# 1977–78 Northampton Town F.C. season

The 1977–78 season was Northampton Town's 81st season in their history and the first season back in the Fourth Division following relegation the previous season. Alongside competing in Division Four, the club also participated in the FA Cup and League Cup.

## Players

    As of match played 29 April 1978.
| Name | Position | Place of Birth | Date of Birth (Age) | Apps | Goals | Previous club | Date signed | Fee |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| Carl Jayes | GK | Leicester | (1954-03-15)15 March 1954 (aged 24) | 27 | 0 | Leicester City | November 1977 | |
| Jeff Parton | GK | Swansea | (1953-02-24)24 February 1953 (aged 25) | 30 | 0 | Burnley | Summer 1975 | |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| Steve Bryant | LB | London | (1953-09-05)5 September 1953 (aged 24) | 74 | 2 | Birmingham City | December 1976 | |
| Tony Geidmintis | RB | London | (1949-07-30)30 July 1949 (aged 28) | 18 | 0 | Watford | February 1978 | £8,000 |
| Steve Litt (c) | CB | Carlisle | (1954-05-21)21 May 1954 (aged 23) | 22 | 0 | Minnesota Kicks | September 1977 | |
| Dave Lyon | CB | Altrincham | (1951-01-18)18 January 1951 (aged 27) | 6 | 0 | Cambridge United | October 1977 | |
| Peter Mead | LB | Luton | (1956-09-09)9 September 1956 (aged 21) | 39 | 1 | Luton Town | August 1977 | |
| Stuart Robertson | CB | Nottingham | (1946-12-16)16 December 1946 (aged 31) | 237 | 23 | Doncaster Rovers | Summer 1972 | |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| Billy Best | U | Glasgow | (1942-09-07)7 September 1942 (aged 35) | 271 | 56 | Southend United | Summer 1973 | |
| Derrick Christie | W | Bletchley | (1957-03-15)15 March 1957 (aged 21) | 136 | 17 | Apprentice | January 1974 | N/A |
| John Farrington | W | Lynemouth | (1947-06-19)19 June 1947 (aged 30) | 170 | 19 | Cardiff City | Summer 1974 | |
| David Liddle | CM | Bedford | (1957-05-21)21 May 1957 (aged 20) | 32 | 2 | Apprentice | July 1977 | N/A |
| Don Martin | U | Corby | (1944-02-15)15 February 1944 (aged 34) | 252 | 81 | Blackburn Rovers | November 1975 | |
| Andy McGowan | CM | Corby | (1956-07-17)17 July 1956 (aged 21) | 111 | 14 | Apprentice | June 1975 | N/A |
| Kim Wassell | W | Wolverhampton | (1957-06-09)9 June 1957 (aged 20) | 7 | 0 | West Bromwich Albion | September 1977 | |
| Keith Williams | CM | Dudley | (1957-04-12)12 April 1957 (aged 21) | 49 | 3 | Aston Villa | February 1977 | |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| Keith Bowen | FW | Northampton | (1958-02-26)26 February 1958 (aged 20) | 1 | 0 | Apprentice | Summer 1976 | N/A |
| Jim Hall | FW | Northampton | (1945-03-21)21 March 1945 (aged 33) | 136 | 35 | Peterborough United | Summer 1975 | |
| George Reilly | FW | Bellshill | (1957-09-14)14 September 1957 (aged 20) | 72 | 24 | Corby Town | June 1976 | |
| Paul Stratford | FW | Northampton | (1955-09-04)4 September 1955 (aged 22) | 188 | 61 | Apprentice | Summer 1972 | N/A |

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

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 8 | Reading | 46 | 18 | 14 | 14 | 55 | 52 | +3 | 50 |
| 9 | Torquay United | 46 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 57 | 56 | +1 | 47 |
| 10 | Northampton Town | 46 | 17 | 13 | 16 | 63 | 68 | −5 | 47 |
| 11 | Huddersfield Town | 46 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 63 | 55 | +8 | 45 |
| 12 | Doncaster Rovers | 46 | 14 | 17 | 15 | 52 | 65 | −13 | 45 |

#### 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 | 17 | 13 | 16 | 63 | 68 | 0.926 | 47 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 32 | 30 | 26 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 31 | 38 | 21 |
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 | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | H | A |
| Result | L | D | W | W | L | W | W | L | W | D | L | L | W | L | W | D | L | L | D | W | D | L | W | D | L | D | L | W | L | L | D | W | D | L | D | D | W | L | L | W | D | W | W | W | D | W |
| Position | 23 | 17 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 16 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 14 | 17 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 10 |

#### 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 | Carl Jayes | 25 | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | 27 | – | – |
| GK | Jeff Parton | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | 12 | – | – |
| DF | Steve Bryant | 39 | 2 | 2 | 2 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 44 | 2 | 2 |
| DF | Tony Geidmintis | 18 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 18 | – | – |
| DF | Steve Litt | 19 | 1 | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | 21 | 1 | – |
| DF | Dave Lyon | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 6 | – | – |
| DF | Peter Mead | 37 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | 37 | 2 | 1 |
| DF | Stuart Robertson | 38 | – | 3 | 2 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 43 | – | 3 |
| MF | Billy Best | 33 | 1 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 37 | 1 | 2 |
| MF | Derrick Christie | 39 | 4 | 9 | 2 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | 42 | 5 | 10 |
| MF | John Farrington | 44 | – | 7 | 2 | – | – | 3 | – | 1 | 49 | – | 8 |
| MF | David Liddle | 25 | 2 | 2 | 2 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 30 | 2 | 2 |
| MF | Andy McGowan | 30 | 2 | 6 | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | 32 | 2 | 6 |
| MF | Don Martin | 16 | 9 | 7 | 2 | – | 1 | 2 | – | 1 | 20 | 9 | 9 |
| MF | Kim Wassell | 3 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 4 | – |
| MF | Keith Williams | 25 | 3 | 1 | – | 1 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 28 | 4 | 2 |
| FW | Keith Bowen | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| FW | Jim Hall | 10 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 11 | – | 1 |
| FW | George Reilly | 44 | – | 21 | 2 | – | – | 3 | – | 1 | 49 | – | 22 |
| FW | Paul Stratford | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – |
| Non-professional: ||||||||||||||
| DF | Arthur Poppy | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – |
| Players who left before end of season: ||||||||||||||
| GK | Stuart Garnham | 11 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 12 | – | – |
| DF | Barry Tucker | 28 | – | 1 | 2 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 33 | – | 1 |
| FW | Ray Haywood | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 4 | – | – |