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Northampton Saints
Northampton Saints.svg
Full name Northampton Rugby Football Club
Union East Midlands RFU
Nickname(s) Saints, Jimmies
Founded 1880; 144 years ago (1880)
Location Northampton, England
Region Northamptonshire
Ground(s) cinch stadium at Franklin's Gardens (Capacity: 15,249)
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)
Most tries Teddy Cook (219)
League(s) Premiership Rugby
2022–23 4th (Play off Semi-final)
1st kit
2nd kit
Official website

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.

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.

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.

History

Early years

The club was established in 1880 under the original title of Northampton St. James (Saints) by Rev Samuel Wathen Wigg, a local clergyman and curate of St. James Church who was a resident of the nearby village of Milton Malsor in the house known as "Mortimers". This is how the club got its two nicknames of "The Saints" or "Jimmies". His original concept was to promote "order" to his younger parish members by creating a youth rugby club, with the philosophy of a "hooligan sport designed to turn them into gentlemen".

It was not long before Northampton had one of the major rugby union teams in the country. Twenty years after its establishment, the first Saints player, local farmer Harry Weston, was awarded an England cap.

Northampton saints allblacks 1905
The Northampton Saints posing with The Original All Blacks in 1905

As the club progressed through the early years of the 20th century one player dominated this era for the club, Edgar Mobbs. Edgar was a hero throughout the town. He was the first Northampton player to captain his country but is best remembered for his exploits in World War I. After initially being turned down as too old, Edgar raised his own "Sportsman's" battalion otherwise known as Mobbs Own. Edgar was killed in battle, leading his battalion over the top by kicking a rugby ball into no man's land on 29 July 1917 attacking a machine gun post and his body was never found. The club arranged the Mobbs Memorial Match as a tribute. It had been played every year since 1921 and the fixture took place between the Barbarians and East Midlands at Franklin's Gardens until the Barbarians withdrew their support in 2008. The match was saved by the efforts of former Northampton player Bob Taylor and former Northampton chairman Keith Barwell, and since 2012 it has been played alternately at Bedford Blues' Goldington Road ground and Franklin's Gardens, with the host club facing the British Army team. From 2024 the match will be played as a preseason game between Bedford and Northampton.

In this postwar period the Saints continued to grow, and they started to produce some of the best players in England, some of whom went on to captain their country. They were one of the driving forces in the English game for the next 60 years producing players such as Butterfield, Jeeps, Longland, White and Jacobs but hard times were ahead.

The club failed to keep pace with movements within the game and top players were no longer attracted to the Gardens, where a 'them and us' mentality had built up between the players and those in charge of the club. Some former players formed their own task force which swept out the old brigade in the 1988 'Saints Revolution' and put a plan into action which would put the club back at the top of the English game.

Barrie Corless, as director of rugby, set about restructuring the club and soon the Saints were back on the way up, helped by the signing of All Blacks legend Buck Shelford.

In 1990, Northampton Rugby Union Football Club gained promotion to the First Division and the following year made their first trip to Twickenham to play Quins in the Pilkington Cup Final. They lost in extra time but the foundations of a good Saints line-up were beginning to show in the following few seasons.

Tim Rodber and Ian Hunter forced their way into the England setup while younger players such as Paul Grayson, Matt Dawson and Nick Beal came through the ranks and would follow the duo into the England senior team.

In 1994, Ian McGeechan took over as director of rugby, and although the club were relegated in his first season, they returned in style the next season, winning every single game of their campaign and averaging 50 points a game. This season is referred to by many fans of the club as the "Demolition Tour of Division Two".

Professional era

Bruce Reihana
Bruce Reihana

In 1995, rugby union turned professional and the club was taken over by local businessman Keith Barwell.

In 1999, Saints came runners-up in the Allied Dunbar Premiership, their league campaign climaxing with a crucial home local derby with eventual winners Leicester Tigers which they lost 15–22. Ian McGeechan had left the club at the end of the previous season to return to coach Scotland, and was replaced by former Saints player John Steele who had done well on a limited budget at London Scottish. Steele relied on the foundations laid by McGeechan, as well as the inspirational captaincy of Samoan Pat Lam to lead the club to European success the following season.

In 1999–2000, the club became a Public Limited Company (Plc) and shares were issued to the public; in this season the Saints lost in the Tetley's Bitter Cup Final to Wasps, but beat Munster 9–8 in the European Cup Final to win their first major trophy.

After a poor start to the 2001/2002 season, former All-Black coach Wayne Smith was appointed as head coach. He went on to transform the club in five short months. A team who looked down and out in November were moulded into a side that reached the Powergen Cup final and again qualified for the Heineken Cup. Travis Perkins became the club's main sponsor in 2001.

In recent times the club narrowly survived relegation from the Premiership, after the coach (Alan Solomons) was sacked in the middle of the 2004–05 season. The coaching role was passed onto the former first teammates Budge Pountney and Paul Grayson to tide the team over. They had a slow start in the 2005–06 season, but continued to stay mainly unbeaten after the New Year. Budge retired at the start of the 2006–07 season leaving Grayson in overall control.

The Saints would again compete in the 2006–07 Heineken Cup. They finished second in their pool, behind Biarritz Olympique, the runners-up from the previous season. Northampton qualified for the quarter-finals and actually met Biarritz in Spain. Despite being in last place of the English league at the time, they defeated the French champions 7–6 to advance to the semi-finals.

Relegation (2007–08)

On 28 April 2007, despite a 27–22 victory over London Irish at Franklin's Gardens, Northampton were relegated from the English Premiership. A "behind the scenes restructure" led to the brief appointment of Peter Sloane as head coach, from the role of forwards coach. Paul Grayson became the skills and backs coach. England Saxons coach Jim Mallinder became the new head coach and director of rugby, with his assistant Dorian West also following as assistant coach. Peter Sloane has since left the club.

On 22 March 2008, Northampton beat Exeter Chiefs to ensure their promotion and a return to the Guinness Premiership. On 12 April 2008, Northampton beat Exeter Chiefs 24–13 at Twickenham Stadium to win the EDF Energy Trophy. On 26 April 2008 they ended their National Division One season undefeated with 30 wins from 30 games.

Return to Premiership (2008–2014)

In the 2008–09 season, the Saints finished eighth on the table and only losing one game at home to Newcastle Falcons. They also lifted the European Challenge Cup, defeating French side Bourgoin 15–3 in the final on 22 May 2009 at The Stoop in London. The victory gave them a place in the 2009–10 Heineken Cup.

In March 2010, the Saints won the Anglo-Welsh Cup final against Gloucester 30–24, gaining them their fourth piece of silverware in three years, and a place in the following season's Heineken Cup. They also finished second in the English Premiership, losing to Saracens 19–21 in the semi-final played at Franklin's Gardens, and progressed as far as the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup losing to Munster at Thomond Park, Limerick.

Northampton finished fourth in the 2010–11 English Premiership, losing to Leicester in the semi-final. Saints also went undefeated into the final of the Heineken Cup, where they were beaten by Leinster 33–22, at the Millennium Stadium.

At the beginning of the 2011–12 season, with nine players out for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, Saints were knocked out of the 2011–12 Heineken Cup in Stadium MK by Munster. When the international players returned, Saints began to move up the table. England picked eight Saints players out of a squad of 32 to represent England, meaning that over a quarter of the England team were Saints – a new club record for the number of players selected for a single England squad. In 2011–12, the Saints reached a third successive Premiership semi-final and a second Anglo-Welsh Cup final in three seasons.

After winning their first five matches of 2012–13, the Saints were pulled back into the pack in the Premiership and exited both the Anglo-Welsh and Heineken Cups, despite ending Ulster's four-year unbeaten home European record just before Christmas 2012. The team finished fourth in the league, and after beating Saracens in the semi-final reached their first ever Premiership final, where they lost 37–17 to Leicester. The 2013 season finished with seven players being taken to Argentina as part of the England squad, including Tom Wood as captain.

In the 2013–14 season, the club finished second in the league behind Saracens with a total of 78 points. Despite finishing second in the table, they went on to win the 2013–14 English Premiership, defeating table-topping Saracens 24–20, after 100 minutes of rugby due to the game going to extra time. They also reached the final of the 2013–14 European Challenge Cup, which they won by beating Bath 16–30, with the match being played at Cardiff Arms Park in Wales.

2014–2018

Following the most arguably successful season in the club's history, the Saints finished atop of the Rugby Premiership with 76 points. However, they were undone in the 2014–15 Premiership Rugby semi-finals, losing out 24–29 to Saracens on 23 May 2015.

After this, a couple disappointing seasons followed, with on-pitch results leading to a stagnation of the club overall, and on 12 December 2017, largely successful director of rugby Jim Mallinder was ultimately released from the club as a result after spending more than 10 years at the club. On 29 December 2017, Australian coach Alan Gaffney joined the club on an interim basis until the end of the 2017–18 Premiership Rugby campaign, who worked alongside Alan Dickens at the helm. The team finished 9th overall that year with a points tally of 43, but ultimately avoided relegation and confirmed their place in the 2018–19 Premiership Rugby season.

2018–current

A new era was confirmed at the club, when it was announced on 29 January 2018, that Hurricanes boss Chris Boyd would link up with the Saints for the 2018–19 Premiership Rugby campaign. The announcement of Boyd was a huge coup for the club, due to the coach's high level profile, and success in Southern Hemisphere Rugby, which included the 2016 Super Rugby title with the Hurricanes. In Boyd's first season at the club, the Northampton Saints would go on to lift the Premiership Rugby Cup, by defeating Saracens 23–9 in front of a home-final crowd, which took place on 17 March 2019. The Saints also secured a top 4 finish for the first time since 2015, and Boyd's men would go on to face the Exeter Chiefs in the Premiership Rugby semi-final play-off system.

Stadium

Franklin's Gardens

Franklins Gardens - South Stand
The Burrda Stand (2007)

Northampton Saints have played at Franklin's Gardens since 1880, when the club was founded. Franklin's Gardens is a purpose-built rugby stadium near the town centre. It is about 1,250 m from the railway station and about 2,000 m from the bus station. The stadium holds approximately 15,250 people. The stadium also has 40 corporate boxes. Each can hold from 8 to 24 people. The four stands are: The Carlsberg Stand; Cinch Stand; Church's Stand; and the new Barwell Stand (which replaced the Sturtridge Pavilion). It is also a multi-functional conference centre as well as the only Aviva Premiership ground with its own cenotaph.

In 2009, the Saints' board announced they would be applying to increase capacity to 17,000 with the redevelopment of the North Stand. It was intended this would be funded by a £40 million investment by supermarket chain Asda, who would build a new store on the land currently used as training pitches. A political battle ensued with the local council, which later came to be seen as an attempt by the board to wrest public funding and public land for their commercial objectives.

The club has since secured funding through alternate means – a loan thought to be in the region of £5million through Northampton Borough Council – and with planning permission rubber-stamped, building will commence in the summer of 2015. The stand, which will take the name of the Barwell family, is due to be completed in time for the start of the 2015–16 Premiership Rugby season, and will take the capacity at Franklin's Gardens up to 15,249.

Northampton Saints had an unbeaten home record that stretched from March 2007 to March 2009, much of this record was set during the Saints' 2007/08 promotion from the RFU Championship (previously National Division One). During the 2008/09 English Premiership regular season the Saints only lost at Franklin's Gardens on one occasion, to the Newcastle Falcons.

The club's Barwell Stand was finished in October 2015 and debuted against Saracens on 7 November 2015.

In September 2021, Northampton Saints announced a six-year sponsorship deal with online car dealership cinch which including naming rights to Franklin's Gardens. The stadium immediately became cinch stadium at Franklin's Gardens and cinch would become the club's principal sponsor from 2022 to 2023 season.

Stadium MK

StadiumMKEnglandU21
Stadium:MK

The club played a 2011 Heineken Cup quarter final match against Ulster at Stadium MK in Milton Keynes, because Franklin's Gardens was too small to meet the minimum 15,000 seats demanded by the European Rugby Cup tournament organisers. The Saints won the match, beating Ulster 23–13, witnessed by a crowd of over 21,000. The Saints also played their semi-final there the same year, beating Perpignan 23–7. The Saints then hosted one Premiership match a season at the stadium between 2014–15 and 2016–17; most recently, an Easter Sunday match against Saracens on 16 April 2017, narrowly losing 25–27.

Kits

In 2008, after being promoted from the championship to the premiership, Saints changed from Kooga to Rhino. After two years with Rhino, and coming second in the table, Saints switched again to Burrda Sport, a Swiss sports apparel company. Northampton signed a four-year deal with Burrda which have brought back the old-fashioned ring but with a modern twist for the home shirt and the away shirt with its black and gold ring with a peppermint light green background. In the 2014/15 season Burrda released a kit with horizontal green, black and gold stripes of the same size. It was one of the most popular kit releases of Saints History. Starting in the 2016/17 season Macron are Saints' kit supplier, signing a 10-year deal with the club. For the 2021–2022 season the club released an away shirt with the names of the season-ticket holders that had donated their ticket to the club because of the coronavirus.

Current kit

The kit is supplied by Macron. On the front of the shirt, Cinch is at the centre while GRS appears on the left and right of the collar. The shoe company Church’s appears on the left sleeve. On the right sleeve, the logo of the tournament varies between matches and below it is the Rugby Against Racism logo. On the back of the shirt, Cinch is located above the player name and number. Cinch is also at the top on the back match day shorts.

Rivalries

Saints' main rivals are Leicester Tigers, whom they face in the East Midlands Derby. Over a number of recent years, the Saints have developed a rivalry with Saracens, largely due to the increased number of fixtures the two teams have performed against one another in, the most notable fixture being the 2013–14 Premiership Rugby Final, in which the Saints ran out victors.

Club honours & achievements

Northampton Saints

  • Premiership Rugby
    • Champions: (1) 2013–14
    • Runners–Up: (2) 1998–99, 2012–13
  • RFU Championship
    • Champions: (3) 1989–90, 1995–96, 2007–08
  • European Rugby Champions Cup
    • Champions: (1) 1999–00
    • Runners–Up: (1) 2010–11
  • European Challenge Cup
    • Champions: (2) 2008–09, 2013–14
  • Anglo-Welsh Cup
    • Champions: (1) 2009–10
    • Runners–Up: (6) 1990–91, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2011–12, 2013–14
  • Premiership Rugby Cup
    • Champions: (1) 2018–19
  • EDF Energy Trophy
    • Champions: (1) 2007–08
  • Selkirk Sevens
    • Champions: (2) 1991, 1993
  • Middlesex Sevens
    • Champions: (1) 2003

Northampton Wanderers (Reserves)

  • Premiership Rugby Shield
    • Champions: (3) 2008–09, 2016–17, 2017–18
    • Runners–Up: (4) 2003–04, 2007–08, 2013–14, 2015–16

Current squad

The Northampton Saints squad for the 2023–24 season is:

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union
Tom Cruse Hooker England England
Sam Matavesi Hooker Fiji Fiji
Curtis Langdon Hooker England England
Robbie Smith Hooker Scotland Scotland
Trevor Davison Prop England England
Tarek Haffar Prop England England
Paul Hill Prop England England
Emmanuel Iyogun Prop England England
Elliot Millar-Mills Prop Scotland Scotland
Ed Prowse Prop England England
Beltus Nonleh Prop Cameroon Cameroon
Alex Waller Prop England England
Ethan Waller Prop England England
Alex Coles Lock England England
Courtney Lawes Lock England England
Temo Mayanavanua Lock Fiji Fiji
Alexander Moon Lock England England
Chunya Munga Lock England England
Theo Vukašinović Lock England England
Juarno Augustus Back row South Africa South Africa
Sam Graham Back row Scotland Scotland
Lewis Ludlam Back row England England
Izaiha Moore-Aiono Back row Samoa Samoa
Tom Pearson Back row England England
Angus Scott-Young Back row Australia Australia
Player Position Union
Callum Braley Scrum-half Italy Italy
Tom James Scrum-half England England
Alex Mitchell Scrum-half England England
Charlie Savala Fly-half Australia Australia
Fin Smith Fly-half England England
Fraser Dingwall Centre England England
Rory Hutchinson Centre Scotland Scotland
Joel Matavesi Centre England England
Burger Odendaal Centre South Africa South Africa
Tommy Freeman Wing England England
James Ramm Wing Australia Australia
Tom Seabrook Wing England England
Ollie Sleightholme Wing England England
George Furbank Fullback England England
George Hendy Fullback England England

Academy squad

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union
Aston Gradwick-Light Hooker England England
Craig Wright Hooker England England
George Patten Prop England England
Nick Tarr Prop England England
Emeka Atuanya Lock England England
Tom Lockett Lock England England
Kayde Sylvester Lock England England
Geordie Irvine Back row England England
Reuben Logan Back row England England
Henry Pollock Back row England England
Player Position Union
Jake Garside Scrum-half England England
Archie McParland Scrum-half England England
Matthew Arden Fly-half England England
Tom Litchfield Centre England England
Toby Thame Centre England England
Toby Cousins Wing England England
Will Glister Wing England England
Ewan Baker Fullback England England

Club staff

First team coaching

  • Chris Boyd – consultant
  • Matt Ferguson – assistant/scrum coach
  • Ian Vass – defence coach
  • Sam Vesty – head/attack coach
  • Phil Dowson – director of rugby

Academy

  • Mark Hopley – academy head coach
  • Jake Sharp – academy skills coach
  • Alex O'Dowd – academy programme manager
  • Will Parkin – junior academy manager
  • James Craig – DPP manager

Notable former players

Rugby World Cup

The following are players which have represented their countries at the Rugby World Cup, whilst playing for Northampton:

Tournament Players selected England players Other national team players
1987 1 Gary Pearce
1991 2 Gary Pearce, John Olver
1995 4 Martin Bayfield, Ian Hunter, Tim Rodber Peter Walton Scotland
1999 7 Nick Beal, Matt Dawson, Paul Grayson, Tim Rodber Budge Pountney Scotland, Allan Bateman Wales, Pat Lam Samoa
2003 5 Ben Cohen, Matt Dawson, Paul Grayson, Steve Thompson Tom Smith Scotland
2007 3 Soane Tongaʻuiha Tonga, Euan Murray, Sean Lamont Scotland
2011 8 Chris Ashton, Ben Foden, Dylan Hartley, Courtney Lawes, Tom Wood Soane Tongaʻuiha Tonga, Vasily Artemiev Russia, George Pisi Samoa
2015 8 Kieran Brookes, Courtney Lawes, Tom Wood George North Wales, Kahn Fotuali'i, George Pisi, Ken Pisi Samoa, Victor Matfield South Africa
2019 7 Piers Francis, Courtney Lawes, Lewis Ludlam Ahsee Tuala Samoa, Cobus Reinach South Africa, Api Ratuniyarawa Fiji, Dan Biggar Wales
2023 5 Alex Mitchell, Courtney Lawes, Lewis Ludlam Sam Matavesi, Temo Mayanavanua Fiji

British and Irish Lions

The following players have toured with the British & Irish Lions while members of the club, other players have been selected but did not tour due to either injury, suspension or other reasons:

  • Blair Swannell (1899 & 1904)
  • Robin Harrison (1910)
  • William Henry Weston (1936)
  • Jeff Butterfield (1955 & 1959)
  • Dickie Jeeps (1955, 1959 & 1962)
  • Frank Sykes (1955)
  • Keith Savage (1966 & 1968)
  • David Powell (1966)
  • Bob Taylor (1968)
  • Peter Larter (1968)
  • Bryan West (1968)
  • Ian Hunter (1993)
  • Martin Bayfield (1993)
  • Matt Dawson (1997 & 2001)
  • Tim Rodber (1997)
  • Nick Beal (1997)
  • Gregor Townsend (1997)
  • Paul Grayson (1997)
  • Ben Cohen (2001)
  • Steve Thompson (2005)
  • Euan Murray (2009)
  • Courtney Lawes (2017 & 2021)
  • George North (2017)
  • Dan Biggar (2021)

Hall of Fame

The history of Northampton Saints is one filled with illustrious names. To recognise and honour its best players, the club established its Hall of Fame in 2004. To date 21 players have been inducted:

Captains

  • 1880–81 F Barker
  • 1882 A Timms
  • 1883 T Racer
  • 1884 E Eyles
  • 1885–86 C Stanley
  • 1887 T Stanley
  • 1888 E S Dunkley
  • 1889 C Stanley
  • 1890 A E Orton
  • 1891 C Stanley
  • 1892–93 A E Orton
  • 1894–95 C H Davis
  • 1896 K H Kingston
  • 1897 C H Davis
  • 1898 K H Kingston
  • 1899 H B Kingston
  • 1900–01 W H Kingston
  • 1902 H T F Weston
  • 1903–04 H E Kingston
  • 1905 R West
  • 1906 E C Palmer
  • 1907 J H Miles
  • 1908–13 E R Mobbs
  • 1914 E C Cook
  • 1920–22 A G Bull
  • 1923 C P Tebbitt
  • 1924 A G Bull
  • 1925 R Vaughan
  • 1926 A F Blakiston
  • 1927 R Jones
  • 1928 J B Merry
  • 1929–30 W H Weston
  • 1931 E Coley
  • 1932 T Harris
  • 1933–34 W H Weston
  • 1935 A D Matthews
  • 1936 R J Longland
  • 1937 T Harris
  • 1938 W H Weston
  • 1939–41 G S Sturtridge
  • 1943–46 A P Bell
  • 1947 R Longland
  • 1948 R W Hamp
  • 1949 E R Knapp
  • 1950–54 D R White
  • 1955 M J Berridge
  • 1956–57 D R White
  • 1958 R E G Jeeps
  • 1959–61 C R Jacobs
  • 1962–63 P J Taylor
  • 1964 A R Turnell
  • 1965–66 C R Jacobs
  • 1967 R B Taylor
  • 1968–72 D L Powell
  • 1973–74 M J Roper
  • 1975–76 I D Wright
  • 1977 J J Page
  • 1978 P Johnson
  • 1979–80 P Sweet
  • 1981–82 P McGuckian
  • 1983 V Cannon
  • 1984 J A G D Raphael
  • 1985–86 D R Woodrow
  • 1987 G J Poole
  • 1988 G Steele-Bodger
  • 1989–91 G Pearce
  • 1992–93 C J Olver
  • 1994–99 T A K Rodber
  • 1999–2001 P R Lam
  • 2001 A C Pountney
  • 2002–04 A C Pountney and J Leslie
  • 2004 C Krige until November then S G Thompson
  • 2005 S G Thompson and T B Reihana
  • 2006–09 T B Reihana
  • 2009–14 D M Hartley
  • 2015 L Dickson
  • 2016 T Wood
  • 2017–18 D M Hartley
  • 2018–19 A Waller and D M Hartley
  • 2019-20 A Waller and T Harrison
  • 2020- A Waller and L Ludlam

Statistics

Overall stats

  • Most Points in a match: 111 (v Timișoara Saracens 2019)
  • Most Tries in a match: 17 (v Timișoara Saracens 2019)
  • Most Conversions in a match: 13 (v Sedgley Park 2008) and (v Timișoara Saracens 2019)
  • Most Penalty Goals in a match: 7 (v Richmond 1997)
  • Most Drop Goals in a match: 2 (v Newcastle Falcons 1996)

Seasons summary

Domestic League Domestic Cup European Cup
Season Competition Final Position Points Play-Offs Competition Performance Competition Performance
1987–88 Courage League Division 2 12th 13 N/A John Player Cup 3rd round No competition N/A
1988–89 Courage League Division 2 3rd 13 Pilkington Cup 3rd round
1989–90 Courage League Division 2 1st (P) 19 Pilkington Cup Semi-final
1990–91 Courage League Division 1 9th 11 Pilkington Cup Runners-up
1991–92 Courage League Division 1 3rd 19 Pilkington Cup 4th round
1992–93 Courage League Division 1 4th 16 Pilkington Cup Semi-final
1993–94 Courage League Division 1 5th 18 Pilkington Cup 5th round
1994–95 Courage League Division 1 10th (R) 12 Pilkington Cup Quarter-final
1995–96 Courage League Division 2 1st (P) 36 Pilkington Cup 4th round No English teams
1996–97 Courage League Division 1 8th 20 Pilkington Cup Quarter-final Challenge Cup Quarter-final
1997–98 Premiership 8th 19 Tetley's Bitter Cup Semi-final Challenge Cup 2nd in pool
C&G Cup Quarter-final
1998–99 Premiership 2nd 38 Tetley's Bitter Cup 5th round No English teams N/A
C&G Cup Quarter-final
1999–00 Premiership 5th 35 Tetley's Bitter Cup Runners-up Heineken Cup Champions
2000–01 Premiership 4th 59 Tetley's Bitter Cup Quarter-final Heineken Cup 4th in pool
2001–02 Premiership 5th 56 Powergen Cup Runners-up Heineken Cup 4th in pool
2002–03 Premiership 3rd 62 Semi-final Powergen Cup Runners-up Heineken Cup Quarter-final
2003–04 Premiership 3rd 70 Semi-final Powergen Cup 6th round Heineken Cup 2nd in pool
2004–05 Premiership 11th 40 DNQ Powergen Cup Quarter-final Heineken Cup Quarter-final
2005–06 Premiership 6th 53 DNQ Powergen Cup 2nd in pool Challenge Cup Quarter-final
2006–07 Premiership 12th (R) 33 DNQ EDF Energy Cup 4th in pool Heineken Cup Semi-final
2007–08 National Division One 1st (P) 143 N/A EDF Energy Trophy Champions Not qualified N/A
2008–09 Premiership 8th 49 DNQ EDF Energy Cup Semi-final Challenge Cup Champions
2009–10 Premiership 2nd 71 Semi-final LV= Cup Champions Heineken Cup Quarter-final
2010–11 Premiership 4th 65 Semi-final LV= Cup 2nd in pool Heineken Cup Runners-up
2011–12 Premiership 4th 65 Semi-final LV= Cup Runners-up Heineken Cup 3rd in pool
2012–13 Premiership 4th 65 Runners-up LV= Cup 2nd in pool Heineken Cup 2nd in pool
2013–14 Premiership 2nd 78 Champions LV= Cup Runners-up Challenge Cup* Champions*
2014–15 Premiership 1st 76 Semi-final LV= Cup Semi-final Champions Cup Quarter-final
2015–16 Premiership 5th 60 DNQ No competition N/A Champions Cup Quarter-final
2016–17 Premiership 7th 52 DNQ Anglo-Welsh Cup 2nd in pool Champions Cup 4th in pool
2017–18 Premiership 9th 43 DNQ Anglo-Welsh Cup Semi-final Champions Cup 4th in pool
2018–19 Premiership 4th 56 Semi-final Premiership Cup Champions Challenge Cup Quarter-final
2019–20 Premiership 8th 42 DNQ Premiership Cup 4th in pool Champions Cup Quarter-final
2020–21 Premiership 5th 57 DNQ No competition N/A Challenge Cup* Quarter-final
2021–22 Premiership 4th 75 Semi-final Premiership Cup Group Stage Challenge Cup* Round of 16
2022–23 Premiership 4th 58 Semi-final Premiership Cup Semi-final Champions Cup Group Stage

Gold background denotes champions
Silver background denotes runners-up
Pink background denotes relegated

* After dropping into the competition from the Champions Cup/Heineken Cup

Player Stats

APPEARANCES

470 - Ron Jacobs (1949–66)

448 - Don White (1943–61)

438 - Vince Cannon (1973–89)

436 - Alf Chalmers (1897-1912)

426 - Tom Harris (1923–37)

TRIES

219 - Teddy Cook (1908–23)

207 - Billy Kingston (1895-1905)

185 - Barry Oldham (1964–78)

179 - Edgar Mobbs (1905–13)

178 - Frank Packman (1983–96)

POINTS

2,786 - Paul Grayson (1996-2005)

2,655 - Stephen Myler (2006-2018)

1,463 - Roger Hosen (1955–67)

1,385 - John Steele (1988–94)

1,113 - Ian Moffat (1967–74)

See also

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