# 1981–82 Northampton Town F.C. season

The 1981–82 season was Northampton Town's 85th 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 the League Cup.

## Players

    As of match played 15 May 1982.
| 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 21) | 157 | 0 | Mansfield Town | July 1978 | |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| Paul Brady | RB | Marston Green | (1961-03-26)26 March 1961 (aged 22) | 47 | 2 | Birmingham City | August 1981 | |
| Steve Bryant | LB | London | (1953-09-05)5 September 1953 (aged 29) | 117 | 5 | Portsmouth | March 1982 | |
| Wakeley Gage | CB | Northampton | (1958-05-05)5 May 1958 (aged 24) | 104 | 6 | Desborough Town | October 1979 | £8,000 |
| Pat Kruse | CB | Arlesey | (1953-11-30)30 November 1953 (aged 28) | 18 | 0 | Brentford | February 1982 | Loan |
| Paul Saunders | U | Watford | (1959-12-17)17 December 1959 (aged 22) | 99 | 3 | Watford | July 1978 | |
| Andy Taylor | RB | Stratford-upon-Avon | (1963-04-04)4 April 1963 (aged 20) | 22 | 0 | Aston Villa | June 1981 | |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| John Buchanan | CM | Dingwall | (1951-09-19)19 September 1951 (aged 30) | 164 | 32 | Cardiff City | September 1981 | |
| Dave Carlton | U | Stepney | (1952-11-24)24 November 1952 (aged 29) | 194 | 8 | Brentford | September 1980 | |
| Peter Coffill | CM | Romford | (1957-02-14)14 February 1957 (aged 25) | 42 | 5 | Torquay United | July 1981 | £5,000 |
| Peter Denyer | W | Chiddingfold | (1957-11-26)26 November 1957 (aged 24) | 126 | 27 | Portsmouth | July 1979 | P/E |
| Mark Heeley | W | Peterborough | (1959-09-08)8 September 1959 (aged 22) | 78 | 6 | Arsenal | March 1980 | £33,000 |
| Maurice Muir | W | London | (1963-03-19)19 March 1963 (aged 19) | 2 | 0 | Apprentice | April 1980 | N/A |
| Adam Sandy | U | Peterborough | (1958-09-22)22 September 1958 (aged 23) | 106 | 6 | Wolverton Town | February 1980 | |
| Gary Saxby | U | Clipstone | (1959-12-11)11 December 1959 (aged 22) | 75 | 9 | Mansfield Town | August 1980 | |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| John Alexander | FW | Liverpool | (1955-10-05)5 October 1955 (aged 26) | 27 | 4 | Reading | August 1981 | |
| Frankie Belfon | FW | Wellingborough | (1965-02-18)18 February 1965 (aged 17) | 1 | 0 | Apprentice | April 1982 | N/A |
| Steve Perrin | FW | London | (1952-02-13)13 February 1952 (aged 30) | 18 | 6 | Hillingdon Borough | December 1981 | P/T |
| Steve Massey | FW | Manchester | (1958-03-28)28 March 1958 (aged 24) | 18 | 5 | Peterborough United | February 1982 | |
| Roger Russell | FW | Corby | (1957-11-20)20 November 1957 (aged 24) | 1 | 0 | Corby Town | September 1981 | |

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

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
| 20 | Mansfield Town | 46 | 13 | 10 | 23 | 63 | 81 | −18 | 49 | |
| 21 | Rochdale | 46 | 10 | 16 | 20 | 50 | 62 | −12 | 46 | Re-elected |
| 22 | Northampton Town | 46 | 11 | 9 | 26 | 57 | 84 | −27 | 42 | Re-elected |
| 23 | Scunthorpe United | 46 | 9 | 15 | 22 | 43 | 79 | −36 | 42 | Re-elected |
| 24 | Crewe Alexandra | 46 | 6 | 9 | 31 | 29 | 84 | −55 | 27 | Re-elected |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
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 | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | A |
| Result | D | L | D | L | L | L | D | L | D | L | L | D | W | L | L | W | L | L | L | L | L | L | W | D | L | L | L | L | W | W | L | W | W | L | W | W | D | W | D | L | L | L | W | D | L | L |
| Position | 12 | 17 | 17 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 21 | 23 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 21 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 22 |

#### 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 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 5 | – | – | 54 | – | – |
| DF | Wakeley Gage | 43 | – | 2 | 3 | – | 2 | 5 | – | – | 51 | – | 4 |
| DF | Paul Brady | 38 | 1 | 2 | 3 | – | – | 5 | – | – | 46 | 1 | 2 |
| DF | Steve Bryant | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 10 | – | – |
| DF | Pat Kruse | 18 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 18 | – | – |
| DF | Paul Saunders | 21 | 3 | – | 2 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 24 | 3 | – |
| DF | Andy Taylor | 17 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 22 | – | – |
| MF | John Buchanan | 34 | – | 4 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 37 | – | 3 |
| MF | Dave Carlton | 37 | – | – | 2 | – | 1 | 5 | – | – | 44 | – | 1 |
| MF | Peter Coffill | 34 | 2 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 5 | – | – | 40 | 2 | 2 |
| MF | Peter Denyer | 22 | – | 5 | – | – | – | 3 | – | 2 | 25 | – | 7 |
| MF | Mark Heeley | 23 | 3 | 3 | 3 | – | – | 3 | – | 1 | 29 | 3 | 4 |
| MF | Maurice Muir | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| MF | Adam Sandy | 30 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | – | 1 | 36 | 10 | 5 |
| MF | Gary Saxby | 32 | 2 | 7 | 3 | – | – | 2 | – | 1 | 37 | 2 | 8 |
| FW | John Alexander | 21 | 1 | 3 | – | 1 | – | 3 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 2 | 4 |
| FW | Frankie Belfon | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – |
| FW | Steve Massey | 18 | – | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 18 | – | 5 |
| FW | Steve Perrin | 18 | – | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 18 | – | 6 |
| FW | Roger Russell | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| Players who left before end of season: ||||||||||||||
| FW | Keith Bowen | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | 5 | – | – |
| FW | Tony Mahoney | 6 | – | – | 3 | – | 1 | 2 | – | 2 | 11 | – | 3 |
| FW | Steve Phillips | 30 | – | 10 | 3 | – | 1 | 5 | – | 1 | 38 | – | 12 |