Northampton Town

Make The Case

Here is the argument for Northampton Town: England, England EFL League Two, and a ground called Sixfields Stadium. A second team should give you something your first one cannot, and this is a different country's whole weather system.

• The calendar you inherit

  England EFL League Two is cold-weather football: mud in February, breath visible under the lights, and a fixture list that rewards anyone who sticks it out. England does not do easy neutrals.

• Old enough to matter

  1897 is the founding date, old enough that the club has survived a war, a rebuild and at least one financial scare, young enough that the good years are still in living memory.

• Something to defend

  The cabinet is not empty: Second Division (level 2) and Third Division South / Third Division (level 3). Small enough to recite from memory, big enough to argue about in a pub.

• Close to the pitch

  Sixfields Stadium holds about 8,203. You can hear the defenders shouting at each other, which is the single best argument for lower-capacity football.