Sad end for Sammo

Cobblers stalwart welcome back

You know that a man has had an effect on a football club when even the stewards can’t believe that he has gone. This was the case at Sixfields on Saturday with one of the high viz brigade being overhead lamenting the departure of Cobblers boss Ian Sampson. “I’ve worked for the club for the best part of ten years and it’s the first time that Sammo hasn’t been around when I’ve come on duty… it’s weird… sad in a way”.

Indeed, many Northampton fans turning up at the ground were experiencing a similar unsettled feeling knowing that Sampson, the man who played 449 times for the club over a ten year period and then took in both coaching and management roles with the East Midlands side over a further five years, wasn’t going to take his usual place in the home dugout.

“Sammo” as he was known by virtually everyone within the club (and probably his own mother) is ingrained in the cement that holds Sixfields together. Any fan that started supporting Northampton after 1994 wouldn’t even remember football before Sammo he has been around that long.

Sampson’s near enough twenty year association with the club had seen him at the front of one of the lower leagues most unpredictable rollercoasters. The Wakefield born centre back was brought to the club in 1993 by John Barnwell (now Life vice president of the LMA ) to shore up the Cobblers leaky defence. A move which didn’t immediately work as the club finished bottom of Division 4, only to escape the non league abyss due to Kidderminster Harriers ground being deemed unfit for league football.

However with the Cobblers move from the decrepit County Ground to shiny new Sixfields (and with a change off boss in the form of Brummy Ian Atkins) Sampson went from strength to strength, forming a rock solid partnership with Ray Warburton, that formed the basis of an ultimately successful playoff campaign in 1997, culminating in the sweetest of the sweet last gasp Wembley victory against Swansea.

Moreover, Sampson was at the forefront of Northampton’s progression in the “Atkins years” and was again at the heart of another tilt at promotion to what is now the Championship, a year later in 1998. On this occasion the Cobblers fell short, losing a close game at Wembley, to a talented Mariners side including the likes of Kevin Donovan and Jack Lester.

Indeed, it seems that if you look at any of key games that Northampton played during the tumultuous years just before and after the new millennium, Sammo was continuously significant. The League Cup ties where the Cobblers saw off West Ham at Sixfields and Upton Park, Sampson was playing, the subsequent game against Tottenham, Sampson was playing, the F.A Cup tie against Manchester United, Sammo was playing. During his footballing career with the Cobblers, Sampson appeared at Wembley twice, was promoted twice, took part in four playoff campaigns, was relegated once and saw five managers come and go.

thinker

It was in this light that Sampson was appointed as manager of Northampton in 2009 having earned his dues with the club in fulfilling nearly every role (Youth Team Coach, Reserve Team Coach, Assistant Manager) and it was credit to a man who Barnwell described as a “student of the game and a deep thinker” that he was given the “top job” by Chairman David Cardoza after the sacking of Stuart Gray.

It was however, sods law that Sammo’s reign at Sixfields was to be as unpredictable as in his playing days. His first three quarters of a season in charge was seen as a chance to “right the wrongs” that had been evident in the final months of Gray’s tenure. Indeed the Cobblers just missed out on the playoffs after dropping too many points and struggling to gel after Gray’s departure.

Big things were hoped of Sammo in the 2010/11 campaign as a full pre-season and a chance to mould his own side came to fruition. Results were patchy but the seemingly impossible victory over Liverpool at Anfield brought worldwide attention to the club and gave the downtrodden Cobblers fans a night they will never forget.

On the back of the Anfield victory, Sampson brought in Shaun Harrad from Burton, a move which was aimed at propelling the Cobblers into the playoff pack. However, for whatever reason things didn’t work out how and after a club record run of six successive draws, Sampson was sacked by David Cardoza.

It was an upsetting ending to the Sampson Saga at Northampton. The fans were split on the decision. Some agreed with the decision arguing that Sammo was “out of his depth” with the tactics needed to draw blood from the stone of league two football. Others argued that Sammo was taken on as a novice so should be given the time that a novice takes to learn the ropes. Unfortunately for the club hero, unrest on supporter’s message boards, a glut of red cards, and a noticeable fall in attendances meant that a decision was inevitable.

That said, it shows that the warmth of feelings towards the man that there are none of the hard feelings that usually surround sacked managers. Sammo will always be welcomed back at Sixfields with open arms and those fans who sit in the stands waiting to watch the Cobblers under new manager Gary Johnson will be able to sit back and imagine Sampson tackling, heading and passing as he did so well on nearly five hundred occasions.

I myself will relish the memory of his neat side foot volley which saw us defeat Peterborough at London Road in 2000. A super finish from a super bloke.