| Club: | Northampton Town |
| Season: | 1985–86 |
| Manager: | Graham Carr |
| Chairman: | Derek Banks |
| Stadium: | County Ground |
| League: | Division Four |
| League Result: | 8th |
| Cup1: | FA Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | First round |
| Cup2: | Milk Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | Second round |
| Cup3 Result: | Quarter-final (s) |
| League Topscorer: | Ian Benjamin (22) |
| Season Topscorer: | Ian Benjamin (26) |
| Highest Attendance: | 4,449 vs Swindon Town |
| Lowest Attendance: | 1,167 vs Torquay United |
| Average Attendance: | 2,384 |
| Prevseason: | 1984–85 |
| Nextseason: | 1986–87 |
The 1985–86 season was Northampton Town's 89th season in their history and the ninth 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.
| Name | Position | Nat. | Place of Birth | Date of Birth (Age) | Apps | Goals | Previous club | Date signed | Fee | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | |||||||||||
| Peter Gleasure | GK | Luton | June 1, 1986 | 168 | 0 | Millwall | March 1983 | ||||
| Tim Garner | GK | Hitchin | June 1, 1986 | 2 | 0 | Kidderminster Harriers | Summer 1985 | ||||
| Defenders | |||||||||||
| Mark Bushell | FB | Northampton | June 1, 1986 | 1 | 0 | Apprentice | Summer 1985 | N/A | |||
| Paul Curtis | RB | London | June 1, 1986 | 32 | 1 | Charlton Athletic | Summer 1985 | Free | |||
| Paul Friar | LB | Glasgow | June 1, 1986 | 16 | 0 | Charlton Athletic | 6 March 1986 | Loan | |||
| Russell Lewis | CB | Blaengwynfi | June 1, 1986 | 155 | 6 | Swindon Town | Summer 1983 | ||||
| Keith McPherson | CB | Greenwich | June 1, 1986 | 21 | 0 | West Ham United | 23 January 1986 | £10,000[2] | |||
| Graham Reed | RB | Doncaster | June 1, 1986 | 43 | 1 | Frickley Athletic | Summer 1985 | £6,000 | |||
| Midfielders | |||||||||||
| Phil Chard | U | Corby | June 1, 1986 | 49 | 8 | Peterborough United | 19 August 1985 | ||||
| Warren Donald | CM | Hillingdon | June 1, 1986 | 48 | 5 | West Ham United | 4 October 1985 | £11,000[3] | |||
| Stewart Hamill | W | Glasgow | June 1, 1986 | 4 | 2 | Nuneaton Town | April 1986 | ||||
| Richard Hill | CM | Hinckley | June 1, 1986 | 49 | 19 | Nuneaton Town | Summer 1985 | £10,000 | |||
| Aidy Mann | W | Northampton | June 1, 1986 | 82 | 5 | Apprentice | May 1984 | N/A | |||
| Mark Schiavi | W | London | June 1, 1986 | 39 | 6 | Bournemouth | Summer 1985 | Free | |||
| Forwards | |||||||||||
| Ian Benjamin | FW | Nottingham | June 1, 1986 | 106 | 45 | Peterborough United | Summer 1984 | ||||
| Trevor Morley (c) | FW | Nottingham | June 1, 1986 | 51 | 13 | Nuneaton Town | Summer 1985 | £20,000 | |||
| Paul Sugrue | FW | Coventry | June 1, 1986 | 9 | 2 | Portsmouth | March 1986 | ||||
See main article: 1985–86 FA Cup.
See main article: 1985–86 Football League Cup.
See main article: 1985–86 Associate Members' Cup.
| Player | Division Four | FA Cup | League Cup | League Trophy | Total | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | |||||
| GK | Peter Gleasure | 44 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 4 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 52 | – | – | |||
| GK | Tim Garner | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | |||
| DF | Mark Bushell | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| DF | Paul Curtis | 27 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | 32 | – | 1 | |||
| DF | Paul Friar | 14 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | 16 | – | – | |||
| DF | Russell Lewis | 43 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 4 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 51 | – | – | |||
| DF | Keith McPherson | 20 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 21 | – | – | |||
| DF | Graham Reed | 34 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 2 | 1 | – | 40 | 3 | 1 | |||
| MF | Phil Chard | 41 | – | 7 | 1 | – | – | 4 | – | 1 | 3 | – | – | 49 | – | 8 | |||
| MF | Warren Donald | 32 | – | 3 | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 37 | – | 3 | |||
| MF | Stewart Hamill | 3 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | 1 | 4 | – | 2 | |||
| MF | Richard Hill | 41 | – | 17 | 1 | – | – | 4 | – | – | 3 | – | 2 | 49 | – | 19 | |||
| MF | Aidy Mann | 25 | 7 | 2 | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | 1 | 1 | – | 29 | 8 | 2 | |||
| MF | Mark Schiavi | 31 | – | 5 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 35 | 1 | 6 | |||
| FW | Ian Benjamin | 46 | – | 22 | 1 | – | – | 4 | – | 1 | 3 | – | 3 | 54 | – | 26 | |||
| FW | Trevor Morley | 43 | – | 13 | 1 | – | – | 4 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 51 | – | 13 | |||
| FW | Paul Sugrue | 2 | 6 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | 2 | 7 | 2 | |||
| Players who left before end of season: | |||||||||||||||||||
| DF | Ian Dawes | 3 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | 2 | – | |||
| DF | Brian Mundee | 31 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 4 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 37 | – | – | |||
| DF | Gavin Nebbeling | 11 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 12 | – | – | |||
| MF | Steve Brown | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
| MF | Phil Cavener | 13 | 4 | 4 | 1 | – | – | 4 | – | 1 | – | – | – | 18 | 4 | 5 | |||
| MF | Ged Nohilly | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
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