Club delighted to confirm appointment
Northampton Town are delighted to appoint Justin Edinburgh as the club's new manager on a two and a half year contract.
As a player, Edinburgh spent the majority of his career with Tottenham, making more than 200 appearances. He also represented Southend and Portsmouth.
After spells in charge of Billericay Town and Fisher Athletic, Edinburgh became the manager of Rushden & Diamonds. After a successful two and a half years in charge of the Diamonds where he took them to the Conference play offs, Edinburgh was appointed manager of Newport County in October 2011.
At the time County were 23rd in the Conference, but Edinburgh turned their fortunes around, leading them away from relegation trouble and to the FA Trophy final. Their progress continued the following season and after a 3rd place finish in 2012/13 he led the Exiles back to the Football League via the Conference play offs.
Edinburgh was appointed the manager of Gillingham in February 2015 after the Gills agreed to pay County compensation for his services and the Gills had only won 8 of their first 28 league games that season, but following Edinburgh’s appointment they secured 30 points from their last 18 games, recording eight wins, ensuring Edinburgh led his new club to 62 points. He then guided the Gills to a top ten finish in 2015/16, challenging for the play offs for much of the season before a run of injuries to key players hindered their chances. He parted company with the Kent club earlier this month.
Edinburgh has an impressive 41% win ratio over nearly 400 games as a manager in charge of Rushden & Diamonds, Newport County and Gillingham. He will take a watching brief at Saturday’s game against Scunthorpe United, before officially taking over on Monday.
Chairman Kelvin Thomas said, “We spoke with a lot of managers this week and had a lot of applications, but Justin’s teams have always impressed me with the energy that they play even back to his Rushden days.
“His career has seen a solid progression upwards from non-league through to League One and he has managed a lot of games in his time, so the experience is there.
“I have also spoken to a lot of people in the game and had very positive feedback. He knows how to get results especially when going into clubs.
“We have talked a lot today about the squad and he is excited about starting to work with them on Monday. He thinks we have good players, that he knows well, and is confident of winning football matches with this group.
“We have also talked about his time at Gillingham and why that ended, and it certainly feels like he has learnt a tremendous amount from that experience which will hopefully be to the benefit of Northampton Town Football Club.
“Once we had made this decision we wanted to make the announcement quickly, however think it is best that Justin will not meet the press or be interviewed until Monday as all focus now goes towards the game tomorrow and we look forward to seeing everyone at Sixfields.”
Justin Edinburgh said, “I’m delighted and honoured to be appointed the new manager of Northampton Town.
“The club has made terrific progress recently and this would be a fantastic opportunity for any manager, so I am very pleased to be given this chance.
“Northampton Town has a reputation of being a very well run club, with some fantastic training facilities and an excellent fanbase. There is potential there to take the club forward and I will work very hard to do just that.
“We want to provide a winning team and a team that plays football the right way. My teams are known for strength, high energy and playing on the front foot and I want to continue that here. I know how much the Northampton Town supporters get behind their team and I have experienced some fantastic atmospheres at Sixfields as an opposing manager and hopefully we can work together to enjoy some good times.
“I will watch Saturday’s game and the players who are here will have their opportunities to impress, both on Saturday and moving forward."