# 1969–70 Northampton Town F.C. season

The 1969–70 season was Northampton Town's 73rd season in their history and the first season back in the Fourth Division. Alongside competing in Division Four, the club also participated in the FA Cup and League Cup.

## Players

    As of match played 27 April 1970.
| Name | Position | Place of Birth | Date of Birth (Age) | Apps | Goals | Previous club | Date signed | Fee |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| Kim Book | GK | Bath | (1946-02-12)12 February 1946 (aged 24) | 41 | 0 | Bournemouth & B A | July 1969 | |
| Gary Knibbs | GK | Northampton | (1951-03-10)10 March 1951 (aged 19) | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | July 1969 | N/A |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| Eric Brookes | FB | Darton | (1944-02-03)3 February 1944 (aged 26) | 52 | 1 | Barnsley | July 1969 | |
| John Clarke | CB | Northampton | (1945-10-23)23 October 1945 (aged 24) | 89 | 0 | Apprentice | July 1965 | N/A |
| Ray Fairfax | FB | Smethwick | (1941-11-14)14 November 1941 (aged 28) | 97 | 1 | West Bromwich Albion | July 1968 | |
| Brian Knight | U | Dundee | (1949-03-28)28 March 1949 (aged 21) | 13 | 0 | Huddersfield Town | October 1969 | |
| Phil Neal | U | Irchester | (1951-02-20)20 February 1951 (aged 19) | 39 | 6 | Apprentice | July 1968 | N/A |
| Frank Rankmore | CB | Cardiff | (1939-07-21)21 July 1939 (aged 30) | 93 | 15 | Peterborough United | August 1968 | £12,000 |
| Neil Townsend | CB | Long Buckby | (1950-02-01)1 February 1950 (aged 20) | 34 | 1 | Apprentice | September 1968 | N/A |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| Bernie Fagan | W | Houghton-le-Spring | (1949-01-29)29 January 1949 (aged 21) | 8 | 0 | Sunderland | July 1969 | |
| Graham Felton | W | Cambridge | (1949-03-01)1 March 1949 (aged 21) | 114 | 9 | Apprentice | September 1966 | N/A |
| Peter Hawkins | LW | Swansea | (1951-11-09)9 November 1951 (aged 18) | 19 | 3 | Apprentice | July 1968 | N/A |
| Joe Kiernan | CM | Coatbridge | (1942-10-22)22 October 1942 (aged 27) | 259 | 13 | Sunderland | July 1963 | |
| Barry Lines | W | Bletchley | (1942-05-16)16 May 1942 (aged 27) | 295 | 50 | Bletchley Town | September 1960 | |
| John McGleish | CM | Airdrie | (1951-12-18)18 December 1951 (aged 18) | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | November 1968 | N/A |
| Dixie McNeil | W | Melton Mowbray | (1947-01-16)16 January 1947 (aged 23) | 25 | 8 | Corby Town | May 1969 | £5,000 |
| Eric Ross | CM | Belfast | (1944-09-19)19 September 1944 (aged 25) | 43 | 3 | Newcastle United | August 1969 | |
| Eric Weaver | W | Rhymney | (1943-07-01)1 July 1943 (aged 26) | 71 | 9 | Notts County | December 1967 | |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| John Fairbrother | CF | Cricklewood | (1941-02-12)12 February 1941 (aged 29) | 109 | 44 | Peterborough United | February 1968 | |
| Frank Large | CF | Leeds | (1940-01-26)26 January 1940 (aged 30) | 139 | 59 | Fulham | August 1969 | |

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

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 12 | Scunthorpe United | 46 | 18 | 10 | 18 | 67 | 65 | 1.031 | 46 |
| 13 | York City | 46 | 16 | 14 | 16 | 55 | 62 | 0.887 | 46 |
| 14 | Northampton Town | 46 | 16 | 12 | 18 | 64 | 55 | 1.164 | 44 |
| 15 | Crewe Alexandra | 46 | 16 | 12 | 18 | 51 | 51 | 1.000 | 44 |
| 16 | Grimsby Town | 46 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 54 | 58 | 0.931 | 43 |

#### 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 | 16 | 12 | 18 | 64 | 55 | 1.164 | 44 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 41 | 19 | 29 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 23 | 36 | 15 |
Last updated: 2 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 | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | H | A | A | H | A | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | A |
| Result | L | L | D | D | D | D | L | L | W | W | W | L | L | L | W | W | D | L | D | D | D | L | W | D | W | W | W | L | L | W | W | L | L | W | L | L | D | L | D | W | W | W | D | W | L | L |
| Position | 24 | 23 | 23 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 22 | 17 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 22 | 20 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 |

#### 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 | Kim Book | 32 | – | – | 9 | – | – | – | – | – | 41 | – | – |
| GK | Gary Knibbs | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| DF | Eric Brookes | 42 | – | 1 | 7 | 2 | – | 1 | – | – | 50 | 2 | 1 |
| DF | John Clarke | 44 | – | – | 9 | – | – | – | – | – | 53 | – | – |
| DF | Ray Fairfax | 39 | – | 1 | 9 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 49 | – | 1 |
| DF | Brian Knight | 9 | 3 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 10 | 3 | – |
| DF | Phil Neal | 10 | 3 | 1 | – | 3 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 11 | 6 | 2 |
| DF | Frank Rankmore | 45 | – | 7 | 9 | – | 3 | 1 | – | – | 55 | – | 10 |
| DF | Neil Townsend | 13 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 13 | – | 1 |
| MF | Bernie Fagan | 6 | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | 8 | – | – |
| MF | Graham Felton | 43 | 1 | 6 | 9 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | 53 | 1 | 7 |
| MF | Peter Hawkins | 9 | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | 9 | 3 | 2 |
| MF | Joe Kiernan | 41 | – | 3 | 8 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 50 | – | 3 |
| MF | Barry Lines | 7 | 5 | – | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 9 | 5 | – |
| MF | John McGleish | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| MF | Dixie McNeil | 19 | – | 6 | 5 | – | 2 | 1 | – | – | 25 | – | 8 |
| MF | Eric Ross | 33 | 2 | 3 | 8 | – | – | – | – | – | 41 | 2 | 3 |
| MF | Eric Weaver | 14 | 2 | – | 4 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 19 | 2 | – |
| FW | John Fairbrother | 46 | – | 23 | 9 | – | 2 | 1 | – | – | 56 | – | 25 |
| FW | Frank Large | 40 | – | 10 | 9 | – | 2 | – | – | – | 49 | – | 12 |
| Players who left before end of season: ||||||||||||||
| GK | Des McPartland | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 6 | – | – |
| GK | Gordon Morritt | 8 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 9 | – | – |