Northampton Town: How the Cobblers reached England’s top division

Northampton were handed a trip to Merseyside to take on Everton for their first match in the top flight, and it proved to be a harsh lesson as, although Bobby Brown’s goal brought them level at 1-1, they eventually went down 5-2.

“It was the first year subs came in. We played at Everton, I remember driving in and I knew I was (going to be) on the bench,” Carr recalls. “The crowd outside Goodison Park was unbelievable.”

There was encouragement from their first two home games, which ended in 1-1 draws with Arsenal and defending champions Manchester United, Matt Busby’s side helping attracting a crowd of 21,245 to the County Ground.

Things then took a downturn as the Cobblers failed to win any of the next 10, leaving them 21st by mid-October, but back-to-back 2-1 home victories over West Ham and Aston Villa lifted the mood, with Jim Hall scoring both goals in the latter.

Results were mixed thereafter but the Cobblers managed to stay just above the bottom two despite 6-2 defeats in the return game with Manchester United at Old Trafford and at Stoke City in February.

Newcastle United and Leeds United were both beaten at home and they completed a notable double over Villa when John Mackin and Graham Moore’s goals gave them a 2-1 win.

The final three games were a rollercoaster as a 4-2 home loss to Fulham dropped them into the relegation places, a 2-1 home win over Sunderland lifted them out, only for a 3-0 defeat at Blackpool to see them finish 21st, just three points from safety, and they were relegated along with Blackburn Rovers.

They had certainly not disgraced themselves, winning 10 games and drawing 13, but defensive frailty ultimately cost them dear. Their 92 goals conceded was four worse than any other team.

“We had great lads who were physically strong, who would work hard and dig in – and frighten people – but in the First Division then, you did need a little more than that,” said Carr.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t have the money to do it – we did our best but our best wasn’t good enough.”