By Nathan Jackson
August 2 2005

In our build up to the season's opener on Saturday, we review the critical A-Z of our opponents, Northampton Town. There are some serious and some very tongue-in-cheek comments made but it's all in good fun, except X and Z where I quite literally couldn't think of anything.

A Andy Kirk, prolific striker signed from Boston United last season and had the best goals/games ratio in the division. He was called up the Northern Ireland squad earlier this year but failed to score.

 

B Bryan Harvey, goalkeeper for the Cobblers in the 60’s and rated as the best keeper the club has ever had and he was chosen in the “Northampton Team of the Century”

 

C Colin Calderwood, the current man in the hotseat at Sixfields. The former Tottenham Hotspur defender was given the job at Northampton around 20 months ago and to say things have improved, results wise, under his reign, would be an understatement.

 

D Derek Asamoah, current Lincoln player who made his name at Northampton despite only scoring 15 goals in his Sixfields career, he has yet to score for City after signing from Mansfield.

 

E Eion Jess, talented midfielder signed from Nottingham Forest. He is a former Premiership player after spells with Bradford and Coventry, as well as 9 years playing for Aberdeen.

 

F Favourites, Northampton are many people’s favourites to claim the League 2 title this season after some of the signings they have made, however, potential and reality are 2 completely different things.

 

G Goals, Northampton scored 62 goals last season, however, they conceded 51 and therefore got a fairly average goal difference of 11.

 

H Hull, Northampton are only one of 7 teams to win at Hull’s  KC Stadium in the league, the other 6 being Lincoln, Wrexham, Torquay, Mansfield, Sheffield Wednesday and Bradford.

 

I Ian Taylor, arguably the most famous member of Northampton’s squad going into the new season, the 37 year old is looking to finish his career at Northampton after having spells with Villa, Derby, Port Vale and Sheffield Wednesday.

 

J Josh Low, many say this man is Northampton’s best player and he is a valuable contributor to the Cobbler’s with his goal scoring antics from midfielder.

 

K Kettering Town, local “rivals” of Northampton and one of only two games that the Cobblers have drawn in the pre-season so far after a 0-0 draw.

 

L Lee Harper, the current Northampton goalkeeper who is very highly rated by a lot of teams in the division and the former Arsenal keeper will again be challenging Marriott and a few others for the honour of being the best keeper in the division.

 

M Macclesfield Town, like Northampton, lost in the semi finals of the playoffs last season.

 

N None, the number of times they beat Southend in 5 attempts last season (2 league defeats, LDV defeat, draw and a defeat in the playoffs)

 

O Oxford United, one of 4 teams they’ve achieved the double over last season, the others being Kidderminster, Boston and Macclesfield.

 

P Playoffs, Northampton have had 4 playoff campaigns in their history, winning one, losing one in the final and losing at the semi finals in the last two seasons.

 

Q Quiet, best word for describing the atmosphere from Northampton fans

 

R Rushden, Northampton’s local rivals. Last season was the first time they’d ever met in the league. Northampton won 1-0 in the league but a last minute goal gave Rushden the win at Nene Park.

 

S Sixfields, that bland structure they call a stadium *yawns*. They’re developing it soon so maybe they can make it a little more interesting and stop those cheapskates from sitting on that hill behind the far goal.

 

T Too inconsistent, they only really got into the playoffs due to the inconsistency of the teams around them.

 

U Ugly football. I don’t care what they say, they hoofed it last season and as I say, the only 3 sides who I saw last season who didn’t play the long ball, were the 3 that went up automatically, everyone else was hoofing it just as much as Lincoln.

 

V Vocal, a word not associated with Northampton’s home atmosphere.

 

W *COUGHS*, a certain word I would use to describe those Northampton fans in the aforementioned corner.

 

X X-Ray, I don’t know, give me a break

 

Y Youth, the Northampton squad has an abundance of youth in it, combined with the vital element of experience which could potentially lead to promotion.

 

Z Zoo, Northampton has a lovely zoo