Northampton announce £2m loss despite record turnover

The new East Stand at Northampton Town's Sixfields stadium

Northampton Town have announced an overall loss of £2.03m for the year ending June 2024.

The figure is almost £1m higher than that of 12 months earlier, when they were promoted from League Two, but the club also posted a record turnover of £6.74m.

The average attendance of 6,841 for games at Sixfields was their highest for 56 years.

Despite the loss, chairman Kelvin Thomas described it as a "successful period" for the club.

"It is our wish to make the club financially sustainable in the medium to longer term, however the reality is that with the current financial pressures facing the game, this is very difficult to achieve while also maintaining a competitive playing budget to allow the club to be successful on the pitch," the annual financial report said.

"External influence will be needed to help us and many other clubs to achieve that and we hope the expected appointment of a football regulator will be a big step forward in this regard."

The turnover figure was 31% up on the previous year but the Cobblers only made a profit of £256,409 from their transfer activities compared to over £1.2m in 2022-23.

The club recently began a phased opening of the new East Stand - the total cost of which is expected to be over £5m - before the end of the season.

The project began in 2014 but was delayed by contractual disputes and work only resumed last summer.

The annual report added: "The new East Stand will increase capacity to 8,203, reinstate the accessible seating viewing platform and deliver pitch-facing hospitality for the first time in the club's 128-year history with the creation of 16 executive boxes, a large lounge and a boardroom

"The directors delivered on their commitment to develop and complete the East Stand as soon as was practically possible and ahead of any land development.

"At time of signing this report, the East Stand had recently opened its doors to supporters for the first time, on schedule."

Northampton are currently 19th in League One under boss Kevin Nolan, who was appointed in December, seven points above the relegation places with seven games left to play.

They are next in action on Tuesday evening at home to managerless Rotherham United.