Jon Brady issues a statement explaining his decision to resign as Northampton Town manager after three and a half years in charge.
The 49 year old guided the Cobblers back to League One in 2023, however departs with the club 21st in the table following a 2-0 defeat at Stevenage.
Brady had talked about his pride at the work that had been done during his time at Sixfields Stadium before prior to his 200th game in charge against Stevenage, of which his side lost 2-0 – their sixth league match without a win.
Brady’s assistant Ian Sampson has since been put in interim charge and will lead the team in the home game against Peterborough.
— Jon Brady 🇬🇧🇦🇺 (@backofthenetfc1) December 17, 2024
“I would like to sincerely thank everyone at Northampton Town. My particular thanks to Kelvin, James and the Northampton Board who have shown me tremendous support throughout my time with the club, for which I will be forever grateful.
“Ultimately it was my decision to resign from my position as manager of Northampton Town Football Club.
“For almost four years, my excellent staff and I have given everything to deliver success to our supporters. During oti first full season, we achieved 80 points, narrowly missing out on automatic promotion by one goal and making the play-offs.
“In our second season, we displayed tremendous courage and bounce back ability. With the best start to a season in 52 years, we gained promotion to League 1 on the final day of the season away at Tranmere, amassing 83 points. What a day for the fans and the club and it meant everything to me to be able to deliver League 1 football back to the Shoe Army.
“Our biggest achievement came in the third season with our highest league finish and points tally (60) in League One since 2007/08.
“During my time with this fantastic club we accumulated 223 points in three seasons, a feat that has not been achieved in over 20 years and one that both myself and the staff will always be truly proud of.
“I am proud of our record in unearthing first loans for players from the Premier League and EFL Championship clubs. We gave these players an opportunity to play, improved them with quality coaching and support off the pitch and as a result these players have been instrumental in our success, long may this continue. My thanks goes to all of the players I worked with during my time at the club.
Our ultimate goal has always been to unite our fans, players and staff as one and create a feeling of family and togetherness. I hope I leave the club with this ethos firmly embedded. Overall I hope we have added value. The evidence of our progression can be seen in the number of fans attending our matches, with the highest average attendances in 55 years. This is something that we can all be proud of and puts the club in a strong position to move forwards.
“Finally, to you the Shoe Army, you have given me everything!
“I will be forever grateful to you for embracing me from the very start. Together we achieved everything we set out to do. Northampton Town is a phenomenal football club and so much more – and I will forever be a supporter of our Town and the great football club that is central to Northamptonshire.
“I wish everyone connected with Northampton Town nothing but continued success.
“Once a Cobbler, always a Cobbler ….Shoe Army”
Kelvin Thomas says he ‘wasn’t surprised’ when Jon Brady handed in his resignation due to a ‘variety of reasons’.
“I wouldn’t say that James (Whiting) or myself were surprised,” the chairman said while on BBC Radio Northampton. “There had been some discussions about it. There’s no easy way to say this but being a football manager is a very, very difficult job and it can be a very lonely job.
“Having worked with a lot of managers, I know it can be lonely and I’ve always tried to support managers, not just financially but there’s an emotional support and a duty of care. I’ve tried to use my experience as a chairman to help a manager along.
“All the managers I’ve worked with have had self-doubts and they always question whether they can do better. I think any manager is not that far away from stepping away and Jon just decided it was time for him for a variety of reasons.
“It’s not for me to say why Jon decided to make that decision. You can’t hide from the fact that we don’t have the biggest budget in the league and there are pressures that come with that. We have always backed managers but some teams in the league can sign certain players and there were players that Jon was looking at who financially we can’t get.
“That’s what Jon’s job is – to look for better players. But there’s always that constraint, and I think with Jon social media maybe played a part. I used to talk to him quite a bit about ignoring what’s on social media but sometimes that can be very difficult.
“Results weren’t as good as he would have liked and Jon’s obviously local as well and that was an added pressure because he always surrounded by Northampton fans, so there were a lot of factors behind his decision.
“But we can’t get away from the fact that Jon did a very good job for us and we were very happy with what he did and there was no pressure from us as owners.”
“We hadn’t had any discussion around that,” said Thomas on if he was close to being sacked. “Jon had done enough at his time at the club to be given a bit of time. Every team goes on a bad run, we did last season and we came back really strong so we always had faith in Jon.
“There was no pressure from us and we kept reiterating that to Jon but I think he put himself under such internal pressure that it was tough for him.”
FAVOURITES TO BECOME NEW NORTHAMPTON MANAGER:
BetVictor – 17 Dec
Andy Woodman – 4/6
Ian Sampson – 5/1
Robbie Savage – 5/1
Michael Appleton – 6/1
Andy Peaks – 8/1
Here’s how fans reacted as Jon Brady issues a statement explaining his decision to resign as Northampton manager…
Thank you Jon. You brought us some good times. You improved the image of the club too. It’s a tough old business and I wish you an enjoyable and relaxing break. It was a pleasure to meet you in the summer after our promotion. I asked you to keep us in League One, and you have. pic.twitter.com/PjzMmLIuUe
— Lee Wade (@wadeycobbler) December 17, 2024
@ntfc2: I’m gutted you resigned Jon. You gave us truly memorable times, and drove this club forward impeccably on and off the pitch. I hope you are proud of what you achieved, and more than anything, happy, healthy and able to enjoy family life without the unrelenting pressure
@Stew2205: Thank you for everything you did for the football club both on and off the pitch. You gave us back our pride and identity. It was an absolute pleasure to be on that journey as a fan. Wishing you every success for the future #shoearmy
@jsta05: It wasn’t all rosy but overall a great few seasons and a top servant to the club all the best Jon
@icurseplayers: My gaffer. Thank you Jon I wish you the best of luck 👞👞👞
@richcols: Absolute top man. 👞
@MrsMaccCobblers: Thank you for everything you have done for our club. It has been an absolute privilege to have you as our manager. Wishing you all the very best for your future x
@ntfcxhgt: Forever grateful JB 🙏
@robbocobblers: Thank you and well done Jon. You did a fantastic job that will age even better! How come you stepped away though?
@StevoFreshGOAT: Thanks for everything, Jon!
@scottwithringt1: Amazing job Jon 👏👞
@H_Whitworth204 Thanks for everything Jon, hopefully we cross paths again in the future, but for now good luck gaffer x
@kwscott29: Thanks for everything Jon you have been brilliant both as a ma ager and as a man. Good luck for everything you do in your future
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