Northampton Town FC is an English football club from the large market town of Northampton in the East Midlands. The club was founded in 1897  and gained permission to play home matches at the County Ground, home of Northamptonshire County Cricket Club, providing that no games were scheduled between May and September. This  was to remain their home for the next 97 years. The Cobblers (so named because the town was the centre of the boot and shoe manufacturing industry) joined the Northants League and spent two seasons there before moving on to the Midland League. They joined the Southern League in the 1901-02 season and in  1908-09  Herbert Chapman guided them to the Southern League championship.   In 1910 Northampton Town bought Walter Tull from Tottenham Hotspur. Tull was killed in action in 1918 and the road which leads to Northampton's Sixfields Stadium is called "Walter Tull Way" in his honour. The club was allowed to join the Football League in Division Three (South) for the 1921-22 season. From the 1930s to the 1950s they were promoted twice from the Third Division South but were immediately relegated. They played only one season of their existence in the top division of English football when they reached the First Division in 1965-66 having been promoted from the Fourth Division to the First Division in successive seasons. 

Sadly they were relegated back to the Fourth Division, also in successive seasons. In April 1992, with debts of around £1.6m, the club went into administration and ten first team players were sacked to save money, their places being taken by youth players. In 1994, Northampton finished bottom of the League and should have been relegated to the Conference. They were reprieved when Kidderminster Harriers, the Conference champions, were denied promotion because their ground did not meet League standards.  For much of their recent history the club have been promoted and relegated between the lower divisions with bewildering regularity. Northampton gained promotion to League One on 8 May 2023.  In October 1994, the club moved into their new Sixfields Stadium.