# 1973–74 Northampton Town F.C. season

The 1973–74 season was Northampton Town's 77th season in their history and the fifth successive season 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 25 April 1975.
| Name | Position | Place of Birth | Date of Birth (Age) | Apps | Goals | Previous club | Date signed | Fee |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| Alan Starling | GK | Dagenham | (1951-04-02)2 April 1951 (aged 23) | 135 | 0 | Luton Town | June 1971 | |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| Dietmar Bruck | RB | Danzig | (1944-04-19)19 April 1944 (aged 30) | 44 | 0 | Charlton Athletic | June 1972 | N/A |
| John Clarke | CB | Northampton | (1945-10-23)23 October 1945 (aged 28) | 255 | 1 | Apprentice | July 1965 | N/A |
| John Gregory | U | Scunthorpe | (1954-05-11)11 May 1954 (aged 19) | 59 | 0 | Apprentice | Summer 1972 | N/A |
| Phil Neal | U | Irchester | (1951-02-20)20 February 1951 (aged 23) | 195 | 27 | Apprentice | July 1968 | N/A |
| Alan Oman | FB | Newcastle upon Tyne | (1952-10-06)6 October 1952 (aged 21) | 73 | 2 | Apprentice | October 1970 | N/A |
| Stuart Robertson | CB | Nottingham | (1946-12-16)16 December 1946 (aged 27) | 68 | 7 | Doncaster Rovers | Summer 1972 | |
| Barry Tucker | FB | Swansea | (1952-08-28)28 August 1952 (aged 21) | 69 | 0 | Apprentice | August 1970 | N/A |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| Billy Best (c) | U | Glasgow | (1942-09-07)7 September 1942 (aged 31) | 91 | 24 | Southend United | Summer 1973 | |
| John Buchanan | W | Dingwall | (1951-09-19)19 September 1951 (aged 22) | 112 | 26 | Ross County | October 1970 | |
| Dave Carlton | CM | Stepney | (1952-11-24)24 November 1952 (aged 21) | 35 | 0 | Fulham | October 1973 | |
| Derrick Christie | W | Bletchley | (1957-03-15)15 March 1957 (aged 17) | 3 | 0 | Apprentice | January 1974 | N/A |
| Graham Felton | W | Cambridge | (1949-03-01)1 March 1949 (aged 25) | 261 | 26 | Apprentice | September 1966 | N/A |
| Bobby Park | CM | Edinburgh | (1946-07-03)3 July 1946 (aged 27) | 25 | 0 | Peterborough United | February 1973 | |
| Robin Wainwright | CM | Luton | (1951-03-09)9 March 1951 (aged 23) | 1 | 0 | Millwall | February 1974 | Loan |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| Tony Buck | FW | Clowne | (1944-08-18)18 August 1944 (aged 29) | 18 | 3 | Rochdale | January 1973 | |
| Malcolm John | FW | Bridgend | (1950-12-09)9 December 1950 (aged 23) | 13 | 4 | Bristol Rovers | March 1974 | Loan |
| Paul Stratford | FW | Northampton | (1955-09-04)4 September 1955 (aged 18) | 59 | 16 | Apprentice | Summer 1972 | N/A |

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

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 3 | Colchester United | 46 | 24 | 12 | 10 | 73 | 36 | 2.028 | 60 | Promoted |
| 4 | Bury | 46 | 24 | 11 | 11 | 81 | 49 | 1.653 | 59 | Promoted |
| 5 | Northampton Town | 46 | 20 | 13 | 13 | 63 | 48 | 1.313 | 53 | |
| 6 | Reading | 46 | 16 | 19 | 11 | 58 | 37 | 1.568 | 51 | |
| 7 | Chester | 46 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 54 | 55 | 0.982 | 49 | |

#### 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 | 20 | 13 | 13 | 63 | 48 | 1.313 | 53 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 39 | 14 | 35 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 24 | 34 | 18 |
Last updated: 7 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 | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | A | H | A |
| Result | W | L | D | W | D | D | W | L | W | D | D | L | L | L | W | W | W | L | W | W | L | L | W | L | W | W | D | D | W | W | L | D | W | D | L | W | D | W | W | L | D | W | D | L | W | D |
| Position | 1 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 |

#### 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 | Alan Starling | 46 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 50 | – | – |
| DF | Dietmar Bruck | 15 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 16 | – | – |
| DF | John Clarke | 39 | 3 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | – | 40 | 4 | 1 |
| DF | John Gregory | 46 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 50 | – | – |
| DF | Phil Neal | 46 | – | 9 | 3 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 50 | – | 9 |
| DF | Alan Oman | 17 | 5 | 1 | 2 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 20 | 5 | 1 |
| DF | Stuart Robertson | 31 | – | 4 | 3 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | 35 | – | 5 |
| DF | Barry Tucker | 33 | 1 | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 36 | 1 | – |
| MF | Billy Best | 38 | 1 | 7 | 3 | – | 1 | – | – | – | 41 | 1 | 8 |
| MF | John Buchanan | 40 | 2 | 13 | 3 | – | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | 44 | 2 | 15 |
| MF | Dave Carlton | 32 | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | 34 | – | – |
| MF | Derrick Christie | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 2 | – |
| MF | Graham Felton | 43 | 1 | 5 | 3 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | 47 | 1 | 6 |
| MF | Bobby Park | 3 | 3 | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 4 | 3 | – |
| MF | Robin Wainwright | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| FW | Tony Buck | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 1 | – |
| FW | Malcolm John | 13 | – | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 13 | – | 4 |
| FW | Paul Stratford | 45 | – | 15 | 3 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 49 | – | 15 |
| Players who left before end of season: ||||||||||||||
| MF | Gordon Riddick | 8 | – | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 9 | – | 1 |
| MF | Peter Hawkins | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – |
| FW | Dick Krzywicki | 8 | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 8 | – | 3 |
| FW | Derek Watts | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – |