# 1976–77 Northampton Town F.C. season

The 1976–77 season was Northampton Town's 80th season in their history and the first season back in the Third Division following promotion the previous season. Alongside competing in Division Three, the club also participated in the FA Cup and League Cup.

## Players

    As of match played 7 May 1977.
| Name | Position | Place of Birth | Date of Birth (Age) | Apps | Goals | Previous club | Date signed | Fee |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| Jeff Parton | GK | Swansea | (1953-02-24)24 February 1953 (aged 24) | 18 | 0 | Burnley | Summer 1975 | |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| Steve Bryant | LB | London | (1953-09-05)5 September 1953 (aged 23) | 28 | 0 | Birmingham City | December 1976 | |
| John Gregory | U | Scunthorpe | (1954-05-11)11 May 1954 (aged 22) | 203 | 10 | Apprentice | Summer 1972 | N/A |
| Alex Malcolm | LB | Hamilton | (1956-02-13)13 February 1956 (aged 21) | 2 | 0 | Luton Town | August 1976 | |
| Stuart Robertson | CB | Nottingham | (1946-12-16)16 December 1946 (aged 30) | 194 | 20 | Doncaster Rovers | Summer 1972 | |
| Barry Tucker | FB | Swansea | (1952-08-28)28 August 1952 (aged 24) | 202 | 2 | Apprentice | August 1970 | N/A |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| Billy Best (c) | U | Glasgow | (1942-09-07)7 September 1942 (aged 34) | 233 | 53 | Southend United | Summer 1973 | |
| Derrick Christie | W | Bletchley | (1957-03-15)15 March 1957 (aged 20) | 89 | 7 | Apprentice | January 1974 | N/A |
| John Farrington | W | Lynemouth | (1947-06-19)19 June 1947 (aged 29) | 121 | 11 | Cardiff City | Summer 1974 | |
| Don Martin | U | Corby | (1944-02-15)15 February 1944 (aged 33) | 223 | 72 | Blackburn Rovers | November 1975 | |
| Andy McGowan | CM | Corby | (1956-07-17)17 July 1956 (aged 20) | 77 | 8 | Apprentice | June 1975 | N/A |
| Keith Williams | CM | Dudley | (1957-04-12)12 April 1957 (aged 20) | 17 | 1 | Aston Villa | February 1977 | |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| Keith Bowen | FW | Northampton | (1958-02-26)26 February 1958 (aged 19) | 1 | 0 | Apprentice | Summer 1976 | N/A |
| Jim Hall | FW | Northampton | (1945-03-21)21 March 1945 (aged 32) | 125 | 34 | Peterborough United | Summer 1975 | |
| Ray Haywood | FW | Dudley | (1949-01-12)12 January 1949 (aged 28) | 13 | 2 | Shrewsbury Town | March 1977 | |
| George Reilly | FW | Bellshill | (1957-09-14)14 September 1957 (aged 19) | 23 | 2 | Corby Town | June 1976 | |
| Paul Stratford | FW | Northampton | (1955-09-04)4 September 1955 (aged 21) | 186 | 61 | Apprentice | Summer 1972 | N/A |

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

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 20 | Portsmouth | 46 | 11 | 14 | 21 | 53 | 70 | −17 | 36 | |
| 21 | Reading | 46 | 13 | 9 | 24 | 49 | 73 | −24 | 35 | Relegated |
| 22 | Northampton Town | 46 | 13 | 8 | 25 | 60 | 75 | −15 | 34 | Relegated |
| 23 | Grimsby Town | 46 | 12 | 9 | 25 | 45 | 69 | −24 | 33 | Relegated |
| 24 | York City | 46 | 10 | 12 | 24 | 50 | 89 | −39 | 32 | Relegated |

#### 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 | 13 | 8 | 25 | 60 | 75 | 0.8 | 34 | 9 | 4 | 10 | 33 | 29 | 22 | 4 | 4 | 15 | 27 | 46 | 12 |
Last updated: 9 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 | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A |
| Result | D | L | W | D | L | L | L | L | L | W | L | W | L | D | L | W | L | D | L | L | L | L | L | W | W | L | L | D | W | W | W | L | L | W | W | L | D | W | L | L | W | D | L | D | L | L |
| Position | 14 | 16 | 8 | 9 | 14 | 19 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 20 | 22 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 20 | 17 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 22 |

#### 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 | Jeff Parton | 12 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 13 | – | – |
| DF | Steve Bryant | 28 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 28 | – | – |
| DF | John Gregory | 46 | – | 4 | 1 | – | – | 3 | – | 1 | 50 | – | 5 |
| DF | Alex Malcolm | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – |
| DF | Stuart Robertson | 41 | – | 4 | 1 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 45 | – | 4 |
| DF | Barry Tucker | 37 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 41 | – | – |
| MF | Billy Best | 40 | – | 11 | 1 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 44 | – | 11 |
| MF | Derrick Christie | 37 | 7 | 5 | 1 | – | – | 3 | – | 1 | 41 | 7 | 6 |
| MF | John Farrington | 35 | 6 | 4 | – | 1 | – | – | 2 | – | 35 | 9 | 4 |
| MF | Andy McGowan | 25 | 6 | 4 | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | 28 | 6 | 4 |
| MF | Don Martin | 32 | 5 | 3 | 1 | – | – | 3 | – | 1 | 36 | 5 | 4 |
| MF | Keith Williams | 17 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 17 | – | 1 |
| FW | Keith Bowen | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| FW | Ray Haywood | 11 | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 11 | 2 | 2 |
| FW | George Reilly | 19 | 3 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 20 | 3 | 2 |
| FW | Paul Stratford | 40 | 2 | 12 | 1 | – | – | 3 | – | 1 | 44 | 2 | 13 |
| Players who left before end of season: ||||||||||||||
| GK | Alan Starling | 26 | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | 29 | – | – |
| GK | Bob Ward | 8 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 8 | – | – |
| DF | Dave Carlton | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 6 | – | – |
| DF | Ian Ross | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – |
| MF | John Gilligan | 5 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 5 | – | 1 |
| FW | Keith Bowker | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | – | – |
| FW | Jim Hall | 11 | – | 2 | 1 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 15 | – | 2 |
| FW | Bobby Owen | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 5 | – | – |
| FW | Steve Phillips | 16 | 1 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 20 | 1 | 2 |