Northampton Town: Eleven wins
Words: Tom Reed
Images: Tom Reed
Northampton Town FC were recently taken over by a new ownership group in Sports Alpha Capital. The consortium includes the former Brazil and Milan legend Pato.
Here are eleven achievable wins for the new Northampton owners to improve the experience for supporters, build the fanbase and create a buzz around the club.
Town centre.
Creating a club shop and community hub in the town centre is a simple win to reinforce the link between NTFC and the town centre.
Running a town centre club shop in partnership with the club’s Community Trust can give a base for the trust’s awesome programme, whilst merchandise and ticket sales could be handled, as well as acting as a visual marketing tool to bring more supporters onboard.
The market square in the Northampton is a brilliant space from which the club could hold events and increase its presence. Leicester City FC revealed its new away kit at the “Summer on the Square” event in the city’s Jubilee Square and similar could be held in Northampton’s large market square space.
The club could consider holding a squad launch day on the market square in pre-season where the players are introduced as part of a club takeover event. This would also benefit pubs and businesses in the town centre.
Given Town’s new connection to Brazil, a futsal competition with a pop up pitch in the market square would be brilliant for visitors and also for participation.
Northampton recently hosted the “Wall Games” street art festival where walls and surfaces around the town were decorated by some of the world’s best graffiti artists. There’s a mural of Northamptonian comedy legend Alan Carr but nothing related to Northampton Town FC.
Some Cobblers' street art featuring Northampton Town legends would be a visual indicator of the club’s presence while decorations in club colours (as the rugby union club Saints have) at the train station would be another win for NTFC.
New Hotel End.
The atmosphere at Sixfields is all too often relatively quiet, markedly so in comparison to away followings for the Cobblers.
Safe standing areas are now in places at a multitude of clubs (including the Premier League) and an area for the Cobblers’ “active fans” to make a noise and back the team is long overdue.
The New Hotel End project for a uniform standing home end at Northampton stalled under previous owners but can be picked up on and is the ideal project to bring supporters together, invest in fans and encourage future generations of young Cobblers to the club.
Tickets, Saints, Steelbacks.
Northampton Town’s home attendance of 4556 on Tuesday night vs Tranmere is roughly 1.8 % of the town’s population.
When you consider that Burnley FC’s support has been recorded at 25% of the town’s populace, it is clear that the Cobblers have some way to go in enticing Northamptonians through the turnstiles. The challenge is even bigger when you consider the population of Northamptonshire at 813,000+.
In Bristol, whose rugby union club recently beat reigning Prem champions Northampton Saints, you can become a member of Bristol Bears rugby union team, Bristol City FC and Bristol Flyers basketball club via Bristol Sports.
A joint membership for Northampton Town FC, Northampton Saints Rugby Union and Northamptonshire Steelbacks cricket club makes a lot of sense.
Cobblers can increase the footfall through Sixfields by offering significant reciprocal discounts to Saints and Steelbacks supporters and let’s not forget that a fair few support all three.
Club growth, fan engagement.
Lincoln City FC are considered one of the most progressive clubs in the EFL and for a long time sparring partners of the Cobblers.
Not only have the Imps been investing heavily in infrastructure and the supporter experience at Sincil Bank but they have made key appointments to drive the club forward.
Most noticeably Lincoln have appointed a new Chief Growth and Innovation Officer literally tasked with growing the club and keeping it at the cutting edge of the industry.
They have also brought in a Head of Fan Experience so that supporters are listened to, their match-day as good as it possibly can be and to ensure they keep coming back.
Cobblers should consider doing similar.
Participation.
In Europe, if you go and look the museums and trophy cabinets of clubs such as Sporting or Benfica in Lisbon, you will see trophies of volleyball, basketball and various other sports alongside football.
The key to this is participation in sports by the local and wider community, which goes hand in hand with health and happiness of the locality in which a football club is located,
Sports Alpha Capital have a remarkable opportunity not only to improve the form of the Cobblers but to radically improve participation in sport in Northamptonshire. Various leisure providers and charities might well be interested in jumping on board.
With facilities for sports dwindling and studies showing that sports participation drops off sharply after people leave school, any investment in sports facilities for the community by the Cobblers is likely to have a significant impact.
This can be further impactful given the potential for future young players to grow up playing on additional 4g pitches and any indoor facilities.
A stronger sporting town means a stronger Northampton Town FC.
Merchandising.
Cobblers have some of the most beautiful club colours in their claret and white, so much so that other clubs such as Arsenal and Leicester have leaned towards a red wine coloured hue over bog standard red.
Yet Northampton’s kit choices and merchandise have leaned towards the safe.
Projects like the Teyn Brand and Groundhoppers merch line have shown the success of designs based on club heritage in the wonderful claret and white.
Cobblers can have the best kits and merch in the EFL, that should be the starting point.
365-day-a-year income.
Creating turnover from non-ticket related income has become a focus of all clubs trying to compete in a sport where finance is key.
Unfortunately when Sixfields was built in 1994 it wasn't with this in mind particularly. The addition of executive boxes at Sixfields has dragged the venue into the 21st century but additional income will still be a priority for the owners looking at sustainability and squad budgets.
Over at Notts County FC, they have built a dedicated indoor fans’ venue called “The Nest” hosting up to 1500 people and capable of hosting various events and concerts.
The venue can also host fans of other clubs looking for a fanzone when County aren’t playing which brings in further revenue. Given Northampton’s ideal location in the middle of the country, maybe a similar venue can work?
County also run a very busy padel centre adjacent to Meadow Lane which ties into community sports participation.
It will be interesting to see SACs plans for 365-day-a-year income.
Supporters’ Trust.
The relationship between the club’s historic supporters’ trust and the previous board wasn’t always ideal but a healthy, independent supporters’ trust is almost universally considered a useful thing for a progressive club.
The Northampton Town supporters’ trust was the first in the world, with its model going on to help create clubs such as AFC Wimbledon.
The Northampton Trust’s open forums have proved brilliant in gaining an insight into the running of clubs. Unfortunately these events are no longer run by the trust so returning host duties to the trust alongside the capable podcast team is a sensible move.
Likewise adding a club board position for the elected representative of the supporters’ trust alongside one from the FAN Advisory Board would restore the two board positions for supporters’ reps secured by the late Brian Lomax and go a long way to restoring the club’s eco-system.
Fan-zones.
As part of my travels with Terrace Edition, I visit clubs across the country at all levels and it is clear that the fan-zone facilities for supporters are lacking at Sixfields compared, even, to some in non-league.
With budgets limited and competition for spend in leisure so high, clubs really need to consider why people would really pay to come and watch a winter sport? What is encouraging fans to come early and leave late after spending their hard earned dosh?
The modest home and away fan-zones at Northampton are an obvious area for improvement. You only need to see the investment Northampton Saints have put in at Franklin's Garden as an example.
County outreach.
The rise of Rushden and Diamonds in the East of the Northamptonshire was both an indicator of the popularity of football in all areas of the region but perhaps areas where NTFC’s presence is perhaps not as strong as it could be.
A strong impact and brand in the wider area, as the Saints maintain, is important for the growth of the Cobblers.
Investment in events across the county could be invaluable, but it will need dedicated teams to achieve, perhaps working with a new Head of Growth and Innovation. (see above)
The samba element
When the Brazilian investment was announced at Northampton it was seen as a breath of fresh air and a chance to inject some fun and excitement to a club, where off-the-field stuff has often been too serous.
Hopefully SAC can bring some sunshine to life at Cobblers, whose fans would relish some players brought in who are truly comfortable on the ball, while a trip to Brazil to Botafogo or Corinthians would certainly be welcome.
Even a visit by players and supporters from the land of the Seleção can further enhance a new outward looking future.
Maybe a rodizio and Caiparinha at Carr’s can satisfy the new hunger for all things Brazil?
Tom Reed is Terrace Edition Editor and can be found on X and Instagram: @tomreedwriting.
Tom is also on Bluesky @tomreedwriting.bluesky.social
The Sixfields Stadium lies 2.3 miles away from the Northampton Town centre itself and there can be disconnect between the football club and its town centre. There is no club shop in the town centre or many visual cues that a football club is going about its business a couple of miles down the road.
