Northampton Town to face Birmingham and Brackley in pre-season friendlies

Northampton Town have confirmed details of two pre-season friendlies ahead of the 2025/26 season, with the Cobblers facing Birmingham City and Brackley Town.

The match against Birmingham will take place on Saturday July 26th and will serve as a testimonial for club captain Sam Hoskins, who marks ten years this year since first joining the Cobblers.

The game is the second confirmed pre-season friendly for Kevin Nolan’s side, who previously announced they will be travelling to play National League North champions Brackley at St James’ Park on Saturday July 5th.

Northampton’s home friendly against Birmingham is confirmed by the club as set to be their final game before the start of the League One season, which is scheduled to be the week after.

The clash against the side who were runaway champions of League One in the just-concluded 2024/25 season will double as a celebration of Hoskins, who has made over 400 appearances since joining the club from Yeovil Town in 2015.

Hoskins said the game represented a great opportunity to prepare for the new season in a statement on the Northampton Town website.

He said, “I am really grateful to Birmingham City for agreeing to be the opposition for this game.

“There should be a lot of excitement around the game. It is being played the week before the season starts and just before Birmingham return to the Championship of course, so we are looking forward to seeing a good crowd at Sixfields.”

Ticket details for the match will be announced in due course.

The game is the second Cobblers’ friendly confirmed for July, with Northampton previously announcing their annual visit to Northamptonshire neighbours Brackley. The game comes as the Saints prepare to take part in the National League for the first time in their history next season, with Brackley promoted last season.

Northampton advised that supporters going to the Brackley match on July 5th should try to plan routes that avoid Silverstone, with the game taking place over the weekend of the British Grand Prix F1 race and therefore likely to see there be substantial traffic in the Silverstone area.