1989 and all that

The last time we faced Northampton Town in a serious competitive match, the world was a very different place.  Just a few days earlier, the Berlin Wall had been breached, setting off a chain that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.  Football was still coming to terms with the Hillsborough disaster and was yet to become fashionable. And we actually considered the Cobblers to be local rivals. 

Whether they felt quite the same about us is debatable – this always felt more of a one-sided, aspirational antagonism based 90% on geography and 10% on occasional Maunsell Cup clashes that no one really cared about. But as we turned into serious contenders for promotion to the Football League, we dared to dream that before long we would be competing on equal-ish terms. Hence the FA Cup draw offered perhaps a tantalising glimpse of things to come.

Or so the script was supposed to run. Things haven’t quite panned out that way since, although the Cobblers survived an almighty near miss a few seasons later.  Something that we prefer not to talk about because we had it in our power to swap League status with them… and blew it.  

Back to 1989 and the big match. Before managing to dig out an old cutting to refresh my memory, it was generally a bit hazy. Oh yes, there was a voucher scheme (sounds familiar) which led to over 3,600 attending the previous Saturday to claim their precious piece of paper. The ground capacity for the Cobblers game was set at 6,100 and was a sell out. That felt less than its actual limit, but these were post-Hillsborough days and caution was understandable. The atmosphere was loud and the Match of the Day cameras were there again. Barry Davies in his best headmasterly mode was poised to describe our win in Shakespearean terms, or something.

Sadly it became a case of much ado about nothing. Or a comedy of errors? Our big tactical gamble was to play a defender up front in place of the injured Ernie Moss. Neil Horwood seemingly entered Morris’s thoughts after scoring several in a 13-0 (THIRTEEN) midweek massacre of Daventry. He promptly exited his thoughts again after swiping thin air when through on goal early on.

The other moment which everyone who was there remembers (and plenty who weren’t) came after about an hour. Dean Thomas came marauding down the left, looked up and saw Shoey edging across, exposing his near post. Normally no great risk from 35 yards, except Thomas could really spank them from range.  For what happened next we refer you to every sleepless night Kev has had ever since!  

Such a horrendous flub was always likely to be decisive, and Northampton kept us at arms’ length to wrap up a win that was largely devoid of home threat. Then again, would you want to return to the away dressing room to face a fire breathing Graham Carr after a suffering an upset?

Fun fact: Eight of the Cobblers starting XI went on to play for us on the downward slope of their careers, plus of course we gained GC. And Neil Horwood lived happily ever after.