AIDY BOOTHROYD has hailed the financial importance of a strong run in the Capital One Cup after learning this week that the Cobblers will play host to Cardiff City in round one.
Town defeated npower Championship opposition last season – winning 2-1 at Ipswich Town – and the previous year they enjoyed a glorious league cup run, beating Brighton and Reading and securing a historic victory against Liverpool at Anfield.
That sequence of results helped fund a number of signings for then-manager Ian Sampson, with former Premier League striker Leon McKenzie brought in directly as a consequence of the extra revenue.
Northampton budget for just one game in each cup competition, so that any extra gate receipts and prize money are a bonus, and although Cardiff City are one of the best teams they could have faced at the first hurdle, they should also bring a sizeable away following.
There may also be interest from Sky in televising the game – two games are screened live from the first round and a visit to a league two club by the side that lost in the final last term could generate some interest.
“A good cup run is really important,” said Boothroyd. “For a club like ours, where the chairman has put in so much of his own money, it’s nice to go on a little run to firstly, go through a few rounds, but also to raise some money for the club.
“It’s money we perhaps might not have had and that helps the chairman, who funds the running of the club a lot of the time, and it gives the crowd an opportunity to see teams from a different league.
“We have an awful lot of games to play. We’re in three cup competitions and we’ll do all we can to get as far as we can in all of them because that could generate a lot of money.
“For a club like ours that money can then be used to either plough back into the budget or allow the chairman a break from putting so much money in.”
The game against Cardiff will take place in the week commencing August 13 and be the first competitive match of the new season for the Cobblers.
There was an option to move the tie to the Saturday if both clubs agree to, but the Welsh side play Newcastle United in a pre-season game on that day and will not want to cancel it.