# 1986–87 Northampton Town F.C. season

The 1986–87 season was Northampton Town's 90th season in their history and the tenth successive season in the Fourth Division. Alongside competing in Division Four, the club also participated in the FA Cup, League Cup and Associate Members' Cup.

## Players

    As of match played 9 May 1987.
| Name | Position | Place of Birth | Date of Birth (Age) | Apps | Goals | Previous club | Date signed | Fee |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| Peter Gleasure | GK | Luton | (1960-10-08)8 October 1960 (aged 26) | 223 | 0 | Millwall | March 1983 | |
| Alan Harris | GK | Nuneaton | (1969-04-13)13 April 1969 (aged 18) | 0 | 0 | Nuneaton Town | Summer 1986 | £15,000 |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| Bobby Coy | CB | Birmingham | (1961-11-30)30 November 1961 (aged 25) | 20 | 0 | Chester City | 20 August 1986 | |
| David Logan | LB | Middlesbrough | (1963-12-05)5 December 1963 (aged 23) | 15 | 1 | Mansfield Town | 20 February 1987 | |
| Keith McPherson | CB | Greenwich | (1963-09-11)11 September 1963 (aged 23) | 76 | 5 | West Ham United | 23 January 1986 | £10,000 |
| Graham Reed | RB | Doncaster | (1961-06-24)24 June 1961 (aged 25) | 88 | 2 | Frickley Athletic | Summer 1985 | £6,000 |
| Russ Wilcox | CB | Hemsworth | (1964-03-25)25 March 1964 (aged 23) | 41 | 4 | Frickley Athletic | 30 June 1986 | £15,000 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| Paul Bunce | W | Coalville | (1967-01-07)7 January 1967 (aged 20) | 2 | 1 | Leicester City | 27 March 1987 | |
| Phil Chard | U | Corby | (1960-10-16)16 October 1960 (aged 26) | 95 | 21 | Peterborough United | 19 August 1985 | |
| Warren Donald | CM | Hillingdon | (1964-10-07)7 October 1964 (aged 22) | 95 | 9 | West Ham United | 4 October 1985 | £11,000 |
| Dave Gilbert | W | Lincoln | (1963-06-22)22 June 1963 (aged 23) | 53 | 12 | Boston United | Summer 1986 | |
| Richard Hill | CM | Hinckley | (1963-09-20)20 September 1963 (aged 23) | 103 | 52 | Nuneaton Town | Summer 1985 | £10,000 |
| Aidy Mann | W | Northampton | (1967-07-12)12 July 1967 (aged 19) | 96 | 6 | Apprentice | May 1984 | N/A |
| Eddie McGoldrick | W | Islington | (1965-04-30)30 April 1965 (aged 22) | 48 | 6 | Nuneaton Town | Summer 1986 | £15,000 |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| Ian Benjamin | FW | Nottingham | (1961-12-11)11 December 1961 (aged 25) | 161 | 68 | Peterborough United | Summer 1984 | |
| Glen Donegal | FW | Northampton | (1969-06-20)20 June 1969 (aged 17) | 1 | 0 | Apprentice | January 1987 | N/A |
| Trevor Morley (c) | FW | Nottingham | (1962-03-20)20 March 1962 (aged 25) | 95 | 29 | Nuneaton Town | Summer 1985 | £20,000 |

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

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Northampton Town | 46 | 30 | 9 | 7 | 103 | 53 | +50 | 99 | Division Champions, promoted |
| 2 | Preston North End | 46 | 26 | 12 | 8 | 72 | 47 | +25 | 90 | Promoted |
| 3 | Southend United | 46 | 25 | 5 | 16 | 68 | 55 | +13 | 80 | Promoted |
| 4 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 46 | 24 | 7 | 15 | 69 | 50 | +19 | 79 | Participated in play-offs |
| 5 | Colchester United | 46 | 21 | 7 | 18 | 64 | 56 | +8 | 70 | Participated in play-offs |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 6 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 | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | H | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | A |
| Result | D | W | W | W | W | L | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | D | L | D | W | W | D | W | W | L | W | L | L | W | L | W | L | W | D | D | W |
| Position | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |

#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss

### Freight Rover Trophy

Group 2 :
| Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Gillingham | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | +6 | 6 |
| Northampton Town | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 3 |
| Notts County | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | −8 | 0 |

### Appearances and goals

| Pos | Player | Division Four | Division Four | Division Four | FA Cup | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | League Cup | League Trophy | League Trophy | League Trophy | Total | Total | Total |
| Pos | Player | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals |
| GK | Peter Gleasure | 46 | – | – | 4 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 55 | – | – |
| GK | Alan Harris | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| DF | Mark Bushell | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| DF | Lee Carter | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| DF | Bobby Coy | 15 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | 18 | 2 | 1 |
| DF | David Logan | 15 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 15 | – | 1 |
| DF | Keith McPherson | 46 | – | 5 | 4 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 55 | – | 5 |
| DF | Graham Reed | 36 | 1 | 1 | 4 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 44 | 1 | 1 |
| DF | Russ Wilcox | 34 | 1 | 1 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | 40 | 1 | 1 |
| MF | Paul Bunce | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| MF | Phil Chard | 39 | 1 | 12 | 3 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 1 | – | 1 | 45 | 1 | 13 |
| MF | Warren Donald | 41 | – | 3 | 3 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 47 | – | 4 |
| MF | Dave Gilbert | 45 | – | 8 | 3 | – | 3 | 2 | – | – | 3 | – | 1 | 53 | – | 12 |
| MF | Richard Hill | 45 | – | 29 | 4 | – | 3 | 2 | – | – | 3 | – | 1 | 54 | – | 33 |
| MF | Aidy Mann | 7 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 1 |
| MF | Eddie McGoldrick | 35 | 4 | 5 | 4 | – | 1 | 2 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 44 | 4 | 6 |
| FW | Ian Benjamin | 46 | – | 18 | 4 | – | 3 | 2 | – | 1 | 3 | – | 1 | 55 | – | 23 |
| FW | Glen Donegal | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 1 | – |
| FW | Trevor Morley | 37 | – | 16 | 4 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 45 | – | 16 |
| Players who left before end of season: |||||||||||||||||
| DF | Irvin Gernon | 9 | – | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 13 | – | – |
| MF | Keith Gorman | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 2 | – |
| MF | Charlie Henry | 4 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | – | 1 |
| MF | John Millar | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | 4 | – | – |
| MF | Mark Schiavi | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| FW | Paul McMenemy | 4 | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | – | 2 |
| FW | Paul Sugrue | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| Summer 1986 | CB | Bobby Coy | Chester City | |
| Summer 1986 | W | Dave Gilbert | Boston United | |
| Summer 1986 | GK | Alan Harris | Nuneaton Town | Joint £15,000 |
| Summer 1986 | W | Eddie McGoldrick | Nuneaton Town | Joint £15,000 |
| 30 June 1986 | CB | Russ Wilcox | Frickley Athletic | £15,000 |
| 20 February 1987 | LB | David Logan | Mansfield Town | |

### Loans in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Date until |
| November 1986 | LB | Irvin Gernon | Ipswich Town | January 1987 |
| November 1986 | W | Keith Gorman | Ipswich Town | December 1986 |
| January 1987 | LB | John Millar | Chelsea | January 1987 |
| January 1987 | FW | Paul McMenemy | West Ham United | February 1987 |
| February 1987 | AM | Charlie Henry | Swindon Town | March 1987 |

### Transfers out

| Date from | Position | Name | To |
| Summer 1986 | RB | Paul Curtis | Corby Town |
| Summer 1986 | CB | Russell Lewis | Kettering Town |
| August 1986 | FW | Paul Sugrue | Newport County |
| September 1986 | AM | Mark Schiavi | Cambridge United |

### Loans out

| Date from | Position | Nationality | Name | To | Date until |
| March 1987 | W | | Aidy Mann | Torquay United | End of Season |
| | FB | | Lee Carter | Gravesend & Northfleet | |