963 (aged 34) | 36 | 0 | Trelleborgs FF | 19 November 1997 | £30,000 |
| Ian Sampson | CB | Wakefield | (1968-11-14)14 November 1968 (aged 29) | 194 | 17 | Sunderland | 5 August 1994 | £30,000 |
| Ray Warburton (c) | CB | Rotherham | (1967-10-07)7 October 1967 (aged 30) | 205 | 15 | York City | 4 February 1994 | £35,000 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| Jason Dozzell | CM | Ipswich | (1967-12-09)9 December 1967 (aged 30) | 25 | 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 16 December 1997 | Free |
| Ali Gibb | RM | Salisbury | (1976-02-17)17 February 1976 (aged 22) | 93 | 3 | Norwich City | 5 February 1996 | £30,000 |
| James Hunt | CM | Derby | (1976-12-17)17 December 1976 (aged 21) | 30 | 0 | Notts County | 1 August 1997 | Free |
| Roy Hunter | CM | Saltburn-by-the-Sea | (1973-10-29)29 October 1973 (aged 24) | 123 | 12 | West Bromwich Albion | 2 August 1995 | Free |
| Sean Parrish | LM | Wrexham | (1972-03-14)14 March 1972 (aged 26) | 58 | 8 | Doncaster Rovers | 2 August 1996 | £35,000 |
| Dean Peer | CM | Wordsley | (1969-08-08)8 August 1969 (aged 28) | 115 | 5 | Walsall | 22 August 1995 | Free |
| Michael Warner | CM | Harrogate | (1974-01-17)17 January 1974 (aged 24) | 23 | 0 | Tamworth | 31 May 1995 | Free |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| Chris Freestone | FW | Nottingham | (1971-09-04)4 September 1971 (aged 26) | 32 | 13 | Middlesbrough | 24 December 1997 | £75,000 |
| John Gayle | FW | Bromsgrove | (1964-07-30)30 July 1964 (aged 33) | 60 | 12 | Stoke City | 10 February 1997 | £25,000 |
| Carl Heggs | FW | Leicester | (1970-10-11)11 October 1970 (aged 27) | 44 | 9 | Swansea City | 1 August 1997 | £25,000 |
| Christian Lee | FW | Aylesbury | (1976-10-08)8 October 1976 (aged 21) | 54 | 9 | Doncaster Rovers | 13 July 1995 | Free |
| David Seal | FW | Penrith, NSW | (1972-01-26)26 January 1972 (aged 26) | 46 | 14 | Bristol City | 12 September 1997 | £90,000 |
| Kevin Wilson | FW | Banbury (ENG) | (1961-04-18)18 April 1961 (aged 37) | 10 | 0 | Walsall | 28 July 1997 | Free |

## Competitions
### Nationwide Football League Division Two
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 2 | Bristol City (P) | 46 | 25 | 10 | 11 | 69 | 39 | +30 | 85 | Promotion to the First Division |
| 3 | Grimsby Town (O, P) | 46 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 55 | 37 | +18 | 72 | Qualification for the Second Division play-offs |
| 4 | Northampton Town | 46 | 18 | 17 | 11 | 52 | 37 | +15 | 71 | Qualification for the Second Division play-offs |
| 5 | Bristol Rovers | 46 | 20 | 10 | 16 | 70 | 64 | +6 | 70 | Qualification for the Second Division play-offs |
| 6 | Fulham | 46 | 20 | 10 | 16 | 60 | 43 | +17 | 70 | Qualification for the Second Division play-offs |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 22 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 | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | L | D | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | D | L | W | D | D | D | D | L | W | L | L | D | L | W | D | W | L | W | D | D | D | W | W | D | L | W | L | W | W | D | D | L | L | D | W | W | D |
| Position | 22 | 20 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 |

#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss

#### Play-offs
### Appearances, goals and cards

| Pos | Player | Division Two | Division Two | Division Two | FA Cup | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | League Cup | League Trophy | League Trophy | League Trophy | Play-offs | Play-offs | Play-offs | Total | Total | Total | Discipline | Discipline |
| Pos | Player | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | | |
| GK | Billy Turley | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | – | – |
| GK | Andy Woodman | 46 | – | – | 5 | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | 56 | – | – | 1 | – |
| DF | Charlie Bishop | 7 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 8 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 |
| DF | David Brightwell | 34 | 1 | 1 | 5 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | 1 | – | 45 | 2 | 1 | 2 | – |
| DF | Ian Clarkson | 42 | – | 1 | 5 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 3 | – | 1 | 53 | – | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| DF | Lee Colkin | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | – |
| DF | Jason Drysdale | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – |
| DF | John Frain | 45 | – | 1 | 5 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 3 | – | 1 | 3 | – | – | 58 | – | 2 | 3 | – |
| DF | Colin Hill | 27 | – | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 36 | – | – | 6 | – |
| DF | Ian Sampson | 39 | – | 3 | 2 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 1 | – | 1 | 3 | – | – | 47 | – | 4 | 6 | – |
| DF | Dean Tallentire | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| DF | Ray Warburton | 39 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 3 | – | 1 | 49 | – | 1 | 6 | – |
| MF | Jason Dozzell | 18 | 3 | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 22 | 3 | 4 | – | – |
| MF | Ali Gibb | 6 | 28 | 1 | 2 | 3 | – | – | 2 | – | 2 | – | – | – | 2 | – | 10 | 35 | 1 | – | – |
| MF | James Hunt | 14 | 7 | – | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 21 | 9 | – | 6 | – |
| MF | Roy Hunter | 28 | – | 3 | 5 | – | 2 | 2 | – | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 38 | – | 5 | 5 | – |
| MF | Sean Parrish | 12 | – | 1 | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 14 | – | 1 | 2 | – |
| MF | Dean Peer | 26 | 4 | 2 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 1 | – | 32 | 5 | 2 | 4 | – |
| MF | Michael Warner | 3 | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | 3 | 9 | – | – | – |
| FW | Chris Freestone | 23 | 2 | 11 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | – | – | 29 | 3 | 13 | 4 | – |
| FW | John Gayle | 26 | 9 | 6 | 4 | – | – | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 35 | 11 | 9 | 10 | – |
| FW | Carl Heggs | 21 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | – | 1 | 29 | 15 | 9 | 9 | 1 |
| FW | Christian Lee | 3 | 3 | – | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 6 | 3 | – | – | – |
| FW | David Seal | 30 | 7 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 2 | – | 35 | 11 | 14 | 4 | – |
| FW | Kevin Wilson | 1 | 8 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 9 | – | – | – |
| Players who left before end of season: ||||||||||||||||||||||
| DF | Graham Potter | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 5 | – | – | – | – |
| DF | David Rennie | 3 | 2 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | 2 | – | 1 | – |
| MF | Nigel Gleghorn | 3 | 5 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | – |
| MF | Paul Tait | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 1 | – | 1 | – |
| FW | Paul Conway | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 1 | – | 2 | – |
| FW | Claudio De Vito | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| FW | Laurens ten Heuvel | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| FW | Raymond Van Dullemen | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | – |
| FW | Colin West | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | – |