At 11, Alexandre Pato nearly lost an arm to an aggressive tumour. Six years later, he was one of the brightest prospects in Brazilian football, having broken through at Internacional. Milan paid €24 million to bring him to Italy. Injuries would disrupt his career, but Pato played across Brazil, Europe and the United States. After Milan came Corinthians, Villarreal, Chelsea, Tianjin Tianhai and Orlando City, as well as three spells at São Paulo. He scored 188 goals in his career. For Brazil, he won 27 caps and scored 10 times, taking bronze at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and silver in London four years later. Now 37, Pato has a new project. He is part of the group that has bought Northampton Town, the League Two club, with ambitions to take them much further. His connection to Northampton goes back to the days when he would spend hours playing football video games on the PlayStation. Among all the clubs available, this was the one he kept choosing.
Northampton were acquired at the end of September by Sports Alpha Capital, whose most recognisable figure is Pato. When he appeared alongside the team, supporters greeted him in yellow and green shirts and chanted his name. Speaking to ESPN during his latest visit to England, he explained how the club first caught his eye. “When I was younger, I used to play with Northampton on video games. Now I’m actually here. You could choose from so many teams on the PlayStation, but I always picked Northampton because I liked the badge. It’s beautiful. Playing with them wasn’t easy, and now all of this is real. We have the club, the players and the opportunity to help Northampton grow and write history. Let’s see what we can do for the team, the city and the community. Having this club is special to us.” Northampton have experienced a rise like few other English clubs. Under Dave Bowen in the sixties, they climbed from the Fourth Division to the First in just five seasons, eventually facing Liverpool and Manchester United. By 1970, they were back in the bottom tier. In less than a decade, they had played in all four divisions, a journey up and down the league pyramid that remains unique in English football.
The takeover comes after relegation from League One, at a difficult time financially. The new owners have already reduced the club’s debt burden. On the pitch, things have been slower to improve: Northampton sit 19th, with 13 points from eleven matches. The investment group has bigger ambitions than a quick recovery, though. Wrexham is an obvious point of reference. Since being bought by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, the Welsh club have climbed from the semi-professional game to the Championship and attracted a global following. The story also helped persuade João Xavier, a 31-year-old Brazilian lawyer working in venture capital and private equity, to pursue a football club of his own. He founded Sports Alpha Capital with Tim Chamberlain and Pedro Piquet specifically to make an acquisition. “Welcome to Wrexham was what made me consider buying a club,” Xavier said. The series showed him what a football team could mean to the people around it. Northampton, however, will have to find its own way. “Watching it, I had no idea of the power and significance a club can have for people. It was an inspiration, but we’re nowhere near that reality. We can’t copy them.”
Pato agrees. “I love what Wrexham have done for their community. They’ve done a great job. But we’re different, and we believe we can do something special in Northampton. They have their model; we’ll have ours.” One of the main opportunities lies in Brazil. English football has a substantial following there, and Pato is already helping to bring Northampton to the attention of supporters back home. He still lives in Brazil but has travelled to England several times, meeting fans, staff and players and posing for hundreds of photographs. A Brazilian influencer was also at the club’s most recent match, sharing the experience with his audience. “The first time I came here, we heard Brazilian music in the stadium. Now there are people in Brazil shirts and scarves in the stands. We want to connect the club with Brazilians. There are so many opportunities,” Pato said.
The plans include television deals, a possible Netflix-style documentary and trips for Brazilian supporters to watch matches in Northampton. Recruiting Brazilian players is another possibility, although international transfer rules present their own challenges. “It’s not a promise, but it would be foolish not to consider signing players from Brazil,” Xavier said. There are more immediate ways to bring money into the club, too. Northampton play 23 home league games each season, leaving the stadium available for much of the year. The owners want to make better use of it and explore other commercial opportunities. “We can generate more revenue. We have 23 league games here, but what do we do for the rest of the year? We’re working on that. There are immediate opportunities we can take advantage of,” Xavier said.
Pato has already heard from former teammates about the difficulties of English lower-league football. During a visit to Milan a few weeks ago, they warned him how hard it would be to make progress at this level. “It’s a challenge,” he said. “But I believe in our club, our group and everyone working here. This is only the beginning.” Northampton have won three matches in 2026. Pato was in the stands for two of them.