Northampton Town Names Kevin Nolan as New Manager

Northampton Town has announced the appointment of Kevin Nolan as its new manager, on a contract spanning two and a half years. Nolan’s prior experience includes serving as a first-team coach at West Ham for over four years. Nolan takes over from Jon Brady, who stepped down on December 5 after three and a half years at the helm. During his tenure, Brady led the club to promotion from League Two in 2023. Nolan’s managerial background includes spells at Leyton Orient and Notts County. More recently, he held the position of first-team coach at West Ham United under David Moyes until both departed the club in May. Northampton currently sits 20th in League One, a position reached after Saturday’s 5-0 home loss to Rotherham United. Nolan’s inaugural game as manager will be an away fixture against Reading on Boxing Day. The 42-year-old stated to BBC Radio Northampton, “This is the next step in my journey to getting to the top… I was really young when I took the two jobs previously and I managed to be quite successful in that period.” He further commented, “This is a great place for me to be at at this stage of my managerial career and as a club, and a team, we can all grow together. I’ve done a lot of due diligence with people in and around me who I know and trust and they were very complimentary, not only of the owners and CEO, but also the staff already working here.” Nolan also added, “It’s Christmas, you know you’ve got plenty of games and we’ve got to get it right, get the right amount of work into the lads. We’ll be working hard to make sure we go to Reading to be the best version of ourselves, being a lot more diligent and harder to beat and trying to create more chances than we have in previous games.” Kevin Nolan scored for West Ham against Newcastle in a 2012 Premier League game. Throughout his playing career, which commenced at Bolton Wanderers and included stints at Newcastle United and West Ham, Nolan accumulated over 600 appearances and scored 111 goals, achieving promotion to the Premier League with all three clubs. He took on a player-manager role at Leyton Orient in January 2016, but his tenure in the dual capacity lasted only three months. Andy Hessenthaler replaced him as manager, even though the team was positioned just outside the play-off spots. Nolan departed the London club that summer and was subsequently appointed by Notts County in January 2017. He guided them to the League Two play-offs the next season, where they were defeated by Coventry City. However, he was dismissed in August 2018 after a winless streak of six games. Northampton chairman Kelvin Thomas stated that Nolan, who had served as assistant head coach for England Under-20s after his departure from West Ham, demonstrated “a real desire” for the position at Sixfields. Thomas further commented, “Our immediate target is to try and move up the table and while we understand we have challenges to overcome, we believe Kevin is well placed to lead us forward on that.” He added, “Kevin will be ably supported by the current staff who will remain in their roles while we expect to be able to confirm an additional experienced appointment in the near future to complete a very strong football staff.” Northampton had reached as high as 12th place earlier in the current season, but now finds itself only two points above the relegation zone after suffering defeats in four of its last five matches. Their sole win in the last eight games occurred on December 9 against Peterborough United in the Nene derby, under the guidance of interim boss Ian Sampson. After the match against Reading, the team will play away at Shrewsbury Town on December 29, followed by Nolan’s first home game as manager against Stevenage on New Year’s Day. According to BBC Radio Northampton sports reporter Jake Sharpe, Nolan’s appointment represents a gamble for the Cobblers. Critics may highlight his lack of managerial experience since 2018. Nevertheless, Nolan has been involved in top-level football with West Ham until last summer, bringing extensive footballing expertise. He will be required to elicit a swift response given the crucial series of fixtures scheduled over the festive period.