# 1980–81 Northampton Town F.C. season

The 1980–81 season was Northampton Town's 84th season in their history and the fourth successive season in the Fourth Division. Alongside competing in Division Four, the club also participated in the FA Cup and the League Cup.

## Players

    As of match played 5 May 1981.
| Name | Position | Place of Birth | Date of Birth (Age) | Apps | Goals | Previous club | Date signed | Fee |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| Andy Poole | GK | Chesterfield | (1960-07-06)6 July 1960 (aged 20) | 157 | 0 | Mansfield Town | July 1978 | |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| Dennis Byatt | CB | Hillingdon | (1958-08-08)8 August 1958 (aged 22) | 53 | 3 | Peterborough United | June 1979 | |
| Wakeley Gage | CB | Northampton | (1958-05-05)5 May 1958 (aged 23) | 104 | 6 | Desborough Town | October 1979 | £8,000 |
| Phil Sandercock | LB | Plymouth | (1956-06-21)21 June 1956 (aged 24) | 73 | 3 | Huddersfield Town | September 1979 | |
| Paul Saunders | U | Watford | (1959-12-17)17 December 1959 (aged 21) | 99 | 3 | Watford | July 1978 | |
| Des Waldock | CB | Northampton | (1961-12-04)4 December 1961 (aged 19) | 57 | 4 | Apprentice | November 1979 | |
| Ricky Walker | RB | Northampton | (1959-04-04)4 April 1959 (aged 22) | 61 | 0 | Coventry City | August 1978 | |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| Dave Carlton | U | Stepney | (1952-11-24)24 November 1952 (aged 28) | 194 | 8 | Brentford | September 1980 | |
| Peter Cooke | CM | Northampton | (1962-01-15)15 January 1962 (aged 19) | 5 | 1 | Apprentice | July 1980 | |
| Peter Denyer | W | Chiddingfold | (1957-11-26)26 November 1957 (aged 23) | 126 | 27 | Portsmouth | July 1979 | P/E |
| Mark Heeley | W | Peterborough | (1959-09-08)8 September 1959 (aged 21) | 78 | 6 | Arsenal | March 1980 | £33,000 |
| Gary Leonard | CM | Northampton | (1962-03-23)23 March 1962 (aged 19) | 2 | 0 | Apprentice | March 1980 | |
| Maurice Muir | W | London | (1963-03-19)19 March 1963 (aged 18) | 2 | 0 | Apprentice | April 1980 | N/A |
| Adam Sandy | U | Peterborough | (1958-09-22)22 September 1958 (aged 22) | 106 | 6 | Wolverton Town | February 1980 | |
| Gary Saxby | U | Clipstone | (1959-12-11)11 December 1959 (aged 21) | 75 | 9 | Mansfield Town | August 1980 | Free transfer |
| Keith Williams | CM | Dudley | (1957-04-12)12 April 1957 (aged 24) | 142 | 7 | Aston Villa | February 1977 | |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| Keith Bowen | FW | Northampton (ENG) | (1958-02-26)26 February 1958 (aged 23) | 71 | 25 | Apprentice | August 1976 | |
| Kevin Farmer | FW | Ramsgate | (1960-01-24)24 January 1960 (aged 21) | 81 | 12 | Leicester City | August 1979 | |
| Steve Phillips | FW | Edmonton | (1954-08-04)4 August 1954 (aged 26) | 103 | 31 | Brentford | August 1980 | £40,000 |

## Competitions
### Division Four
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 8 | Darlington | 46 | 19 | 11 | 16 | 65 | 59 | +6 | 49 |
| 9 | Hartlepool United | 46 | 20 | 9 | 17 | 64 | 61 | +3 | 49 |
| 10 | Northampton Town | 46 | 18 | 13 | 15 | 65 | 67 | −2 | 49 |
| 11 | Wigan Athletic | 46 | 18 | 11 | 17 | 51 | 55 | −4 | 47 |
| 12 | Bury | 46 | 17 | 11 | 18 | 70 | 62 | +8 | 45 |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| 46 | 18 | 13 | 15 | 65 | 67 | 0.97 | 49 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 42 | 26 | 29 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 23 | 41 | 20 |
Last updated: 15 February 2024. 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 | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | A |
| Result | L | D | W | L | L | W | W | L | L | L | W | W | W | W | L | L | W | W | L | L | D | W | D | W | L | W | D | L | L | D | L | D | D | W | W | D | L | D | W | D | D | D | D | W | W | W |
| Position | 20 | 21 | 18 | 19 | 23 | 19 | 15 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 21 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 15 | 16 | 12 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 10 |

#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss

### Appearances and goals

| Pos | Player | Division Four | Division Four | Division Four | FA Cup | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total | Total |
| Pos | Player | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals |
| GK | Andy Poole | 46 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 49 | – | – |
| DF | Dennis Byatt | 14 | – | – | – | 1 | – | 2 | – | – | 16 | 1 | – |
| DF | Wakeley Gage | 29 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 31 | 1 | 1 |
| DF | Phil Sandercock | 31 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 34 | – | 1 |
| DF | Paul Saunders | 25 | 3 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 25 | 3 | 2 |
| DF | Des Waldock | 22 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 24 | 1 | 1 |
| DF | Ricky Walker | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | 4 | – | – |
| MF | Dave Carlton | 39 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 39 | – | 1 |
| MF | Peter Cooke | 4 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| MF | Peter Denyer | 45 | – | 13 | 1 | – | – | 2 | – | 1 | 48 | – | 14 |
| MF | Mark Heeley | 33 | 3 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 35 | 3 | 2 |
| MF | Gary Leonard | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – |
| MF | Maurice Muir | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| MF | Adam Sandy | 32 | 4 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 34 | 4 | 1 |
| MF | Gary Saxby | 28 | 6 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 30 | 6 | 1 |
| MF | Keith Williams | 39 | – | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 40 | – | 2 |
| FW | Keith Bowen | 32 | – | 13 | 1 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 35 | – | 13 |
| FW | Kevin Farmer | 36 | 3 | 6 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | – | 37 | 4 | 6 |
| FW | Steve Phillips | 45 | – | 19 | 1 | – | 1 | 2 | – | 2 | 48 | – | 22 |
| Players who left before end of season: ||||||||||||||
| FW | Gary Sargent | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | 5 | – | – |