John Frain’s name will live in Cobblers history forevermore after his 93rd minute free kick won the game at Wembley. On a day already steeped in history for the club, Frain topped it all by producing that moment of magic in beating Roger Freestone.
“John Frain in the 93rd” is still a chant that rings out whenever we play Swansea City. Ten years on and we’re still signing about the incredible finish to the Playoff Final of ‘97. No doubt the chant will live forever and the moment certainly will in the minds of every Cobblers fan. The free-kick memories will live on through generations and we’ll be telling our grandkids about the moment a small balding man sent us absolutely wild at the most famous stadium in the world.
Had it not been for the free-kick, Frainy may not have been anything more than a regular player in the club’s history. Joining from Birmingham City on deadline day of 1997, initially on loan, Frain was brought in to replace the injured Lee Maddison. The left-back played over 300 games for Birmingham after coming through their academy and joined the Cobblers with a strong reputation for set pieces. Little were we to know at the time just how crucial this attribute would become!
Just two months after signing for the Town, Frain was walking out at Wembley. After a solid game at the side of the now legendary defensive duo of Ray Warburton and Ian Sampson, Frain’s moment of glory came as he made himself the unlikely hero of the day.
I always remember the build-up to the goal and Dad screaming “Come on now John Frain” as he stood over the ball with Roy Hunter. After the initial block and encroachment by Jonathon Coates in the Swansea wall, Frain stepped up again and with one strike of the ball sent the tunnel end of Wembley into a scene of bedlam!
Frain went on to make over 200 appearances in a claret shirt before joining Moor Green, initially as a player but nowadays as Assistant manager of the club.
On the open top bus tour around Northampton town centre the Monday after Wembley, Frain’s fellow players sung from the bus roof, “He’s small, he’s round, he’s worth a million pound, Johnny Frain, Johnny Frain.” He perhaps wasn’t worth that sort of figure (look out for the Christian Lee special for a million pounds player!) but Frain’s Wembley goal was worth a whole lot more in the hearts of every Cobblers fan from then on.
“John Frain in the 93rd” is still a chant that rings out whenever we play Swansea City. Ten years on and we’re still signing about the incredible finish to the Playoff Final of ‘97. No doubt the chant will live forever and the moment certainly will in the minds of every Cobblers fan. The free-kick memories will live on through generations and we’ll be telling our grandkids about the moment a small balding man sent us absolutely wild at the most famous stadium in the world.
Had it not been for the free-kick, Frainy may not have been anything more than a regular player in the club’s history. Joining from Birmingham City on deadline day of 1997, initially on loan, Frain was brought in to replace the injured Lee Maddison. The left-back played over 300 games for Birmingham after coming through their academy and joined the Cobblers with a strong reputation for set pieces. Little were we to know at the time just how crucial this attribute would become!
Just two months after signing for the Town, Frain was walking out at Wembley. After a solid game at the side of the now legendary defensive duo of Ray Warburton and Ian Sampson, Frain’s moment of glory came as he made himself the unlikely hero of the day.
I always remember the build-up to the goal and Dad screaming “Come on now John Frain” as he stood over the ball with Roy Hunter. After the initial block and encroachment by Jonathon Coates in the Swansea wall, Frain stepped up again and with one strike of the ball sent the tunnel end of Wembley into a scene of bedlam!
Frain went on to make over 200 appearances in a claret shirt before joining Moor Green, initially as a player but nowadays as Assistant manager of the club.
On the open top bus tour around Northampton town centre the Monday after Wembley, Frain’s fellow players sung from the bus roof, “He’s small, he’s round, he’s worth a million pound, Johnny Frain, Johnny Frain.” He perhaps wasn’t worth that sort of figure (look out for the Christian Lee special for a million pounds player!) but Frain’s Wembley goal was worth a whole lot more in the hearts of every Cobblers fan from then on.
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