1983–84 Northampton Town F.C. season

Northampton Town
1983–84 season
Chairman	Neville Ronson
Manager	Clive Walker
Stadium	County Ground
Division Four	18th
FA Cup	Second round
Milk Cup	First round
Associate Members' Cup	First round
Top goalscorer	League: Terry Austin (10); All: Terry Austin (13)
Highest home attendance	6,464 vs Peterborough United
Lowest home attendance	1,109 vs Hartlepool United
Average home league attendance	2,343
	← 1982–83 1984–85 →

The 1983–84 season was Northampton Town's 87th season in their history and the seventh successive season in the Fourth Division. Alongside competing in Division Four, the club also participated in the FA Cup, League Cup and Associate Members' Cup.

Players

As of match played 12 May 1984.^[1]

Name	Position	Place of Birth	Date of Birth (Age)	Apps	Goals	Previous club	Date signed	Fee
Goalkeepers
Peter Gleasure	GK	Luton	(1960-10-08)8 October 1960 (aged 23)	65	0	Millwall	March 1983
Defenders
Adrian Burrows	CB	Sutton-in-Ashfield	(1959-01-16)16 January 1959 (aged 25)	106	5	Mansfield Town	August 1982
Martyn Forster	FB	Kettering	(1963-02-01)1 February 1963 (aged 21)	49	0	Kettering Town	August 1983
Wakeley Gage	CB	Northampton	(1958-05-05)5 May 1958 (aged 26)	202	17	Desborough Town	October 1979	£8,000^[2]
Russell Lewis	CB	Blaengwynfi	(1956-09-15)15 September 1956 (aged 27)	53	4	Swindon Town	Summer 1983
Brian Mundee	LB	Hammersmith	(1964-01-12)12 January 1964 (aged 20)	41	2	AFC Bournemouth	Summer 1983
Barry Tucker	FB	Swansea	(1952-08-28)28 August 1952 (aged 31)	302	8	Brentford	October 1982
Midfielders
Neil Brough	W	Daventry	(1965-12-22)22 December 1965 (aged 18)	5	0	Apprentice	December 1983	N/A
Steve Brown	CM	Northampton	(1966-07-06)6 July 1966 (aged 17)	1	0	Apprentice	May 1984	N/A
Austin Hayes	W	Hammersmith (ENG)	(1958-07-15)15 July 1958 (aged 25)	51	9	Millwall	August 1983
Billy Jeffrey (c)	CM	Helensburgh	(1951-02-10)10 February 1951 (aged 33)	62	7	Blackpool	March 1983
Aidy Mann	W	Northampton	(1967-07-12)12 July 1967 (aged 16)	2	0	Apprentice	May 1984	N/A
Eui Martinez	W	Chelmsford	(1967-07-12)12 July 1967 (aged 16)	12	2	Newport County	February 1984	Loan
Maurice Muir	W	London	(1963-03-19)19 March 1963 (aged 21)	37	1	Apprentice	April 1980	N/A
Tommy O'Neill	CM	Kirkintilloch	(1958-02-02)2 February 1958 (aged 26)	51	7	Cambridge United	June 1983	Free
Ray Train	DM	Bedworth	(1951-02-10)10 February 1951 (aged 33)	0	0	Oxford United	March 1984	Loan
Forwards
Terry Austin	FW	London	(1954-02-01)1 February 1954 (aged 30)	51	13	Doncaster Rovers	August 1983
Frankie Belfon	FW	Wellingborough	(1965-02-18)18 February 1965 (aged 19)	55	11	Apprentice	April 1982	N/A
Dave Syrett	FW	Salisbury	(1956-01-20)20 January 1956 (aged 28)	52	17	Peterborough United	June 1982

Competitions

Canon League Division Four

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or qualification
16	Crewe Alexandra	46	16	11	19	56	67	−11	59
17	Swindon Town	46	15	13	18	58	56	+2	58
18	Northampton Town	46	13	14	19	53	78	−25	53
19	Mansfield Town	46	13	13	20	66	70	−4	52
20	Wrexham	46	11	15	20	59	74	−15	48	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1984–85 First round^[a]

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ Wrexham lost this year’s Welsh Cup final to Shrewsbury Town, but as the latter are an English side, Wrexham went on to represent Wales in the European Cup Winners' Cup.

Results summary


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
46	13	14	19	53	78	−25	53	10	8	5	32	32	0	3	6	14	21	46	−25

Last updated: 8 February 2024.
Source: ^{[citation needed]}

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	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A
Result	D	W	D	W	D	D	D	D	D	D	W	L	L	L	W	D	W	W	W	L	W	L	W	W	L	L	D	L	L	W	L	L	D	L	L	L	W	L	D	D	L	L	L	D	W	L
Position	14	6	4	2	7	8	8	9	10	12	7	11	14	16	14	13	11	10	9	10	9	10	8	6	6	10	11	12	14	10	10	14	14	15	15	16	15	15	16	15	16	17	17	18	18	18

Source: 11v11.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

Win Draw Loss

27 August 1983 (1983-08-27) 1	Chester City	1–1	Northampton Town	Chester
15:00 BST	M. Williams		F.Belfon	Stadium: Sealand Road Attendance: 1,707

3 September 1983 (1983-09-03) 2	Northampton Town	2–0	Darlington	Northampton
15:00 BST	T.O'Neill T.Austin			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,009

6 September 1983 (1983-09-06) 3	Northampton Town	0–0	Tranmere Rovers	Northampton
19:30 BST				Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,326

10 September 1983 (1983-09-10) 4	Blackpool	2–3	Northampton Town	Blackpool
15:00 BST			W.Gage F.Belfon T.Austin	Stadium: Bloomfield Road Attendance: 3,216

18 September 1983 (1983-09-18) 5	Northampton Town	0–0	Stockport County	Northampton
15:00 BST				Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 3,189

24 September 1983 (1983-09-24) 6	Rochdale	1–1	Northampton Town	Rochdale
15:00 BST	Johnson 82' N.Hamilton		T.O'Neill	Stadium: Spotland Attendance: 1,402 Referee: George Tyson

27 September 1983 (1983-09-27) 7	Halifax Town	2–2	Northampton Town	Halifax
19:30 BST			B.Jeffrey D.Syrett	Stadium: The Shay Attendance: 1,519

1 October 1983 (1983-10-01) 8	Northampton Town	1–1	Chesterfield	Northampton
15:00 BST	F.Belfon			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,733

9 October 1983 (1983-10-09) 9	Northampton Town	1–1	Reading	Northampton
15:00 BST	W.Gage T.Austin			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 3,825

15 October 1983 (1983-10-15) 10	Colchester United	2–2	Northampton Town	Colchester
15:00 BST	S.Houston 16' M.Cook 78'	Report	T.Austin 11' T.O'Neill 81'	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 1,964 Referee: David Letts

18 October 1983 (1983-10-18) 11	Northampton Town	2–1	Torquay United	Northampton
19:30 BST	A.Hayes B.Tucker			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,573

22 October 1983 (1983-10-22) 12	Crewe Alexandra	3–2	Northampton Town	Crewe
15:00 BST			B.Jeffrey W.Gage	Stadium: Gresty Road Attendance: 2,107

29 October 1983 (1983-10-29) 13	Northampton Town	1–2	York City	Northampton
15:00 GMT	F.Belfon		K.Walwyn	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,956

1 November 1983 (1983-11-01) 14	Aldershot	1–0	Northampton Town	Aldershot
19:30 GMT				Stadium: Recreation Ground Attendance: 1,711

5 November 1983 (1983-11-05) 15	Northampton Town	2–0	Swindon Town	Northampton
15:00 GMT	T.Austin 29', 44'	Report		Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,354 Referee: Trevor A Jones

12 November 1983 (1983-11-12) 16	Hereford United	0–0	Northampton Town	Hereford
15:00 GMT				Stadium: Edgar Street Attendance: 3,007

28 November 1983 (1983-11-28) 17	Wrexham	0–1	Northampton Town	Wrexham, Wales
15:00 GMT			T.Austin	Stadium: Racecourse Ground Attendance: 1,234

3 December 1983 (1983-12-03) 18	Northampton Town	1–0	Bristol City	Northampton
15:00 GMT	F.Belfon			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,823

18 December 1983 (1983-12-18) 19	Northampton Town	2–1	Mansfield Town	Northampton
15:00 GMT	T.Austin R.Lewis		T.Lowery	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,628

26 December 1983 (1983-12-26) 20	Doncaster Rovers	1–0	Northampton Town	Doncaster
15:00 GMT				Stadium: Belle Vue Attendance: 3,827

27 December 1983 (1983-12-27) 21	Northampton Town	2–1	Peterborough United	Northampton
15:00 GMT	B.Jeffrey A.Hayes			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 6,464

31 December 1983 (1983-12-31) 22	Hartlepool United	2–0	Northampton Town	Hartlepool
15:00 GMT				Stadium: Victoria Park Attendance: 1,706

2 January 1984 (1984-01-02) 23	Northampton Town	1–0	Bury	Northampton
19:30 GMT	T.O'Neill			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,525

14 January 1984 (1984-01-14) 24	Northampton Town	2–1	Chester City	Northampton
15:00 GMT	R.Lewis F.Belfon		T.Phillips	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,198

20 January 1984 (1984-01-20) 25	Stockport County	1–0	Northampton Town	Stockport
19:30 GMT				Stadium: Edgeley Park Attendance: 1,846

4 February 1984 (1984-02-04) 26	Chesterfield	2–1	Northampton Town	Chesterfield
15:00 GMT			A.Hayes	Stadium: Saltergate Attendance: 3,250

11 February 1984 (1984-02-11) 27	Northampton Town	1–1	Rochdale	Northampton
15:00 GMT	A.Hayes 49'		S. Thompson 57'	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,022 Referee: Alan Crickmore

14 February 1984 (1984-02-14) 28	Northampton Town	1–4	Aldershot	Northampton
19:30 GMT	F.Belfon			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 1,573

18 February 1984 (1984-02-18) 29	York City	3–0	Northampton Town	York
15:00 GMT	K.Walwyn B.Pollard pen.' J.Byrne			Stadium: Bootham Crescent Attendance: 3,941 Referee: Neil Midgley

25 February 1984 (1984-02-25) 30	Northampton Town	2–0	Crewe Alexandra	Northampton
15:00 GMT	W.Gage A.Hayes			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 1,696

28 February 1984 (1984-02-28) 31	Darlington	5–3	Northampton Town	Darlington
19:30 GMT			A.Hayes E.Martinez	Stadium: Feethams Attendance: 1,278

3 March 1984 (1984-03-03) 32	Torquay United	2–1	Northampton Town	Torquay
19:30 GMT			E.Martinez	Stadium: Plainmoor Attendance: 2,042

6 March 1984 (1984-03-06) 33	Swindon Town	0–0	Northampton Town	Swindon
19:30 GMT				Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,798 Referee: Darryl Reeves

10 March 1984 (1984-03-10) 34	Northampton Town	0–3	Hereford United	Northampton
15:00 GMT				Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 1,592

17 March 1984 (1984-03-17) 35	Reading	3–0	Northampton Town	Reading
15:00 GMT				Stadium: Elm Park Attendance: 3,695

20 March 1984 (1984-03-20) 36	Northampton Town	1–5	Blackpool	Northampton
19:30 GMT	T.O'Neill			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 1,337

24 March 1984 (1984-03-24) 37	Northampton Town	3–1	Colchester United	Northampton
15:00 GMT	T.Austin 2' W.Gage 59' F.Belfon 64'	Report	I.Phillips 14'	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 1,499 Referee: Neville Ashley

30 March 1984 (1984-03-30) 38	Tranmere Rovers	1–0	Northampton Town	Birkenhead
19:30 BST				Stadium: Prenton Park Attendance: 1,829

7 April 1984 (1984-04-07) 39	Northampton Town	1–1	Halifax Town	Northampton
15:00 BST	A.Hayes			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 1,356

10 April 1984 (1984-04-10) 40	Northampton Town	1–1	Hartlepool United	Northampton
19:30 BST	A.Hayes			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 1,109

14 April 1984 (1984-04-14) 41	Bristol City	4–1	Northampton Town	Bristol
15:00 BST			T.O'Neill pen.'	Stadium: Ashton Gate Attendance: 6,655

21 April 1984 (1984-04-21) 42	Northampton Town	1–4	Doncaster Rovers	Northampton
15:00 BST	R.Lewis			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 1,912

24 April 1984 (1984-04-24) 43	Peterborough United	6–0	Northampton Town	Peterborough
19:30 BST				Stadium: London Road Attendance: 3,481

28 April 1984 (1984-04-28) 44	Northampton Town	3–3	Wrexham	Northampton
15:00 BST	F.Belfon W.Gage T.Austin			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 1,189

5 May 1984 (1984-05-05) 45	Bury	1–2	Northampton Town	Bury
15:15 BST			B.Mundee R.Lewis	Stadium: Gigg Lane Attendance: 1,096

12 May 1984 (1984-05-12) 46	Mansfield Town	3–1	Northampton Town	Mansfield
15:00 BST	D.Caldwell C.Calderwood		B.Jeffrey	Stadium: Field Mill Attendance: 2,143

FA Cup

19 November 1983 (1983-11-19) First round	Northampton Town	1–1	Waterlooville	Northampton
15:00 GMT	W.Gage			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,627

23 November 1983 (1983-11-23) First round (r)	Waterlooville	1–1	Northampton Town	Waterlooville
19:30 GMT			T.Austin	Stadium: Jubilee Park Attendance: 3,500

29 November 1983 (1983-11-29) First round (r2)	Northampton Town	2–0	Waterlooville	Northampton
19:30 GMT	T.O'Neill B.Mundee			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 3,534

10 December 1983 (1983-12-10) Second round	Northampton Town	1–1	Telford United	Northampton
19:30 GMT	T.Austin			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 3,903

14 December 1983 (1983-12-14) Second round (r)	Telford United	3–2	Northampton Town	Telford
19:30 GMT			B.Jeffrey M.Muir	Stadium: Bucks Head Attendance: 3,320

Milk Cup

29 August 1983 (1983-08-29) First round 1st leg	Millwall	3–0	Northampton Town	New Cross, London
15:00 BST				Stadium: The Old Den Attendance: 4,158 Referee: Allan Gunn

13 September 1983 (1983-09-13) First round 2nd leg	Northampton Town	1–2	Millwall	Northampton
19:30 BST	W.Gage			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 2,313

Associate Members' Cup

21 February 1984 (1984-02-21) First round (s)	Walsall	3–1	Northampton Town	Walsall
19:30 GMT			T.Austin	Stadium: Fellows Park Attendance: 3,190

Appearances and goals

Pos	Player	Division Four			FA Cup			League Cup			League Trophy			Total
Pos	Player	Starts	Sub	Goals	Starts	Sub	Goals	Starts	Sub	Goals	Starts	Sub	Goals	Starts	Sub	Goals
GK	Peter Gleasure	46	–	–	5	–	–	2	–	–	1	–	–	54	–	–
DF	Adrian Burrows	45	–	–	5	–	–	2	–	–	1	–	–	53	–	–
DF	Martyn Forster	41	1	–	5	–	–	1	–	–	1	–	–	48	1	–
DF	Wakeley Gage	40	–	6	5	–	1	2	–	1	1	–	–	48	–	8
DF	Russell Lewis	45	–	4	5	–	–	2	–	–	1	–	–	–	–	–
DF	Brian Mundee	33	3	1	4	–	1	–	–	–	1	–	–	38	3	2
DF	Barry Tucker	25	1	1	1	–	–	2	–	–	–	–	–	28	1	1
MF	Neil Brough	3	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	3	2	–
MF	Steve Brown	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	–
MF	Austin Hayes	40	3	9	5	–	–	2	–	–	1	–	–	48	3	9
MF	Billy Jeffrey	44	1	4	5	–	1	2	–	–	1	–	–	52	1	5
MF	Aidy Mann	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2	–	–
MF	Eui Martinez	12	–	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	12	–	2
MF	Maurice Muir	5	10	–	1	4	1	–	1	–	–	–	–	6	15	1
MF	Tommy O'Neill	43	–	6	5	–	1	2	–	–	1	–	–	51	–	7
MF	Ray Train	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
FW	Terry Austin	42	1	10	5	–	2	1	1	–	1	–	1	49	2	13
FW	Frankie Belfon	35	5	9	4	–	–	2	–	–	1	–	–	42	5	9
FW	Dave Syrett	5	1	1	–	–	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	6	1	1
Players who left before end of season:
GK	Mark Kendall	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
DF	Ian Phillips	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	–

References

^ Rothmans Football Yearbook 1984/85, p.252.
^ Focus on Wakeley Gage, Chester City v. Burnley matchday programme, 5/10/85, p. 13

Books

Grande, Frank (1997). Northampton Town F.C.: The Official Centenary History. London: Yore Publications. ISBN 978-1874427674.

[table_note_res_ECWC10.47048848563362-3] Wrexham lost this year’s Welsh Cup final to Shrewsbury Town, but as the latter are an English side, Wrexham went on to represent Wales in the European Cup Winners' Cup.

[1] Rothmans Football Yearbook 1984/85, p.252.

[Focus_on-2] Focus on Wakeley Gage, Chester City v. Burnley matchday programme, 5/10/85, p. 13

[1]

[2]

[a]