Northampton Town close to promotion this weekend
Friday 1 April 2016 18:36, UK
Northampton Town can be the first Football League team to be promoted this Saturday - if three variables go their way.
The Cobblers, who lead fourth-placed Accrington Stanley in Sky Bet League Two by 16 points, must first ensure they beat Notts County at Sixfields.
They would then need Accrington to lose to Cambridge and Bristol Rovers to fail to beat Crawley Town to ensure a return to the third tier of English football after an absence of seven years.
Northampton could also set an attendance record for their Sixfields ground if they sell out the east stand - which has been refitted with seats and reopened in time for the final four home matches of the season - and Notts County sell their full allocation of tickets.
Chris Wilder's team have 86 points from 39 matches this season and are 13 clear of second-placed Oxford United.
They have been top of League Two since winning 2-1 at Dagenham & Redbridge on January 16, and have won 20 of their last 26 games, losing just once in that period.
The club endured financial problems under their previous owner David Cardoza after failing to repay a council loan and was the subject of a winding-up order by HMRC in October due to unpaid taxes.
But former Oxford chairman Kelvin Thomas bought the club and paid off the tax, while a criminal investigation has since been launched into the missing council loan money.
