127-504: Philip George Neal (born 20 February 1951) is an English retired footballer who played for Northampton Town , Liverpool and Bolton Wanderers as a full-back . He is regarded as one of the most successful English players of all time, having won eight First Division titles, four League Cups , five FA Charity Shields , four European Cups , one UEFA Cup and one UEFA Super Cup during his eleven years at Liverpool. He later returned to Bolton Wanderers as manager, leading them to victory in
254-487: A Euro 2020 qualifying match. At the delayed Euro 2020 , England reached their first European Championship final, their first final at a major tournament since 1966. After finishing top of their group above Croatia, Czechia , and Scotland, the Three Lions beat Germany, Ukraine and Denmark in the knockout rounds to advance to the final . In the final held at Wembley, England were defeated by Italy on penalties after
381-438: A defeat against Germany. This stadium was demolished during the period of 2002–03, and work began to completely rebuild it. During this time, England played at venues across the country, though by the time of the 2006 World Cup qualification , this had largely settled down to having Manchester United 's Old Trafford stadium as the primary venue, with Newcastle United 's St. James' Park used on occasions when Old Trafford
508-558: A 1–0 win at home to Chester City . On 30 May 2006, Northampton announced that Calderwood was leaving to join Nottingham Forest as their new manager, and he was replaced by John Gorman on 5 June. On 20 December, Gorman resigned due to "personal issues" with the side 18th in the table, with Ian Sampson and Jim Barron briefly taking care of first team affairs. He was replaced by former Southampton boss Stuart Gray on 2 January 2007. The Cobblers were relegated from League One on
635-481: A 1–1 draw. At the 2022 World Cup , England defeated Iran and Wales in the group stage to qualify for the round of 16. In the round of 16, the Three Lions defeated Senegal 3–0, but were then eliminated by reigning world champions France in the quarter-finals, 2–1. In that match, Harry Kane scored his 53rd goal for England, equalling the all-time record at the time. At Euro 2024 , England finished top of their group above Denmark, Slovenia , and Serbia . In
762-577: A 5–0 defeat to Bristol Rovers , Rob Page was sacked and replaced with Justin Edinburgh . Northampton finished 16th, meaning that they would continue to play third-tier football. They made it to the third round of the EFL Cup , where they lost to Manchester United . On 26 June 2017 a 60% stake in Northampton Town was purchased by Chinese company 5uSport. The company indicated that they would invest in both
889-494: A 5–1 defeat against QPR that left them 12th in the Premier League. Despite a shaky start to his time as Sky Blues manager, they did well in the second half of the season and finished 11th in the league – their highest finish since coming seventh in 1989. Perhaps the most impressive result that season after Neal's arrival was a 4–0 home win over Manchester City on 19 February 1994. However, Coventry struggled in 1994–95 despite
1016-460: A decisive qualifier against Croatia which England lost 3-2 - particularly the decision to select inexperienced goalkeeper Scott Carson , whose mistake lead to Croatia's first goal. On 14 December 2007, Italian manager Fabio Capello was appointed as McClaren's successor, becoming only the second foreign coach to take the job. At the 2010 World Cup , England were considered favourites to top their group but drew their opening two games against
1143-466: A double against Aston Villa and victories at home over clubs including Leeds , Newcastle , West Ham , and Blackburn , the latter being the only team Northampton would finish above in the table. Since their relegation from the Second Division in 1966–67 , Northampton have played every season in either the third or fourth tier of English football. In 1970, they lost 8–2 to Manchester United in
1270-554: A factor in the Scots' desire to defeat England above all other rivals, with Scottish sports journalists traditionally referring to the English as the "Auld Enemy". The footballing rivalry has diminished somewhat since the late 1970s, particularly since the annual fixture stopped in 1989. For England, games against Germany and Argentina are now considered to be more important than the historic rivalry with Scotland. England's rivalry with Germany
1397-491: A foreign team at Wembley. In the return match in Budapest , Hungary won 7–1. This stands as England's largest ever defeat. After the game, a bewildered Syd Owen said, "it was like playing men from outer space". In the 1954 FIFA World Cup , England reached the quarter-finals for the first time, and lost 4–2 to reigning champions Uruguay . Although Walter Winterbottom was appointed as England's first full-time manager in 1946,
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#17330847468901524-629: A friendly in November 2005. Numerous songs have been released about the England national football team. All England matches are broadcast with full commentary on talkSPORT and BBC Radio 5 Live . From the 2008–09 season until the 2017–18 season, England's home and away qualifiers, and friendlies both home and away were broadcast live on ITV Sport (often with the exception of STV , the ITV franchisee in central and northern Scotland). England's away qualifiers for
1651-544: A greater significance in popular perception. The rivalry emerged across several games during the latter half of the 20th century, even though as of 2008 the teams have played each other on only 14 occasions in full internationals. The rivalry was intensified, particularly in Argentina, by non-footballing events, especially the 1982 Falklands War between Argentina and the United Kingdom. England and Argentina have not met since
1778-451: A home tie which ended in a 1–0 victory for Northampton Town. He was sacked on 2 April 2018 after Northampton Town went nine games without a win and was replaced by Keith Curle . Curle had his contract extended in July 2020 for a further two years. On 29 June 2020, the club were promoted to League One after beating Exeter City 4–0 in the play-off final , despite a delay in the season due to
1905-614: A protracted dispute with the owners of their previous home, the Ricoh Arena in Coventry . On 27 January 2014, David Cardoza appointed former Oxford United manager Chris Wilder as the new manager of the club on a three-and-a-half-year deal. In October 2015, HM Revenue and Customs issued the club with a winding-up petition over unpaid taxes. (See Sixfields Stadium ) In February 2016, Northampton Town broke their club record of eight successive wins by beating Wycombe Wanderers 1–0, extending
2032-470: A result, they did not compete in a World Cup until 1950 , in which they were beaten in a 1–0 defeat by the United States , failing to get past the first round in one of the most embarrassing defeats in the team's history. Their first defeat on home soil to a foreign team was a 2–0 loss to Ireland , on 21 September 1949 at Goodison Park . A 6–3 loss in 1953 to Hungary was their second defeat by
2159-438: A seven-match spell until Don Revie was appointed as new permanent manager in 1974. Under Revie, the team underperformed and failed to qualify for either Euro 1976 or the 1978 World Cup . Revie resigned in 1977 and was replaced by Ron Greenwood , under whom performances improved. The team qualified for Euro 1980 without losing any of their games, but exited in the group stage of the final tournament. They also qualified for
2286-610: A substantial four-figure fee. Northampton were promoted three times in the five years 1960 to 1965. Starting the 1960–61 season in the Fourth Division , they reached the First Division in 1965–66 , their only season ever in the top division of English football. They were then relegated back to the Fourth Division over the next five years, playing in the bottom tier again in 1969–70 . During their top-flight season they earned
2413-584: A supporters' trust taking over a football club. The club needed to win the final game of the 1992–93 season to avoid being relegated to the Conference . Over 2,500 made the trip to Shrewsbury Town and saw the Cobblers win 3–2, despite being 2–0 down at half-time. The 1993–94 season got worse for the Cobblers as they finished bottom of the Football League for the only time in the club's history. Relegation
2540-455: A then-record 62,998 crowd, with the Northampton support greater than 40,000 fans also a then-record for the most supporters taken to Wembley by one team. Northampton were not able to progress from the previous year's success because of long-term injuries to 16 of their players during the 1998–99 season. The team was relegated to Division Three , despite being unbeaten in the last nine games of
2667-581: A third kit. At the 1970 World Cup England wore a third kit with pale blue shirts, shorts and socks against Czechoslovakia . They had a kit similar to Brazil 's, with yellow shirts, yellow socks and blue shorts which they wore in the summer of 1973. For the World Cup in 1986 England had a third kit of pale blue, imitating that worn in Mexico 16 years before and England retained pale blue third kits until 1992, but they were rarely used. Umbro first agreed to manufacture
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#17330847468902794-485: A total of 16 World Cup tournaments, tied for sixth best by number of appearances . They are also placed sixth by number of wins, with 32. The national team is one of only eight nations to have won at least one FIFA World Cup title. The England team won their first and only World Cup title in 1966 . The tournament was played on home soil, and England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the final . In 1990 , England finished in fourth place, losing 2–1 to host nation Italy in
2921-549: Is considered to be mainly an English phenomenon—in the run-up to any competition match between the two teams, many UK newspapers will print articles detailing results of previous encounters, such as England's win in 1966 and the semi-final penalty shoot-out defeats of 1990 and Euro 96 . This rivalry has diminished significantly in recent years. Germans consider Italy , the Netherlands and France to be their greater rivals, and Barney Ronay of The Guardian wrote in 2021 that
3048-514: Is one of the fiercest international rivalries that exists. It is the oldest international fixture in the world, first played in 1872 at Hamilton Crescent , Glasgow. The history of the British Isles has led to much rivalry between the nations in many forms, and the social and cultural effects of centuries of antagonism and conflict between the two has contributed to the intense nature of the sporting contests. Scottish nationalism has also been
3175-457: The 1970 World Cup in Mexico as reigning champions, and reached the quarter-finals, where they were knocked out by West Germany. England had been 2–0 up, but were eventually beaten 3–2 after extra time . They then failed to qualify for Euro 1972 and the 1974 World Cup , leading to Ramsey's dismissal by the FA . Following Ramsey's dismissal, Joe Mercer took immediate temporary charge of England for
3302-517: The 1982 World Cup in Spain; despite not losing a game, they were eliminated at the second group stage. Bobby Robson managed England from 1982 to 1990. Although the team failed to qualify for Euro 1984 , they reached the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup , losing 2–1 to Argentina in a game made famous by two highly contrasting goals scored by Diego Maradona – the first being blatantly knocked in by his hand, prompting his " Hand of God " remark,
3429-533: The 1998 World Cup — in which England were eliminated in the second round, again by Argentina and again on penalties (after a 2–2 draw). In February 1999, Hoddle was sacked by the FA due to controversial comments he had made about disabled people to a newspaper. Howard Wilkinson took over as caretaker manager for two matches. Kevin Keegan was then appointed as the new permanent manager and took England to Euro 2000 , but
3556-460: The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom . This was Northampton's fourth EFL play-off final and it ended in victory, 23 seasons after their only other Wembley win for promotion. They made it to Wembley following a second leg comeback against Cheltenham Town , after the first leg at Sixfields Stadium where they had trailed 2–0 and faced an uphill battle to progress to the play-off final. However, in
3683-457: The Cobblers , Liverpool bought Neal for a then club record of £65,000, whilst playing in the same side of another future England International, John Gregory . Finally during the 1975–76 season , the club finished second in Division Four and were promoted behind champions Lincoln City . They did this without losing a home game and having every regular player score during the season, including
3810-597: The County Ground during December 1929, when a fire destroyed three stands, with damage valued at around £5,000. Only one stand was saved although this was charred. The source of the fire was thought to be in the away dressing room; the Cobblers had earlier entertained AFC Bournemouth reserves. By August 1930, the stands were rebuilt. In 1932–33 , the club created history when brothers Fred and Albert Dawes both scored in an 8–0 win over Newport County . The latter finished
3937-561: The European Cup with Aston Villa two years previously. Barton's only season in charge proved severely disappointing however, as the club were never outside the bottom two, and health problems forced Barton's resignation near the end of that season. Success was achieved under Barton's replacement, Graham Carr , who brought in several players from the non-league in addition to a number of quality league players to finish eighth in his first season in charge. The 1986–87 season saw Northampton win
Phil Neal - Misplaced Pages Continue
4064-486: The FA Cup fifth round. Six of the goals conceded were scored by George Best , who received the match ball (signed by Northampton players) as a reward for his performance. For the first time since becoming a league side the club had to apply for re-election in 1971, they finished the most favoured club with 49 votes. In the 1974–75 season , future England International Phil Neal was sold, after 200 games in all competitions for
4191-411: The Football League , a crowd of 942 for the 1984–85 match against Chester City . The last game to be played at the ground was a 1–0 defeat by Mansfield Town on Tuesday, 12 October 1994. The club moved to Sixfields Stadium in 1994. It is a modern all-seater stadium with a capacity of 7,653 and award-winning disabled facilities. The stadium plan is simple with the west stand seating 4,000, opposite
4318-579: The Football League Trophy before spells managing Coventry City , Cardiff City and Manchester City . Neal also had a long career with the England national team , winning 50 caps and playing in the 1982 World Cup . He would go on to be England's assistant manager under Graham Taylor. Neal's nickname whilst at Liverpool was Zico – a reference to the Brazilian play maker and a compliment to Neal, who
4445-540: The League Two play-off final , losing 3–0 to Bradford City at Wembley Stadium . After a poor start to the 2013–14 League Two season, Northampton found themselves at the foot of the table, and as of 21 December, they had only won four games. Boothroyd was subsequently sacked. From the start of the 2013–14 season, Northampton shared their Sixfields Stadium with Coventry City with the West Midlands club going through
4572-576: The Nene derby , after the river which links Northampton and Peterborough. Other significant rivalries include Oxford United , Milton Keynes Dons , Coventry City , Cambridge United and Rushden & Diamonds . Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. The following have been included in
4699-420: The Nene derby . The club was founded on 6 March 1897 by a group of local school teachers who, together with a local solicitor A.J "Pat" Darnell at The Princess Royal Inn, Wellingborough Road, formed the town's first professional football club. Initially, their chosen name was Northampton Football Club, but after objections from the town's rugby club, the club was called Northampton Town Football Club. They joined
4826-494: The Olympic Games . England are the only team to have won the World Cup at senior level but not their major continental title, and the only team representing a non-sovereign country to have won the World Cup. The England men's national football team is the joint-oldest in the world; it was formed at the same time as Scotland . A representative match between England and Scotland was played on 5 March 1870, having been organised by
4953-573: The PFA Team of the Year whilst playing for Northampton Town: The following were chosen by fans as the favourite club heroes in the BBC Sports Cult Heroes poll in 2006: Below is a list of all permanent managers of Northampton Town since its foundation in 1897. Northampton Town hold the record for the shortest time taken to be promoted from the bottom tier to the top tier and relegated back down to
5080-669: The Sky Sports Masters series. In recent years, Neal has worked as a football pundit for various television and radio organisations. He has written two autobiographies, Attack from the Back in 1981 and Life at the Kop in 1986. Liverpool Bolton Wanderers Northampton Town F.C. Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton , England. The team competes in League One ,
5207-538: The UEFA Nations League . England are the joint oldest national team in football having played in the world's first international football match in 1872, against Scotland . England's home ground is Wembley Stadium , London, and their training headquarters is at St George's Park , Burton upon Trent. Thomas Tuchel will take over as Head Coach from January 2025. England won the 1966 FIFA World Cup final on home soil, making them one of eight nations to have won
Phil Neal - Misplaced Pages Continue
5334-401: The final , England were defeated 2–1 by Spain , becoming the first team to lose consecutive European Championship finals. With three goals, Harry Kane was the joint top scorer at the tournament and shared the golden boot with five other players. Whilst the FA were willing to extend his contract further, Southgate announced his resignation as England manager on 16 July 2024, saying that it
5461-429: The hand of God in 1986 . The rivalry is unusual in that it is an intercontinental one; typically such footballing rivalries exist between bordering nations. England is regarded in Argentina as one of the major rivals of the national football team, matched only by Brazil and Uruguay . The rivalry is, to a lesser extent reciprocal in England, locally described as a grudge match although matches against Germany carry
5588-545: The ' Meccano Stand ' by fans. The other two stands were at the ends with the Spion Kop, which only reached the goalposts, usually used for away supporters and the Hotel End for the home supporters. In 1965–66 , the only time that Northampton Town were in the top flight of English football, the county ground saw its highest attendance 24,523 against Fulham on 23 April 1966. The ground also saw Northampton's lowest ever attendance in
5715-473: The 'Kop End'. Ian Sampson was sacked as manager on 2 March 2011 after a poor run of form saw the Cobblers fail to win in eight games and sit in a disappointing 16th position in League Two. Sampson's last game in charge was a 2–3 defeat against Burton Albion , the manner of this defeat ultimately costing him his job. Sampson's sacking brought to an end a 17-year association with Northampton, and his commitment to
5842-461: The 2010 World Cup were shown on Setanta Sports until that company's collapse. As a result of Setanta Sports's demise, England's World Cup qualifier in Ukraine on 10 October 2009 was shown in the United Kingdom on a pay-per-view basis via the internet only. This one-off event was the first time an England game had been screened in such a way. The number of subscribers, paying between £4.99 and £11.99 each,
5969-595: The BBC and ITV. The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled. Win Draw Loss Fixture From 1 January 2025 The following 22 players were named in the squad for the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League matches against Greece and the Republic of Ireland on 14 and 17 November 2024 respectively. Caps and goals are correct as of 17 November 2024, after
6096-538: The Football Association . A return fixture was organised by representatives of Scottish football teams on 30 November 1872. This match, played at Hamilton Crescent in Scotland, is viewed as the first official international football match, because the two teams were independently selected and operated, rather than being the work of a single football association. Over the next 40 years, England played exclusively with
6223-464: The Fourth Division championship, gaining a club record total of 99 points and scoring 103 goals, 29 of them from Richard Hill , who was transferred in the summer to Watford for a club record fee of £265,000. The club adjusted to life in Division Three quickly and just missed out on a play-off place despite finishing sixth. Important players such as Trevor Morley and Eddie McGoldrick were sold and
6350-691: The Northants League and spent two seasons there, winning the championship the second season. They then spent two seasons in the Midland League , before joining the Southern League in 1901–02. Led by player-manager Herbert Chapman the club were champions of the Southern League in 1908–09 and played against Newcastle United in the Charity Shield match, losing 2–0 at The Oval . In 1919–20 ,
6477-489: The Premier League. However, Coppell resigned on 8 November 1996 and Neal became caretaker manager until the arrival of Frank Clark on 29 December. For the 1997–98 season , Neal was recruited as assistant manager to chairman-manager Barry Fry at Peterborough United after their relegation to Division Three, but he was axed by Fry on 15 March 1998. He has also played for and coached the Liverpool masters side which dominated
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#17330847468906604-463: The United States and Algeria ; this led to questions about the team's spirit, tactics and ability to handle pressure. Despite this, England progressed to the round of 16, where they were beaten 4–1 by Germany , their heaviest defeat in a World Cup finals tournament match. This match became infamous for a ghost goal when Frank Lampard hit a shot from outside the penalty area that bounced down off
6731-542: The University of Northampton, since 2013, and PTS Academy, since 2016. Previous sponsors have included Chronicle & Echo (1985–86 and 1994–95), TNT (1986–88), Costain Homes (1988–91), Van Aid (1991–92), Carpet Supacentre (1992–94), Lotto (1995–97), EBS Mobile Phones (1997–98), Nationwide (1998–2003), Jackson Grundy (2007–13), Red Hot Buffet (2011–12), Gala Casinos (2012–13), and Opus Energy (2015–18) Northampton moved to
6858-556: The World Cup in 1974 , 1978 and 1994 . The team's earliest exit in the finals tournament was elimination in the first round in 1950 , 1958 and, most recently, 2014 . This was after being defeated in both their opening two matches for the first time, against Italy and Uruguay in Group D. In 1950, four teams remained after the first round, in 1958 eight teams remained and in 2014 sixteen teams remained. In 2010 , England suffered its most resounding World Cup defeat, 4–1 to Germany , in
6985-593: The World Cup. They have qualified for the World Cup sixteen times, with fourth-place finishes in the 1990 and 2018 editions. England have never won the European Championship, with their best performances to date being runners-up finishes in 2020 and 2024 . As a constituent country of the United Kingdom , England are not a member of the International Olympic Committee (as English athletes compete for Great Britain ), and so do not compete at
7112-452: The ageing Chris Lawler , meaning that he initially played as a left-back. It would be, however, his industrious and energetic performances at right-back where he made his name. Neal made his Liverpool debut in the Merseyside derby against Everton at Goodison Park on 16 November 1974, a game which ended 0–0. Neal made his debut alongside midfielder Terry McDermott . Neal's first goal for
7239-603: The bottom again, in the space of nine years. Tommy Fowler holds the record for Northampton Town appearances, having played 552 first-team matches between 1946 and 1961. Centre half and former captain Ian Sampson comes second, with 449 games. The record for a goalkeeper is held by Peter Gleasure , with 412 appearances. Jack English is the club's top goalscorer with 143 goals in competitive matches between 1947 and 1959, having surpassed Teddy Bowen 's total of 120. Bowen's record had stood since September 1931, when he overtook
7366-399: The club achieved three promotions from the Fourth Division to the First Division within five years. However, Northampton only survived for one season in the top tier of English football after relegation in 1966. Northampton then experienced two further relegations in three years to return to the Fourth Division by 1969 – this set a record in English football of moving from the fourth tier to
7493-568: The club came almost exactly one year later on 4 November 1975, during the 6–0 defeat of Real Sociedad in a UEFA Cup game at Anfield . Neal scored from the penalty spot late in the 1977 European Cup Final , when the Anfield club beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 3–1 in Rome to win the European Cup for the first time. Neal subsequently played in the winning 1978 and 1981 finals, Liverpool beating Club Brugge and Real Madrid respectively. He scored in
7620-422: The club has guaranteed his status as a legend in fans' hearts. David Cardoza moved quickly and Gary Johnson was unveiled as the new manager on 4 March 2011. However, things didn't go well under Johnson: the club slid further down the table in League Two and only just avoided relegation at the end of the 2010–11 season . The beginning of the 2011–12 season saw no improvement for the Cobblers and Johnson left
7747-416: The club on 14 November 2011 by mutual consent. In November 2011, Northampton appointed ex- Watford manager Aidy Boothroyd as their new manager. After drafting in players such as Ben Harding , Luke Guttridge and Clarke Carlisle , Boothroyd managed to keep Northampton in the league and over the summer set about transforming the club into a club with promotion ambitions. On 18 May 2013, Northampton reached
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#17330847468907874-440: The club raising £5,000 to build a stand with a players' tunnel underneath and also improved terracing in the Hotel End. The following season saw the formation of the supporters' club. In 1925 the club's first foreign transfer took place as William Shaw was signed from Barcelona. A new ground record was set for the F.A. Cup third-round replay with Sunderland, 21,148 turned up to see the Cobblers lose 3–0. However, disaster occurred at
8001-519: The club went into administration in April 1992, with debts of around £1.6 million. Ten players were sacked and youth players were drafted in to make up the numbers; results did not improve. These events sparked the formation of the Northampton Town Supporters' trust , which has a shareholding in the club and a representative on the board of directors . This was the first such instance of
8128-513: The club's centenary season 1996–97 , Atkins lead the Cobblers to Wembley for the first time in 100 years, where they beat Swansea City 1–0 in the Third Division play-off final , John Frain scoring the winning goal from a twice-taken free kick deep into injury time . The following season Northampton made the Second Division play-off final , but lost 1–0 to Grimsby Town in front of
8255-591: The club's promotion to League One .) The north Stand is known as the Sheinman Opticians Stand, due to a naming rights partnership with local Opticians, Sheinman Opticians. The stadium was renamed the PTS Academy Stadium in June 2018 after the club agreed a naming rights partnership with local training provider PTS Training Academy. The name of the stadium reverted to Sixfields Stadium in July 2021, following
8382-485: The county ground in 1897, sharing it with Northamptonshire County Cricket Club from 1905. The main stand was situated alongside Abington Avenue and was a covered stand with seating to the rear and terracing to the front. The stand survived until 1985, but following the Bradford City stadium fire , it was deemed unsafe and demolished, leaving only the terracing. This was then replaced by a small temporary stand nicknamed
8509-519: The crossbar and over the goal line before being cleared by German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer , with neither the referee nor the assistant opting to award a goal. Had it been given, the goal would have tied the game 2–2 with England coming from two goals down. This incident - along with similar mistakes at the tournament - lead to an apology from FIFA president Sepp Blatter and was a factor in the subsequent decision to introduce goal-line technology into football. Capello continued as England manager, leading
8636-475: The emblem of King Richard I , who reigned from 1189 to 1199. In 1872, English players wore white jerseys emblazoned with the three lions crest of the Football Association. The lions, often blue, have had minor changes to colour and appearance. Initially topped by a crown, this was removed in 1949 when the FA was given an official coat of arms by the College of Arms ; this introduced ten Tudor roses , one for each of
8763-820: The final automatic promotion place based on goals scored across the season. In the play-off semi-finals, the Cobblers were subsequently defeated by Mansfield Town 3–1 on aggregate. In the following season, they defeated Tranmere Rovers on the final day of the season to seal automatic promotion to League One. Northampton's kit has been manufactured by Puma since 2023. Previous manufacturers have included Bukta (1975–82), Adidas (1982–83), Umbro (1983–86), Spall (1986–88), MG (1988–89), Scoreline (1989–91), Beaver Sports (1991–92), Ribero (1992–93), Swift (1993–94), Lotto (1995–97), Pro Star (1997–2000), Sport House (2000–03), Xara (2003–05), Salming (2005–06), Vandanel (2006–09), Errea (2009–16), Nike (2016–20), Hummel (2020–23) and Puma (2023–). The club's shirts are sponsored by
8890-425: The final day of the 2008–09 season, after suffering a 3–0 defeat away at Leeds United and other results that went against them. Northampton caused an upset in the third round of the 2010–11 Football League Cup , knocking out Liverpool at Anfield . The game was drawn 2–2 after extra time, as the Cobblers beat the team 69 places above them 4–2 on penalties , the winning penalty being scored by Abdul Osman at
9017-519: The first half of the 1984 final against A.S. Roma , which ended 1–1 and was decided on penalty kicks, won by Liverpool (with Neal scoring Liverpool's first goal of the shootout, from its second shot). Neal was the only player to appear in all four of Liverpool's European Cup wins of the 1970s and 1980s. In total, Neal won eight First Divisions , four League Cups , five FA Charity Shields , four European Cups , one UEFA Cup and one UEFA Super Cup during his eleven years at Liverpool, making him one of
9144-570: The first half of the decade, but 16-year-old Aidy Mann became the club's youngest player in May 1984. In 1984–85 , the lowest ever league attendance was recorded at the County Ground where only 942 people turn up to watch the Cobblers lose 2–0 at home to Chester City ; this was also Northampton's only ever league attendance below 1,000. In the same year, the club managed what seemed like a major coup when they appointed as manager Tony Barton , who had won
9271-530: The first international match in 1872. It is controlled by the Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England , which is affiliated with UEFA and comes under the global jurisdiction of world football's governing body FIFA . England competes in the three major international tournaments contested by European nations: the FIFA World Cup , the UEFA European Championship and
9398-487: The first season after the war, Town conceded a club record 103 goals. Nonetheless, the club was allowed to join the Football League for the following season, in Division Three (South) . 1922–23 saw the club become a public company and 8,000 shares were released at £1. The season produced a record crowd of 18,123 against Plymouth on Boxing Day and gate receipts for the first time exceeded £1,000. 1923–24 started with
9525-453: The first tier and back in only nine years. After six seasons of stability in the fourth tier, the club won promotion before returning to the Fourth Division after another relegation in 1977. Northampton won further promotions to the third tier in 1987 and 1997 . Relegated in 1999, they won immediate promotion after securing an automatic promotion place the following season. However they were once more relegated after three seasons of struggle in
9652-407: The full-time whistle, with Sam Allardyce announced as his successor in July 2016. After one match and only 67 days in charge, Allardyce resigned from his managerial post by mutual agreement following an alleged breach of FA rules . This makes Allardyce the shortest serving permanent England manager. After Allardyce's resignation, Gareth Southgate , then the coach of the England under-21 team ,
9779-436: The goalkeeper, Alan Starling , who netted from a penalty in the penultimate home game against Hartlepool . In 1976–77 , the club were relegated back to Division Four. The season started with ex- Manchester United assistant manager, Pat Crerand in charge; however, he resigned in the new year. No new manager was appointed and instead a committee was formed consisting of the chairman, the coach and three senior players. Prior to
9906-522: The kit in 1954 and since then has supplied most of the kits, the exceptions being from 1959 to 1965 with Bukta and 1974–1984 with Admiral . Nike purchased Umbro in 2008 and took over as kit supplier in 2013 following their sale of the Umbro brand. For the first 50 years of their existence, England played their home matches all around the country. They initially used cricket grounds before later moving on to football club stadiums. The original Empire Stadium
10033-505: The liquidation of PTS Training Academy. Since July 2016, Northampton have trained at Moulton College in Moulton, Northampton. Before this, they trained at the former athletics track, located at the back of the East Stand at Sixfields Stadium. The club's biggest traditional rivals are Peterborough United , a rivalry which has endured since the 1960s. Matches between the two clubs are known as
10160-410: The match against the Republic of Ireland . The following players have also been called up to the England squad within the last twelve months. Withdrew due to injury Preliminary squad / standby Retired from the national team Serving suspension Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue. England first appeared at the 1950 FIFA World Cup , and have subsequently qualified for
10287-472: The month. Former Chelsea player Wilson was appointed manager at the start of November, going on to win two manager of the month awards. The following season started promisingly, with players such as Marco Gabbiadini and Jamie Forrester pushing the Cobblers towards a play-off place before the club eventually finished in 18th place due to a large number of injuries in the second half of the season. Kevin Wilson
10414-644: The most successful Englishmen ever to play the game. During his Liverpool career, Neal was ever-present in the starting line-up for several seasons. He played 366 consecutive league matches (a club record and among the highest in English football history) from 14 December 1974 until 24 September 1983, when he suffered an injury against Manchester United that forced him to miss the following week's match against Sunderland. Neal departed Anfield after 11 years in 1985, joining Bolton Wanderers as player-manager. He retired from playing in 1989 after more than 700 league appearances and 50 caps for England . In December 1985, Neal
10541-628: The other three Home Nations —Scotland, Wales and Ireland —in the British Home Championship . At first, England had no permanent home stadium. They joined FIFA in 1906 and played their first games against countries other than the Home Nations on a tour of Central Europe in 1908. Wembley Stadium was opened in 1923 and became their home ground. The relationship between England and FIFA became strained, and this resulted in their departure from FIFA in 1928, before they rejoined in 1946. As
10668-488: The playing budget and stadium development. Although the investment was technically a takeover, Kelvin Thomas remained chairman and the two parties have acted in partnership since. On 4 September 2017, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was appointed as manager on a three-year deal, replacing Justin Edinburgh who had been sacked after four losses from the start of the season . His first game was against Doncaster Rovers five days later,
10795-586: The playoff final. A year later, they finished 13th in the Third Division and Neal was sacked on 8 May 1992. His successor was Bruce Rioch , who guided Bolton to promotion from the newly named Division Two (rebranded as part of a reorganisation prompted by the creation of the FA Premier League ) in 1993 and to the top flight in 1995. Neal returned to club management on 23 October 1993 with Coventry City , beginning his spell at Highfield Road on that day with
10922-416: The quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup , Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup . In January 2006 it was announced that Eriksson would leave the role following that year's World Cup. Steve McClaren was selected to succeed Eriksson, but was sacked on 22 November 2007 after just 18 matches in charge as England failed to qualify for Euro 2008 . McClaren was criticised for his team selection in his final game -
11049-405: The quarter-finals. In the semi-final, they were beaten 2–1 in extra time by Croatia and finished fourth after losing the third place play-off match against Belgium . England striker Harry Kane finished the tournament as top scorer with six goals and was awarded the golden boot . On 14 November 2019, England played their 1000th international match, defeating Montenegro 7–0 at Wembley in
11176-572: The regional branches of the FA. Since 2003, England top their logo with a star to recognise their World Cup win in 1966; this was first embroidered onto the left sleeve of the home kit, and a year later was moved to its current position, first on the away shirt. England's traditional home colours are white shirts, navy blue shorts and white or black socks. The team has periodically worn an all-white kit. Although England's first away kits were blue, England's traditional away colours are red shirts, white shorts and red socks. In 1996, England's away kit
11303-466: The rivalry with England "isn't a close rivalry at all, not if we accept the standard definition that both sides need to be aware that it exists. Germany have won seven major tournaments. Germany have reached 15 semi-finals since the 'one World Cup' of 1966." England's rivalry with Argentina is highly competitive. Games between the two teams, even those that are only friendly matches , are often marked by notable and sometimes controversial incidents such as
11430-679: The role for a relatively brief period. Graham Taylor was Robson's immediate successor. England failed to win any matches at Euro 1992 , drawing with tournament winners Denmark and later with France , before being eliminated by host nation Sweden . The team then failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup after losing a controversial game against the Netherlands in Rotterdam, which resulted in Taylor's resignation. Taylor faced much newspaper criticism during his tenure for his tactics and team selections. Between 1994 and 1996, Terry Venables took charge of
11557-405: The round of 16 stage. England first entered the UEFA European Championship in 1964, and have since qualified for eleven tournaments, tied for fourth-best by number of finals appearances . England's best results at the tournament were finishing as runners-up in both the 2020 (held in 2021) and 2024 editions, followed by a third-place finish in 1968 and reaching the semi-finals of 1996 ,
11684-409: The round of 16, England defeated Slovakia 2–1 after extra time, with Jude Bellingham notably scoring a spectacular bicycle kick in second-half stoppage time to equalise the match. In the quarter-final, England beat Switzerland on penalties after the game finished 1–1. England reached their second consecutive European Championship final after defeating the Netherlands 2–1 in the semi-final. In
11811-419: The season scoring 32 league goals and even scored four in a 4–0 win over the Netherlands national football team while the club was on tour. In 1933–34 , the F.A. Cup fifth round was reached for the first time courtesy of a fourth round win away to Huddersfield Town who, at the time were top of Division One. The Cobblers lost to Preston North End 4–0 at Deepdale , setting a new ground record of 40,180. In
11938-512: The season. However, there were some promising results such as a 2–1 aggregate win over West Ham United in the League Cup . The 1999–2000 season saw the club bounce back to Division Two , finishing in the third automatic promotion spot. Ian Atkins left the club in October following a poor start to the season; his assistant, Kevin Wilson and coach Kevan Broadhurst took joint charge for the rest of
12065-532: The second being an outstandingly skilful individual goal, involving high speed dribbling past several opponents. England striker Gary Lineker finished as the tournament's top scorer with six goals. England went on to lose every match at Euro 1988 . They next achieved their second best result in the 1990 World Cup by finishing fourth – losing again to West Germany after a closely contested semi-final finishing 1–1 after extra time , then 3–4 in England's first penalty shoot-out . Despite losing to Italy in
12192-557: The second leg, the Cobblers performed the turnaround by winning 3–0 away from home. However, Northampton were relegated back to League Two in their first season after finishing 22nd in the 2020–21 season. In the 2021–22 season Northampton finished fourth, narrowly missing out on automatic promotion on the final day to Bristol Rovers . Although Northampton started the final day in the automatic positions and managed to win their away match to Barrow 3–1, Bristol Rovers managed to beat Scunthorpe United 7–0. This meant Rovers would gain
12319-505: The semi-finals by Mansfield Town after a penalty shoot-out. In the 2004–05 season, Northampton finished seventh, again in the play-offs, where they were defeated by Southend United . Following this, the manager made substantial changes to the squad, bringing in experienced players such as Ian Taylor and Eoin Jess , and they enjoyed a successful 2005–06 league season. On 29 April, the Cobblers clinched promotion to Football League One , with
12446-537: The smaller 1,000-capacity east stand known as the Alwyn Hargrave stand after the Ex-Borough Councillor who helped the stadium become reality. At either end are identical stands that are the same height as the east stand, the south stand usually for away supporters. (Against Chester City on 29 April 2006, the stand was split and supporters segregated to allow the maximum number of home supporters to witness
12573-413: The start of the 1979–80 season, George Reilly was sold to Cambridge United for a then-club record of £165,000 (he had been the club's top scorer for the previous two seasons). New floodlights were installed in time for the 1980–81 season , but they failed during the first match against Southend United and the game had to be abandoned. The club struggled in the bottom half of the Fourth Division for
12700-419: The team exited in the group stage and he unexpectedly resigned shortly afterwards. Peter Taylor was appointed as caretaker manager for one match, before Sven-Göran Eriksson took charge between 2001 and 2006, and was the team's first non-English manager. Although England's players in this era were dubbed a " golden generation " and only lost five competitive matches during Eriksson's tenure, they exited at
12827-452: The team fell back down to Division Four in the 1989–90 season . The 1990s began badly, with the club relegated to the Fourth Division at the end of the 1989–90 season. The following season began well as the club looked on course to return to the Third Division at the first attempt. They were top of the table in February, but fell away and finished mid-table. Things then got even worse and
12954-430: The team was still picked by a committee until Alf Ramsey took over in 1963. The 1966 World Cup was hosted in England and Ramsey guided England to victory with a 4–2 win against West Germany after extra time in the final, during which Geoff Hurst scored a hat-trick . In UEFA Euro 1968 , the team reached the semi-finals for the first time, being eliminated by Yugoslavia . England qualified automatically for
13081-411: The team's successful qualifying campaign for Euro 2012 , before resigning from the role in February 2012 following a disagreement with the FA over their request to remove John Terry from the team captaincy following accusations of racial abuse against the player. Following Capello's departure, Stuart Pearce was appointed as caretaker manager for one match, after which in May 2012, Roy Hodgson
13208-473: The team. Hosting Euro 1996 , they equalled their best performance at a European Championship , reaching the semi-finals as they did in 1968, before exiting via another penalty shoot-out loss to Germany. England striker Alan Shearer was the tournament's top scorer with five goals. At Euro 96, the song " Three Lions " by Baddiel , Skinner and the Lightning Seeds became the definitive anthem for fans on
13335-402: The terraces, and popularised the chant "it's coming home". Venables announced before the tournament that he would resign at the end of it, following investigations into his personal financial activities and ahead of upcoming court cases. Due to the controversy around him, the FA stressed that he was the coach, not the manager, of the team. Venables' successor, Glenn Hoddle , took the team to
13462-527: The third level of the English football league system . Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland League for two seasons, before joining the Southern League in 1901. They were crowned Southern League champions in 1908–09, allowing them to contest the 1909 FA Charity Shield . Admitted into the Football League in 1920, they spent the next 38 years in the Third Division South . Under Dave Bowen ,
13589-443: The third place play-off, following defeat on penalties, after extra time, to champions West Germany in the semi-final. They also finished in fourth place in 2018 , losing 2–0 to Belgium in the third place play-off, following a 2–1 defeat to Croatia , again after extra time, in the semi-final. The team also reached the quarter-final stage in 1954 , 1962 , 1970 , 1986 , 2002 , 2006 and 2022 . England failed to qualify for
13716-478: The third place play-off, the members of the England team were given bronze medals identical to the Italians'. Due to the team's good performance at the tournament against general expectations, and the emotional nature of the narrow defeat to West Germany, the team were welcomed home as heroes and thousands of people lined the streets for an open-top bus parade. The 1990s saw four England managers follow Robson, each in
13843-457: The third tier, before securing promotion out of League Two in 2005–06 after two unsuccessful play-off campaigns. Relegated at the end of their third season in League One , they won the League Two title in 2015–16, but only lasted two seasons in League One before again being relegated. In 2020, they gained promotion to League One, but were relegated to League Two once again after a single season in
13970-430: The third tier. They won promotion back to League One in 2023. Northampton are nicknamed the Cobblers , a reference to the town's historical shoe-making industry, and the team traditionally plays in claret and white kits . The Cobblers played at the County Ground from 1897 until 1994, when they moved to Sixfields Stadium , which has a capacity of 7,798. Northampton's predominant rivals have been Peterborough United in
14097-422: The three seasons prior to the breakout of World War II , the Cobblers finished seventh, ninth and 17th respectively in Division Three (South). In the final match prior to the war, they travelled to Dean Court and lost 10–0, the club's record league defeat. During the war the Cobblers had the record for the first transfer fee received during the hostilities when Bobby King was sold to Wolverhampton Wanderers for
14224-590: The total of 110 goals set by striker William Lockett in 1930. The highest attendance at the County Ground of 24,523 was on 23 April 1966 in an important relegation battle in the First Division against Fulham . It is unlikely that this record will be broken unless redevelopment takes place at Sixfields. The record attendance at Sixfields is 7,798, for an EFL Cup match against Manchester United on 21 September 2016. League Cup England national football team The England national football team have represented England in international football since
14351-404: The winning run to nine. The 2015–16 season was successful and resulted in promotion to League One on 9 April. A draw at Exeter combined with Oxford United's defeat at home to Luton Town meant that they clinched the League Two championship a week later on 16 April. The Cobblers went on to play their first season in the third tier of English football since 2009. In the 2016–17 season, after
14478-659: The £2million arrival of striker Dion Dublin from Manchester United on 10 September, and Neal was sacked on 14 February 1995 despite a 2–0 away win over fellow strugglers Crystal Palace three days earlier, which saw them 17th in the Premier League and two places above the relegation zone. Neal's successor Ron Atkinson ensured City's survival. He was appointed manager of Cardiff City in Division Three in February 1996, but in October that year he left Ninian Park to become assistant manager to Steve Coppell at Manchester City who were struggling in Division One after relegation from
14605-410: Was "time for change, and for a new chapter". Under-21 manager Lee Carsley was subsequently appointed interim head coach of the senior team. On 16 October 2024, the FA announced that German manager Thomas Tuchel would take over as manager from 1 January 2025, becoming the third foreign coach to take up the position. The motif of the England national football team has three lions passant guardant ,
14732-568: Was announced as the new manager, just six weeks before Euro 2012. England managed to finish top of their group , but exited the Championship in the quarter-finals via a penalty shoot-out against Italy . In the 2014 World Cup , England were eliminated at the group stage for the first time since 1958. At Euro 2016 , England were eliminated in the round of 16, losing 2–1 to Iceland in a result that has been described as among their worst ever defeats. Hodgson tendered his resignation shortly after
14859-574: Was appointed player-manager of Bolton Wanderers and managed the club for seven years. During this period, Neal led the club to win the Football League Trophy in 1989, although the club would later suffer relegation to the Fourth Division for the first time in their history. They won promotion back to the Third Division the following season, reaching the Third Division play-offs in 1990 and 1991 but failed to win promotion on either occasion. In 1991, they had been pipped to automatic promotion by Grimsby Town on goal difference, and lost to Tranmere Rovers in
14986-532: Was built in Wembley , London, for the British Empire Exhibition . England played their first match at the stadium in 1924 against Scotland and for the next 27 years Wembley was used as a venue for matches against Scotland only. The stadium later became known simply as Wembley Stadium and it became England's permanent home stadium during the 1950s. In October 2000, the stadium closed its doors, ending with
15113-448: Was changed to grey shirts, shorts and socks. This kit was only worn three times, including against Germany in the semi-final of Euro 1996 but the deviation from the traditional red was unpopular with supporters and the England away kit remained red until 2011, when a navy blue away kit was introduced. The away kit is also sometimes worn during home matches, when a new edition has been released to promote it. England have occasionally had
15240-745: Was estimated at between 250,000 and 300,000 and the total number of viewers at around 500,000. In 2018, Sky Sports broadcast the England Nations League and in-season friendlies, until 2021 and ITV Sport broadcast the European Qualifiers for Euro-World Cups and pre-tournament friendlies (after the Nations League group matches end), until 2022. In April 2022, Channel 4 won the rights for England matches until June 2024, including 2022–23 UEFA Nations League matches, Euro 2024 qualifying games, and friendlies. 2022 World Cup rights remained with
15367-416: Was known for scoring important goals throughout the club's history. His son, Ashley Neal , also became a footballer. Neal began his playing career at Wellingborough Town , before he joined Northampton Town in 1967. He went on to make 187 appearances for the club before being signed on 9 October 1974 for £66,000 by Liverpool manager Bob Paisley . Paisley had intended to break Neal in as a replacement for
15494-498: Was only avoided due to the Conference champions, Kidderminster Harriers , not meeting the necessary ground criteria. The club eventually began its move to Sixfields. The club moved to new ground, Sixfields Stadium , in October 1994. The change of ground did not change the club's fortunes and they finished 17th, with Ian Atkins taking over as manager from John Barnwell halfway through the 1994–95 season. After two more seasons, in
15621-401: Was put in temporary charge of the national team until November 2016, before being given the position on a permanent basis at the end of that period. At the 2018 World Cup , England reached the semi-finals for the third time. After finishing second in their group, England faced Colombia in the round of 16 where they won on penalties for the first time at a World Cup, before beating Sweden in
15748-460: Was required after the collapse of ITV Digital and much-publicised takeover attempts by John Fashanu and Giovanni Di Stefano had failed and left the club with huge debts. They were taken over by a consortium run by Andrew Ellis , who sacked Broadhurst in January 2003, when Northampton were struggling at the foot of the division. He was briefly replaced by former England player Terry Fenwick who
15875-513: Was sacked after a winless spell of seven games. This was, at the time, the eighth-shortest managerial reign in English football history. Martin Wilkinson , the new manager lasted little longer, being dismissed in October 2003 in favour of former Scotland and Tottenham Hotspur defender Colin Calderwood . Calderwood led Northampton to the play-offs in his first season, where they were knocked out in
16002-407: Was sacked in November 2001 to make way for his assistant Kevan Broadhurst, who steered the Cobblers from relegation to a remarkable survival with a game to spare after losing only one home game from mid-January. The next season was the worst since the early 1990s, both financially and on the pitch. Early on they were forced into a 'Save our Season' campaign to keep afloat until the end of the year. It
16129-484: Was unavailable. Their first match in the new Wembley Stadium was in March 2007 when they drew with Brazil. The stadium is now owned by the Football Association, via its subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Limited. England's three main rivalries are with Scotland , Germany and Argentina . Smaller rivalries with France , Wales and the Republic of Ireland have also been observed. England's rivalry with Scotland
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