Crowned and Cut - Northampton Town RELEASE Young Player of the Season Winner

Northampton Starlet Axed and Honoured

Northampton Town have taken to social media to give congratulations to young Archie Murray for winning their Academy Player of the Season award. A normal thing to celebrate, of course, but this does have the added caveat of having come a day after the Cobblers released him.

🏆 Congratulations to Archie Murray who is our Academy Player of the Season!

Award sponsored by @dbfbcomms 🤝@NTFC_Academy#ShoeArmy 👞 pic.twitter.com/58I4Dvcmve

— Northampton Town (@ntfc) May 3, 2026

Northampton are making their way down the pyramid to League Two after finishing dead last in League One this season, and won't be taking one their apparent best talents alongside them, with Murray announcing on Instagram that he had been released from the club.

Murray Announces Surprise Cobblers Release

Despite being crowned as Northampton's Academy Player of the Year, Archie Murray was axed by the club as the season came to a close the day before they crowned him as the winner, with Murray announcing that he had been let go following relegation.

He wrote on Instagram: “After over 12 years at [Northampton Town], my time has unfortunately come to an end.

“Thank you to everyone involved at the club for supporting me over the years, onto the next…”

The 18-year-old had featured for the club in pre-season under then-manager Kevin Nolan, but the Bolton legend was sacked from his post in March after a shambolic run of form. The club still haven't found a permanent replacement for him, and are now bracing for life in League Two with interim boss Colin Calderwood unable to change the course.

👞Northampton Town name youngster Archie Murray their Academy Player of the Season, then release him from the club.🤔

A confusing process by the Cobblers.#NTFC fans, what's going on at Sixfields? https://t.co/IcJHTLSgcV

— Footy Pyramid (@footypyramiduk) May 4, 2026

Calderwood insisted in recent days that the Northampton academy would play a huge part in getting the Cobblers to re-ground themselves in their new, lower division.

Before the final game of the season, he said: “We are still hoping to get an academy player on the bench, but there is no guarantee, and it has to be deserved.

“We want to open it up to the younger players, and the academy is a big part of the club moving forward.”

Albeit, thought, not a big enough part to keep their best academy player in mind, one feels.

Calderwood did stay true to wording and deployed some academy prospects onto the bench for their 3-2 final-day loss to Plymouth Argyle.

A fellow academy midfielder to Murray, Mateo Moon-Arnaez was named on the bench aged just 17, but did not get the chance to get onto the field. Neo Dobson, however, did make his first appearance of the season in the late stages of the game though.

Murray Cut Before a Chance Could Come

Poor Archie Murray must have a confused head on his shoulders at the moment. He was crowned as the best amongst his peers, but has been cut out of Northampton's Cat 3 academy and now must make his next step alone, having not been given a senior opportunity with the Cobblers.

Wow… just ONE DAY after winning Acadmey Player of the Season, Northampton Town have released Archie Murray 🤯💔

Murray announced that he was let go from the club following their relegation:

“After over 12 years at Northampton, my time has unfortunately come to an end.

Thank… pic.twitter.com/I0XyHiEEO2

— Rising Ballers (@RisingBallers_) May 5, 2026

He played the final 11 minutes of a 3-0 loss in a behind-closed-doors friendly to Cambridge United, with the two clubs swapping league divisions a year on following the U's promotion.

Yet Murray was never allowed to cut his teeth at the top level once the season started, despite Northampton's struggles.

Northampton, who are captained by Sean Dyche's son Max, a product of the club's youth set-up, currently operate a Category 3 academy, which produced two young players who were given a chance on the bench for the final day, as Calderwood explained:

"Mateo has done well through the academy. He came up and joined us for training as a reward, and we wanted to get him involved. There’s always peaks and troughs for young players, and he’s had a bit of a trough, which is just natural, but we have to make sure we open the door, and there’s an opportunity.

"When they drop back down to the academy, it has to be normal that they go up and down. Coming up to the first-team doesn’t make them a player because there’s still a lot of work for him to do. He’s experienced a little bit today, and ideally I would have loved to get him on the pitch, but the sending off didn’t help.”