A ‘ramble’ from Roberts recalls the County’s colour

The old adage goes something along the lines of ‘everybody has a book in them’.

It certainly rings true for Andy Roberts who has penned, in his words, “a bit of a ramble through the last 40 years at the County Ground”.

‘Fields of Maroon and Gold – Northamptonshire CC 1974-2013’ is Roberts’, formerly a sports writer at the Chronicle & Echo who has covered both the County and Northampton Town, take on the past four decades.

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His third foray into print – his previous offerings concerned the Cobblers and the Eurovision Song contest – the book looms at the matches and players of the era and Roberts admitted the inspiration for the work came from one the recent past’s finest.

He said: “When I was covering the club in the late 80s and early 90s I remember David Capel making a throwaway line about his career possibly making for a good book one day.

“Two or three years ago I revisited the idea and asked Capes whether he would be interested in working on such a project.

“But when he was relieved of his coaching duties in 2012 the book was in its research phase and understandably he wasn’t too keen on being the main focus of the book.

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“So while his career runs through the book, it broadened out and became a lot more generalised.”

History books of a particular club tend to encompass a broad passage of time but Roberts deliberately narrowed his focus to cover the time since the club crossed his radar.

“1974 was my first introduction to the club when I used to go up there and play games on the outfield and ask players for autographs,” he continued.

“The ground back then was pretty bleak and all the colour was on the pitch and this is what I remember.

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“Hopefully people can relate to it, the experiences I had, and the players who are mentioned and I think the fact it concludes with the Twenty20 success of last year gives it a good finish.”

So is there a book number four on the horizon, a look at what is to come at the County Ground over the next few years perhaps?

He said: “I do find it a relaxing and enjoyable discipline and hopefully there will be a couple more books in me.

“It’s certainly something I would consider.”