Northampton Saints
A little history
Among the clubs currently vying for the title of the best in England in the Premiership, the Saints is unique both for how it was founded and how it has remained close to its roots in a literal and metaphorical way for 130 years.
The club's origins can be traced to a boys' improvement class run out of the St James Church by its curate, Revd Samuel Wathan Wigg. The class was started as a way to let the area's high-spirited boys let off steam in a constructive way. Long before his death Revd Wigg, who fathered nine children, was to see the side develop quickly into one of the main clubs in England.
After playing in a number of venues in the immediate years after its founding, the Saints made Franklin's Gardens its home in the late-1880s. Originally known as Melbourne Gardens (pictured above), the site was a popular pleasure garden and leisure hub for the people of Northampton. Its current name was taken from John Franklin, a hotelier who bought the site in 1886, and it was not long before the stadium was known as one of the finest in England, particularly with the addition of an excellent main stand in 1927.
The Saints' original colours were black and green stripes. The gold was added in 1905 for a game against the touring All Blacks, known as The Originals. By then the Saints also had its first England player, local farmer Harry Weston from Yardley Gobion, and was soon to have its first national captain too in the shape of Edgar Mobbs.
Mobbs's name still lives on today, both in the club's Hall of Fame but also in the Mobbs Memorial Match between the East Midlands and the Barbarians, which commemorates Mobbs's bravery in World War I. Initially denied a commission, Mobbs formed his own corps that became known as the Sportsman's Battalion.
Within 18 months Mobbs was battalion commander, but he would not survive the war. Wounded three times in combat, Mobbs died as he had lived, charging a German machine gun nest in the Third Battle of Ypres, otherwise known as the Battle of Passchendale. A memorial to Mobbs, who had no wife or children, was unveiled in front of thousands of people in Northampton Market Square in 1921.
Where Mobbs and Weston had blazed a trail from club to country others soon followed, such as big bruising forwards like Ray Longland, Billy Weston and Freddie Blakiston, who was later knighted. But it was not until the middle of the twentieth century that Northampton would be producing one world-class player after another.
Who the saints are today..
The 2013/14 season had already been one of the most successful in the club’s 135 years, with the first team reaching the LV= Cup final, the Wanderers reaching the Aviva ‘A’ League final and the Under-18s lifting the Premiership Rugby Academies League trophy.
But all of these achievements were surpassed as the team went on to create some of the most memorable moments anyone could imagine.
First up was the Aviva Premiership semi-final against Leicester, who had beaten the Saints at Twickenham in 2013 and were veterans of 10 successive finals. And at half-time it seemed that the Tigers were going to be heading back to HQ after building up a comfortable 17-6 lead.
If this was bad enough there was a further setback when Salesi Ma’afu was sent off for punching Tom Youngs. However this just seemed to inspire the Saints, who stepped their intensity and physicality up several notches, scoring tries through Lee Dickson and George North.
A Leicester penalty eight minutes from time meant that Saints now needed a try to win, and the margin seemed to inspire them even further, as did the capacity crowd that was becoming increasingly raucous with each passing minute.
And the effort was rewarded with Tom Wood crashed over from close range, emotion emerging in a roar of delight. Tigers were broken at last, and Saints were in their second successive Aviva Premiership final a fortnight later.
Nevertheless there was the small matter of a European Challenge Cup final to negotiate in the meantime. Saints took to the 4G pitch at Cardiff Arms Park to face Bath, and just as at the Gardens it was their opponents who grabbed the initiative, scoring a breakaway try.
Trailing by seven at the break, Saints’ pack then proceeded to take the game by the scruff of the neck, giving the man of the match Stephen Myler the platform he needed to control the action and kick repeated penalties to take the team in front.
Late tries from Phil Dowson and Ben Foden sealed the win, with the former joining Wood in lifting the trophy into the Welsh night sky.
If supporters thought that things could not get any more dramatic they were wrong, as what followed at Twickenham eight days later would go down into the record books.
Opponents Saracens had had their own European final in Cardiff, losing to Toulon, and they played throughout the Aviva Premiership final as if their lives depended on it. Despite scoring tries through Foden and George Pisi Saints could not shake Saracens off, who replied with a try of their own six minutes from time to tie things up.
Nevertheless the crucial moment had happened on the hour mark. Saracens had seemed to have scored through Owen Farrell, but with the fly half receiving treatment after injuring himself in his celebration referee JP Doyle got a call in his ear from Television Match Official Graham Hughes to check for a possible forward pass in the build-up.
The pass was indeed forwards, the try was ruled out, and any momentum Saracens had had was gone.
Their late score meant that this became the first Aviva Premiership final to go into extra time, and the additional 20 minutes were no less dramatic. Myler kicked a penalty, but then do did Charlie Hodgson, who then landed another with seven minutes to play.
Then as the action reached its final moments Saints set up camp in the Saracens 22. Their better try count meant that a draw would have brought the trophy, but the team wanted more, inching their way towards the try line.
Alex Waller dived over, the rest of the pack celebrated, but Doyle needed to check this score, sending it to Hughes in the truck to see if the prop had managed to get the ball on the whitewash.
Agonizing minutes followed, then came the immortal words: “JP, you may award the try”. The north end of Twickenham went into delirium, sparking a party that lasted long into the night for the 40,000 members of the Saints Nation who were present, and the thousands more in Northampton watching on TV.
The open-top bus parade the following afternoon was the icing on the cake, with Northampton town centre welcoming an approximate 30,000 supporters to celebrate achievements that will be forever etched in the annals of this great club
Perry are proud to be the official blazer providers for the Northampton Saints. If you would like to purchase an official Saints blazer contact our team today on 01132389525 or email
sam@peryuniform.co.uk.
