Northampton Town.

[daveyclaret]

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Going through my programme collection, I found the programme for the 1st Division game, Northampton Town v Burnley, 15 September, 1965. This got me thinking back to Northampton’s meteoric rise through the divisions by three promotions in 5 years and then dropping like a stone big style through the divisions with three relegations in 4 years, all done during the 1960s. They hold the record for going up from the 4th Division to the 1st Division and back down again in the shortest time, just 9 seasons.

Northampton got promoted from the 4th Division to the 3rd Division in the 1960/61 season and made it to the 1st Division through been runners up to Newcastle United in the 2nd Division in the 1964-65 season. The 1965-66 season was their only season they spent in the 1st Division as they were relegated along with Blackburn Rovers at the end of the season (Rovers got only 20 points that season and finished 13 points behind Northampton who finished on 33 points and just 2 points behind Fulham). After that season, Northampton started the rapid drop back to the 4th Division and were eventually relegated from the 3rd Division after finishing bottom in the 1968-69 season.

I wasn’t at the Northampton game and I can’t recall how I got the programme. For the record, Burnley won the game by 2-1 with Irvine and Elder scoring. Burnley had played Northampton at the Turf a week before this fixture at Northampton and won by 4-1 with Irvine getting a hat trick and an own goal by Northampton. The game at the Turf was mentioned in the Northampton programme notes:

‘We extend a very cordial welcome tonight to Burnley on their first visit to the County Ground. They are a famous club and have been very much in the news in recent years with the league championship title and a Wembley appearance.

Burnley went to the top of Division One last Saturday after beating the champions, Manchester United, by three clear goals. And the Northampton club can pay testimony to Burnley’s present form, for when we visited Turf Moor last week they beat us 4-1. Burnley gave an outstanding performance that night. It is difficult to imagine a team playing better football, and we certainly could not complain about the margin of defeat in that match’.

In the 1965-66 season, Burnley were vying with Liverpool and Leeds for the 1st Division title and eventually finished 3rd behind those two. Neither Liverpool or Leeds did the double over Northampton. Liverpool beat Northampton at Anfield by 5-0 but drew at Northampton, 0-0. Leeds beat Northampton by 6-0 at Leeds but lost at Northampton by 2-1.

Any older Clarets remember the games with Northampton in the 1965-66 season?

[Burnley1989]

Played and scored at the Sixfields Stadium

[nil_desperandum]

A few weeks ago we were asked to put together a Burnley XI of "hard men". The XI that played that day was pretty formidable.
Angus, O'Neill, Talbut, Miller, Lochead and Harris all in the same team and with Harry Thompson in goal. 7 out of eleven who would have been on most people's all-time list.

[ClaretTony]

Can I point out again that the programme covers from 1946/47 to 1984/85 are all already in place on the site

https://www.uptheclarets.com/programmes

[FCBurnley]

Was played at the old Cricket Ground. More like playing a non league team in the cup. Dont remember much about the game except we won. Note the spelling error on our team page !

[tybfc]

Willie Irvine had their centre half in a right pickle.

[nil_desperandum]

Was played at the old Cricket Ground. More like playing a non league team in the cup. Dont remember much about the game except we won. Note the spelling error on our team page !

Which one?

[FCBurnley]

Which one?

Lockhead !

[Baldrick claret]

Being a midlander this match was the first time that I saw my beloved Burnley in the flesh so to speak. I was 10 years old. In my minds eye I can still see the goals especially Alex Elders sublime volley. Some years later a game I was playing in was actually refereed by Branston the Northampton centre half ......

[FCBurnley]

And ONeil

[nil_desperandum]

Lockhead !

What about Thompson? Best to start at the top of the list and work down!

[Royboyclaret]

A few bits of loosely related and useless information. Northampton had someone called Best wearing No.7 that day, but no, it wasn't him. However George Best played an FA Cup tie against Northampton a couple of seasons later and scored 6 goals in an 8-2 win. In that 1965/66 season a certain John Connelly scored in both league games for Man Utd against Northampton.

[Malvern claret]

The Northampton centre half was Terry Branson who lived a few houses away from my cousins, no big posh houses for footballers in those days and he was not the only one who was given the run around by Willie Irvine. The Northampton substitute in the programme was Graham Carr, a centre half who went on to be manager at Northampton, I met him at a West Brom v Burnley championship game a few years ago, he remembered clearly the game that Burnley won 4 1 at Turf Moor as one of the toughest he had ever had! I was at that game and remember the Northampton goalkeeper having a brilliant game

[Royboyclaret]

The Northampton centre half was Terry Branson who lived a few houses away from my cousins, no big posh houses for footballers in those days and he was not the only one who was given the run around by Willie Irvine. The Northampton substitute in the programme was Graham Carr, a centre half who went on to be manager at Northampton, I met him at a West Brom v Burnley championship game a few years ago, he remembered clearly the game that Burnley won 4 1 at Turf Moor as one of the toughest he had ever had! I was at that game and remember the Northampton goalkeeper having a brilliant game

Willie Irvine scored a hat-trick in that home game against Northampton. He went on to score an incredible 37 goals in total that season, a feat that is unlikely ever to be repeated at Burnley.

[ClaretLoup]

Nice to see our club sitting proudly at the top of the table. Note the other 3 town clubs Blackpool Blackburn and Northampton all struggling at the bottom end with big city clubs between us and them.

Moving twenty years on the next visit to the County Ground would be in our first season in the fourth division when sadly the home team were comfortably the better side and Burnley lost 2 - 0.

Nothing could illustrate the wheel of football fortune more starkly.

[Vino blanco]

I went to this match. I went down with my dad in his Wolseley and we stood on cricket field side, standing on rickety temporary stands.

[claretfern]

Northampton sub, Graham Carr is 'chatty man' Alan Carr's dad (as I'm sure many of you will know)
I have a book at home 'Season in the Sun' charting Northampton's one season in the first division game by game. Quite a decent read. They were Managed by Dave Bowen, who was also combining that job with Managing Wales at the time.