# 1968–69 Northampton Town F.C. season

The 1968–69 season was Northampton Town's 72nd season in their history and their second successive season in the Third Division. Alongside competing in Division Three, the club also participated in the FA Cup and League Cup.

## Players

    As of match played 29 April 1969.
| Name | Position | Place of Birth | Date of Birth (Age) | Apps | Goals | Previous club | Date signed | Fee |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| Roger Barron | GK | Northampton | (1947-06-30)30 June 1947 (aged 21) | 19 | 0 | Apprentice | July 1965 | N/Ars |
| Gordon Morritt | GK | Rotherham | (1949-02-08)8 February 1949 (aged 20) | 37 | 0 | Doncaster Rovers | August 1968 | |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| John Clarke | CB | Northampton | (1945-10-23)23 October 1945 (aged 23) | 36 | 0 | Apprentice | July 1965 | N/A |
| Ray Fairfax | FB | Smethwick | (1941-11-14)14 November 1941 (aged 27) | 48 | 0 | West Bromwich Albion | July 1968 | |
| John Mackin | RB | Bellshill | (1943-11-18)18 November 1943 (aged 25) | 112 | 13 | Apprentice | November 1963 | N/A |
| Phil Neal | U | Irchester | (1951-02-20)20 February 1951 (aged 18) | 22 | 4 | Apprentice | July 1968 | N/A |
| Frank Rankmore | CB | Cardiff | (1939-07-21)21 July 1939 (aged 29) | 38 | 5 | Peterborough United | August 1968 | £12,000 |
| John Roberts | U | Abercynon | (1946-09-11)11 September 1946 (aged 22) | 67 | 13 | Swansea Town | November 1967 | £13,000 |
| Neil Townsend | CB | Long Buckby | (1950-02-01)1 February 1950 (aged 19) | 21 | 0 | Apprentice | September 1968 | N/A |
| Clive Walker | LB | Watford | (1945-10-24)24 October 1945 (aged 23) | 80 | 1 | Leicester City | October 1966 | |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| John Byrne | CM | Cambuslang | (1939-05-20)20 May 1939 (aged 29) | 44 | 4 | Peterborough United | December 1967 | £9,000 |
| Graham Felton | W | Cambridge | (1949-03-01)1 March 1949 (aged 20) | 60 | 2 | Apprentice | September 1966 | N/A |
| Ron Flowers | CM | Edlington | (1934-07-28)28 July 1934 (aged 34) | 67 | 4 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | August 1967 | |
| Peter Hawkins | LW | Swansea | (1951-11-09)9 November 1951 (aged 17) | 7 | 1 | Apprentice | July 1968 | N/A |
| Joe Kiernan | CM | Coatbridge | (1942-10-22)22 October 1942 (aged 26) | 209 | 10 | Sunderland | July 1963 | |
| Tommy Knox | W | Glasgow | (1939-09-05)5 September 1939 (aged 29) | 33 | 1 | Mansfield Town | November 1967 | |
| Barry Lines | W | Bletchley | (1942-05-16)16 May 1942 (aged 26) | 281 | 50 | Bletchley Town | September 1960 | |
| John McGleish | CM | Airdrie | (1951-12-18)18 December 1951 (aged 17) | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | November 1968 | N/A |
| Eric Weaver | W | Rhymney | (1943-07-01)1 July 1943 (aged 25) | 50 | 9 | Notts County | December 1967 | |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| Dennis Brown | IF | Reading | (1944-02-08)8 February 1944 (aged 25) | 48 | 11 | Swindon Town | February 1967 | £5,000 P/E |
| John Fairbrother | CF | Cricklewood | (1941-02-12)12 February 1941 (aged 28) | 53 | 19 | Peterborough United | February 1968 | |
| Bob Hatton | CF | Kingston upon Hull | (1947-04-10)10 April 1947 (aged 22) | 36 | 8 | Bolton Wanderers | October 1968 | |

## Competitions
### Division Three
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 19 | Barrow | 46 | 17 | 8 | 21 | 56 | 75 | 0.747 | 42 | |
| 20 | Gillingham | 46 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 54 | 63 | 0.857 | 41 | |
| 21 | Northampton Town (R) | 46 | 14 | 12 | 20 | 54 | 61 | 0.885 | 40 | Relegation to 1969–70 Fourth Division |
| 22 | Hartlepool (R) | 46 | 10 | 19 | 17 | 40 | 70 | 0.571 | 39 | Relegation to 1969–70 Fourth Division |
| 23 | Crewe Alexandra (R) | 46 | 13 | 9 | 24 | 52 | 76 | 0.684 | 35 | Relegation to 1969–70 Fourth Division |

#### 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 | 14 | 12 | 20 | 54 | 61 | 0.885 | 40 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 37 | 30 | 26 | 5 | 4 | 14 | 17 | 31 | 14 |
Last updated: 5 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 | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | A |
| Result | L | D | W | L | W | D | D | D | W | W | L | W | L | D | L | W | D | L | W | D | W | L | L | L | D | W | L | W | D | D | L | W | W | W | L | W | L | L | L | D | L | L | L | L | L | D |
| Position | 20 | 22 | 18 | 19 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 19 | 21 |

#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss

### Appearances and goals

| Pos | Player | Division Three | Division Three | Division Three | 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 | Roger Barron | 11 | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | 13 | – | – |
| GK | Gordon Morritt | 34 | – | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 37 | – | – |
| DF | John Clarke | 29 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 32 | – | – |
| DF | Ray Fairfax | 43 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – |
| DF | John Mackin | 15 | 2 | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | 17 | 2 | – |
| DF | Phil Neal | 21 | – | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 22 | – | 4 |
| DF | Frank Rankmore | 33 | – | 5 | 3 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 38 | – | 5 |
| DF | John Roberts | 38 | – | 7 | 3 | – | 2 | 1 | – | – | 42 | – | 9 |
| DF | Neil Townsend | 18 | 2 | – | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | 19 | 2 | 1 |
| DF | Clive Walker | 26 | – | 1 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 29 | – | 1 |
| MF | John Byrne | 18 | – | 1 | 2 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 22 | – | 1 |
| MF | Graham Felton | 24 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 25 | – | 1 |
| MF | Ron Flowers | 21 | 1 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 23 | 1 | 2 |
| MF | Peter Hawkins | 6 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| MF | Joe Kiernan | 21 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 22 | – | – |
| MF | Barry Lines | 20 | 2 | 3 | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | – | 21 | 3 | 3 |
| MF | Tommy Knox | 12 | 2 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 2 | – | – | 15 | 2 | 1 |
| MF | John McGleish | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| MF | Eric Weaver | 24 | – | 4 | 1 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 27 | – | 4 |
| FW | Dennis Brown | 20 | 4 | 3 | – | – | – | 2 | – | 1 | 22 | 4 | 4 |
| FW | John Fairbrother | 30 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | 34 | 3 | 14 |
| FW | Bob Hatton | 29 | 4 | 7 | 3 | – | 1 | – | – | – | 32 | 4 | 8 |
| Players who left before end of season: ||||||||||||||
| GK | Stuart Skeet | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – |