Northampton Saints
English rugby union football club / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
Full name | Northampton Rugby Football Club | ||
---|---|---|---|
Union | East Midlands RFU | ||
Nickname(s) | Saints, Jimmies[1] | ||
Founded | 1880; 144 years ago (1880) | ||
Location | Northampton, England | ||
Region | Northamptonshire | ||
Ground(s) | cinch stadium at Franklin's Gardens (Capacity: 15,249[2]) | ||
Chairman | John White | ||
CEO | Mark Darbon | ||
Director of Rugby | Phil Dowson | ||
Captain(s) | Lewis Ludlam | ||
Most appearances | Ron Jacobs (470) | ||
Top scorer | Paul Grayson (2,786)[3] | ||
Most tries | Teddy Cook (219) | ||
League(s) | Premiership Rugby | ||
2022–23 | 4th (Play off Semi-final) | ||
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Official website | |||
www |
They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", which gave them the nickname Saints from the 1880s. The team play their home games at Franklin's Gardens, in the west of the town, which has a capacity of 15,250 and play in black, green, and gold colours.
At the conclusion of the 2022–23 Premiership Rugby season, Saints finished 4th which entitled them to compete in the 2023–24 European Rugby Champions Cup. The current director of rugby is Phil Dowson, who was promoted to director of rugby in the summer of 2022.[4]
Northampton has won six major titles. They were European Champions in 2000 and English Champions in 2014. They have also won the secondary European Rugby Challenge Cup twice, in 2009 and 2014, the Anglo-Welsh Cup in 2010, and, most recently, the inaugural Premiership Rugby Cup in 2019. They have also won the Second Division title three times; in 1990, 1996 and 2008.
Their biggest rivals are Leicester Tigers. "The East Midlands Derby" is one of the fiercest rivalries in English rugby union.[5][6]