Editing Northampton (section)

=== Sport ===
[[File:Northampton Saints play Worcester Warriors at Franklin's Gardens.jpg|thumb|[[Franklin's Gardens]], the home of the Saints, is the 5th largest stadium in the [[East Midlands]] and the largest stadium in [[Northamptonshire]].]]

====Rugby Union====

The town is home to [[Guinness Premiership|Premiership]] [[rugby union]] champions [[Northampton Saints]], who play at [[Franklin's Gardens]] in the St James End area to the west of town. The Saints have won 3 major titles so far: the [[Heineken Cup]] in 2000, and the [[Gallagher Premiership|English Premiership]] twice in 2014 and 2024 respectively, and have the highest average attendance of any professional sports team in the town.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.northamptonsaints.co.uk/rugby/results/senior | title=Northampton Saints Results &#124; Saints Score }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.footballwebpages.co.uk/northampton-town/attendances | title=Northampton Town &#124; Home Attendances &#124; Football Web Pages }}</ref>

Rugby Union also maintains itself as a very popular amateur sport in the town, with it being played by nearly every secondary school in the area, as well as by around 10 amateur clubs within Northampton itself, most of which field multiple teams on weekends.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.englandrugby.com/play/find-rugby-results?postcode=northampton | title=Find Rugby Results &#124; Rugby Football Union }}</ref> Northampton is also home to Northampton Outlaws, its first inclusive rugby team and the 9th gay-friendly team in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ben Cohen joined celebrations with the Northampton Outlaws RFC :: The Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation |url=http://www.standupfoundation.com/standup-news/ben-cohen-joined-the-celebrations-with-the-northampton-outlaws-rfc/ |access-date=29 August 2013 |publisher=Standupfoundation.com}}</ref> Due to its introduction to the town as a sport for all, it has maintained a considerably more working class character than elsewhere in the UK.<ref>{{cite book |last=Barron |first=Brian | date= June 2005 |title= Nothing Without Labour, Northampton Saints The First 125 Years |pages=1–2 |location= Kings Heath, Northampton NN5 7QP |publisher= Avalon Print |isbn= 0-9551699-0-9}}</ref>

====Association Football====
{{English football updater|NorthamT}} [[association football|football]] club [[Northampton Town F.C.|Northampton Town]], known as "The Cobblers" from the town's shoemaking background, are based at [[Sixfields Stadium]]. Established in 1897, in their centenary season of 1997 they reached Wembley through the play-offs and beat [[Swansea City A.F.C.|Swansea City]] 1–0 with an injury time winning free kick from John Frain. It was the first club to set up a trust for supporters to work with the club as many have done. Sixfields was also briefly the home of [[Coventry City F.C.|Coventry City]] for just over one season between August 2013 and August 2014.

There are also three non-league clubs in the [[United Counties Football League]]: [[Northampton Spencer FC|Northampton Spencer]]; [[Northampton Sileby Rangers F.C.|Northampton Sileby Rangers]]; and [[Northampton ON Chenecks FC|Northampton Old Northamptonian Chenecks]].

====Cricket====

[[Northamptonshire County Cricket Club]], known in [[limited overs cricket]] as "The Steelbacks" (a reference to the Northamptonshire Regiment which was formed in 1881), is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic [[cricket]] structure. The club was promoted from Division 2 of the [[County Championship]] in 2019, and play in Group C of the [[Clydesdale Bank 40]] League and the Midlands/Wales/West group of the revamped [[Friends Provident]] [[Twenty20 Cup|T20]]. They are based at the [[County Cricket Ground, Northampton|County Ground]], in the Abington area.

====Motorsport====

The [[Silverstone Circuit]], current home of the [[British Grand Prix]], is a few miles south of Northampton. [[Rockingham Motor Speedway]] and [[Santa Pod Raceway]] are a few miles north and east of Northampton respectively, the latter offering a range of [[drag racing]] events.

====Other Sports====

Northampton is also home to [[Collingtree Park#Facilies|Collingtree Park Golf Club]], which hosted the [[British Masters]] in 1995. There are also many equestrian and country activities, and several water sports centres, such as the Nene Whitewater Centre, which provides an artificial [[whitewater]] course for [[canoe]]s, [[kayak]]s and [[raft]]s. The Northampton Swimming Club also trained the young Olympic swimmer [[Caitlin McClatchey]].

Northampton is also home to [[Be Military Fit]] in Abington Park where members can train up to 7 times a week with serving or ex-military fitness instructors.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

[[Northampton Greyhound Stadium]] hosted [[Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom|greyhound racing]] from 1928 to 1964 and [[Motorcycle speedway|speedway]] from 1929 to 1930.<ref>{{cite web |title=OS Plan 1962–1963 |url=https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/475828/259748/13/101329 |publisher=old-maps.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Northampton Greyhound Stadium Summary |date=12 February 2019 |url=https://greyhoundracingtimes.co.uk/2019/02/12/northampton/ |work=Greyhound Racing Times}}</ref>