Northampton Town Chairman David Cardoza is delighted to confirm that the club have extended the contract of manager Stuart Gray, keeping him at Sixfields until at least June 2010.

"Stuart is, in my opinion, the best manager I have worked with since coming to the club," said Mr Cardoza.

"We have a very good personal relationship and I have the upmost faith in his coaching and managerial capabilities. When Stuart arrived we looked like a team that could easily be relegated, 15 months later we were being tipped for the play offs. It was very important for the continued development of the football club that Stuart extended his contract and this is a big boost for all of us. My father and I wanted Stuart in place for at least the next 2 years, and with potential positive news on the horizon regarding the ground redevelopment, we wanted him with us to take us on to the next level.

"Continuity in football is all important. It is clear that clubs that change their managers constantly on the whole do not succeed, the longer the manager stays at the club the more stable it is. If anybody can get us into the Championship, Stuart can. The facts are now that Stuart will be with us and under contract for at least the next 2 years.

"Off the pitch we are making significant progress and that will mean the dream of this football club playing in a big and better stadium, generating enough revenue not only so that it can pay its bills but move on to a new level. We are not there yet but are getting closer every day. Myself and Tony Clarke have made some real inroads into our long term plans and aspirations over the last 3 years and I believe that the borough council's new chief executive, David Kennedy is someone who has a real understanding of our needs. I also believe that the Council as a whole now understands the feel good factor that a successful football club can bring to a town or city as well as all the additional economic benefits.

"I expect to be announcing very soon that Jim Barron and Ian Sampson have also agreed to stay for another 2 years to carry on their excellent work alongside Stuart and again this is very welcome. Our head of youth development Geoff Harrop's decision to stay with us means the excellent work that is being achieved with our youth and Centre of Excellence will continue and we look forward in the coming years to seeing more and more boys coming through the ranks and joining up with the first team.

"Off the pitch the terrific achievement of all the staff this season has been rewarded with awards and nominations from the Football League. We are a small group of hard working, talented individuals who deserve a huge amount of credit for what has been a very satisfying and successful season. We are also aware that we can improve and will continue to work hard to make that happen.

"The pieces of the jigsaw are finally falling into place, we are not quite there but we are close. Our reward will come when we are able to finally say the redevelopment of Sixfields is underway."