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The History of Northampton
Rugby Football Club
The
following extract is from the Saints web site. A link to this site may be found
on the Rugby main page.
The
history of Northampton Rugby Football Club goes back to 1880. A local clergyman,
the Reverend Samuel Wathen Wigg, was credited with starting the Saints. He
formed a rugby team from something called the church improvement class as a way
for some high-spirited boys to let off steam.
Long before his death, Rev Wigg, father to nine
children, was to see the side develop into one of the main clubs in England. The
clergyman was curate of St James Church, hence today’s nickname of Saints or
Jimmy’s.
Franklin’s Gardens was formerly a pleasure gardens
and small zoo owned by hotelier, John Franklin. At one stage it was considered
one of the finest grounds in England, particularly when the Main Stand was
completed in 1927.
The first Northampton player to be capped was local
farmer Harry Weston from Yardley Gobion, who made a single appearance against
Scotland in 1901.
The first Saint to captain his country was Edgar
Mobbs, who led England against France in the last of seven international
appearances. Mobbs also went on to form his own corps after enlisting in the
First World War, having been refused a commission on the grounds of his age – he
was 32. He was killed in action on July 29, 1917, and a town mourned.
Four years later, a 20ft statue was erected in the
center of Northampton and the Mobbs Memorial match began between East Midlands
and the Barbarians, a fixture that survives today but one that has declined in
stature since the era when it was an unofficial England trial.
In
the 20s and 30s the Saints gained a reputation for producing big, bruising
forwards, several of whom played for England, notably Billy Weston (son of
Harry), Ray Longland and Freddie Blakiston, later Sir Freddie, an Ian Botham
swashbuckler of his day.
After the Second World War, the reverse applied as
Northampton had a string of talented backs, such as Louis Cannell, Jeff
Butterfield and Dickie Jeeps. Butterfield, Jeeps and prop Ron Jacobs all
captained England.
More great names followed in the 60s, including Bob
Taylor and David Powell, but gradually the Saints waned as a major force in
English rugby and with the advent of leagues, they looked set to slip into
obscurity.
They pulled back from the brink after an audacious
coup by a gang of frustrated supporters overthrew the committee in 1988 and
within two seasons became Division Two champions and KO cup semi-finalists. New
stars emerged such as Tim Rodber and Ian Hunter, followed by the likes of Paul
Grayson, Matt Dawson, Nick Beal and Gregor Townsend.
Scotland and British Lions coach Ian McGeehcan took
over as director of rugby in 1994 only to see the side plunge into Division Two.
They returned after one season with a 100 per cent league record. McGeechan had
an outstanding reputation as a coach, underlining that by taking the Lions to
South Africa in 1997 and winning the series 2-1. He took with him five Saints’
Lions – Tim Rodber, Paul Grayson, Nick Beal, Gregor Townsend and Matt Dawson,
the latter of whom went on to score a superb solo try in the opening test and
added another in the last test.
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