| Club: | Northampton Town |
| Season: | 1997–98 |
| Manager: | Ian Atkins |
| Chairman: | Barry Stonhill |
| Stadium: | Sixfields Stadium |
| League: | Division Two |
| League Result: | 4th |
| Cup1: | Play-offs |
| Cup1 Result: | Runners-up |
| Cup2: | FA Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | Third round |
| Cup3: | Coca-Cola Cup |
| Cup3 Result: | First round |
| Cup4 Result: | Second round (s) |
| League Topscorer: | David Seal (12) |
| Season Topscorer: | David Seal (14) |
| Highest Attendance: | 7,501 vs Bristol Rovers |
| Average Attendance: | 6,389 |
| Prevseason: | 1996–97 |
| Nextseason: | 1998–99 |
The 1997–98 season was Northampton Town's 101st season in their history and the first season back in the Second Division after promotion the previous season. Alongside competing in Division Two, the club also participated in the FA Cup, League Cup and Football League Trophy.
| Name | Position | Nat. | Place of Birth | Date of Birth (Age) | Apps | Goals | Previous club | Date signed | Fee | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | |||||||||||
| Billy Turley | GK | Wolverhampton | May 24, 1998 | 6 | 0 | Evesham United | 10 July 1995 | Free | |||
| Andy Woodman | GK | Camberwell | May 24, 1998 | 174 | 0 | Exeter City | 10 March 1995 | Free | |||
| Defenders | |||||||||||
| Charlie Bishop | CB | Nottingham | May 24, 1998 | 9 | 0 | Wigan Athletic | 1 December 1997 | £20,000 | |||
| David Brightwell | CB | Lutterworth | May 24, 1998 | 47 | 1 | Bradford City | 29 July 1997 | Free | |||
| Ian Clarkson | RB | Solihull | May 24, 1998 | 109 | 2 | Stoke City | 2 August 1996 | Free | |||
| Lee Colkin | LB | Nuneaton | May 24, 1998 | 119 | 4 | Apprentice | 31 August 1992 | N/A | |||
| Jason Drysdale | LB | Bristol | May 24, 1998 | 1 | 0 | Swindon Town | 27 March 1998 | Free | |||
| John Frain | LB | Birmingham | May 24, 1998 | 56 | 2 | Birmingham City | Summer 1997 | Free | |||
| Colin Hill | CB | Uxbridge (ENG) | May 24, 1998 | 36 | 0 | Trelleborgs FF | 19 November 1997 | £30,000 | |||
| Ian Sampson | CB | Wakefield | May 24, 1998 | 194 | 17 | Sunderland | 5 August 1994 | £30,000 | |||
| Ray Warburton (c) | CB | Rotherham | May 24, 1998 | 205 | 15 | York City | 4 February 1994 | £35,000 | |||
| Midfielders | |||||||||||
| Jason Dozzell | CM | Ipswich | May 24, 1998 | 25 | 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 16 December 1997 | Free | |||
| Ali Gibb | RM | Salisbury | May 24, 1998 | 93 | 3 | Norwich City | 5 February 1996 | £30,000 | |||
| James Hunt | CM | Derby | May 24, 1998 | 30 | 0 | Notts County | 1 August 1997 | Free | |||
| Roy Hunter | CM | Saltburn-by-the-Sea | May 24, 1998 | 123 | 12 | West Bromwich Albion | 2 August 1995 | Free | |||
| Sean Parrish | LM | Wrexham | May 24, 1998 | 58 | 8 | Doncaster Rovers | 2 August 1996 | £35,000 | |||
| Dean Peer | CM | Wordsley | May 24, 1998 | 115 | 5 | Walsall | 22 August 1995 | Free | |||
| Michael Warner | CM | Harrogate | May 24, 1998 | 23 | 0 | Tamworth | 31 May 1995 | Free | |||
| Forwards | |||||||||||
| Chris Freestone | FW | Nottingham | May 24, 1998 | 32 | 13 | Middlesbrough | 24 December 1997 | £75,000 | |||
| John Gayle | FW | Bromsgrove | May 24, 1998 | 60 | 12 | Stoke City | 10 February 1997 | £25,000 | |||
| Carl Heggs | FW | Leicester | May 24, 1998 | 44 | 9 | Swansea City | 1 August 1997 | £25,000 | |||
| Christian Lee | FW | Aylesbury | May 24, 1998 | 54 | 9 | Doncaster Rovers | 13 July 1995 | Free | |||
| David Seal | FW |  | Penrith, NSW | May 24, 1998 | 46 | 14 | Bristol City | 12 September 1997 | £90,000 | ||
| Kevin Wilson | FW | Banbury (ENG) | May 24, 1998 | 10 | 0 | Walsall | 28 July 1997 | Free | |||
See main article: 1997–98 FA Cup.
See main article: 1997–98 Football League Cup.
See main article: 1997–98 Football League Trophy.
| Player | Division Two | FA Cup | League Cup | League Trophy | Play-offs | Total | Discipline | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | Starts | Sub | Goals | |||||
| GK | Billy Turley | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | |
| GK | Andy Woodman | 46 | – | – | 5 | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | 56 | – | – | 1 | – | |
| DF | Charlie Bishop | 7 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 8 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | |
| DF | David Brightwell | 34 | 1 | 1 | 5 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | 1 | – | 45 | 2 | 1 | 2 | – | |
| DF | Ian Clarkson | 42 | – | 1 | 5 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 3 | – | 1 | 53 | – | 2 | 6 | 1 | |
| DF | Lee Colkin | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | – | |
| DF | Jason Drysdale | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | |
| DF | John Frain | 45 | – | 1 | 5 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 3 | – | 1 | 3 | – | – | 58 | – | 2 | 3 | – | |
| DF | Colin Hill | 27 | – | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 36 | – | – | 6 | – | |
| DF | Ian Sampson | 39 | – | 3 | 2 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 1 | – | 1 | 3 | – | – | 47 | – | 4 | 6 | – | |
| DF | Dean Tallentire | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| DF | Ray Warburton | 39 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 2 | – | – | 3 | – | 1 | 49 | – | 1 | 6 | – | |
| MF | Jason Dozzell | 18 | 3 | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 22 | 3 | 4 | – | – | |
| MF | Ali Gibb | 6 | 28 | 1 | 2 | 3 | – | – | 2 | – | 2 | – | – | – | 2 | – | 10 | 35 | 1 | – | – | |
| MF | James Hunt | 14 | 7 | – | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | – | 3 | – | – | 21 | 9 | – | 6 | – | |
| MF | Roy Hunter | 28 | – | 3 | 5 | – | 2 | 2 | – | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 38 | – | 5 | 5 | – | |
| MF | Sean Parrish | 12 | – | 1 | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 14 | – | 1 | 2 | – | |
| MF | Dean Peer | 26 | 4 | 2 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 1 | – | 32 | 5 | 2 | 4 | – | |
| MF | Michael Warner | 3 | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | 3 | 9 | – | – | – | |
| FW | Chris Freestone | 23 | 2 | 11 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | – | – | 29 | 3 | 13 | 4 | – | |
| FW | John Gayle | 26 | 9 | 6 | 4 | – | – | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 35 | 11 | 9 | 10 | – | |
| FW | Carl Heggs | 21 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | – | 1 | 29 | 15 | 9 | 9 | 1 | |
| FW | Christian Lee | 3 | 3 | – | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 6 | 3 | – | – | – | |
| FW | David Seal | 30 | 7 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 2 | – | 35 | 11 | 14 | 4 | – | |
| FW | Kevin Wilson | 1 | 8 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 9 | – | – | – | |
| Players who left before end of season: | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| DF | Graham Potter | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 5 | – | – | – | – | |
| DF | David Rennie | 3 | 2 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4 | 2 | – | 1 | – | |
| MF | Nigel Gleghorn | 3 | 5 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | – | |
| MF | Paul Tait | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 1 | – | 1 | – | |
| FW | Paul Conway | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 1 | – | 2 | – | |
| FW | Claudio De Vito | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| FW | Laurens ten Heuvel | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| FW | Raymond Van Dullemen | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | |
| FW | Colin West | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | |