Northampton Saints Rugby Shirt Vintage Heritage Style

Description

An Introduction to Northampton Saints Rugby Shirt

Northampton Saints Rugby Shirt is produced by Ellis Rugby. Northampton Saints established as Northampton St. James back in 1880 by Rev Samuel WathenWigg, a local clergyman and curate of St. James Church. Besides, Wigg’s philosophy used for game to help create “order” amongst the young parish members by creating a rugby club. In his words –  “hooligan sport designed to turn them into gentlemen”. This link with St James Church resulted in the two nicknames of “The Saints” or “Jimmies” the club adopted.

The Northampton area has long been a hotbed of talent. And it wasn’t long before Northampton was one of the best rugby union teams in the country. In 1901, the first Northampton Saints player, Harry Weston capped for England in their game against Scotland on the 9th March 1901. The game staged at Blackheath’s ground.

There was one extremely influential player who joined Northampton Saints in the early 1900s – the legendary Edgar Mobbs. Moreover, Mobbs was born in Northampton on the 29th June 1882 and received early education at Bedford Modern School. He enrolled for the Army during World War I. However, he received rejection as a reason that he is too old to join up. But did not get deject. Instead, Edgar decided to form his own “sportsman’s” company. The company comprised of 250 sportsmen for the Northamptonshire Regiment. He rose to command his battalion with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

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Sadly, Mobbs killed in action at Zillebeke, Belgium, at the Third Battle of Ypres. He died while attacking a machine-gun post on the 31st of July 1917. He died in battle, leading his battalion over the top by kicking a rugby ball into no man’s land during the attack. His name is on the Menin Gate memorial as his body never found. A genuine war hero Mobbs is commemorated with a bust in Northampton and was honoured with the Distinguished Service Order.

He was a regular Northampton Saints player, Barbarian F.C. representative. He gained 7 caps for England between 1909 and 1910, scoring 12 points.

In the post-war years, Northampton Saints continued their progression. They started to produce some outstanding rugby players, many who went on to captain their country. Players, such as Butterfield, Jeeps  Longland  White and Jacobs ensured the club was one of the driving forces in English rugby over a period of 60 years.

However, the club failed to keep pace during the modern game and top players had no longer attracted to the club. New Director of Rugby Barry Corless, put in place a radical restructuring of the club and things began to improve dramatically with the signing of All Blacks legend Wayne “Buck” Shelford.

Northampton Saints Rugby Union Football Club gained promotion back to the First Division in 1990. The following year they made it to the Pilkington Cup Final where they met a strong Harlequins team who just edged the win in extra time.

The club developed a rich pool of talented players, including Matt Dawson, Paul Grayson, Nick Beal, Tim Rodber and Ian Hunter. It was this group of players that made Northampton Saints a formidable rugby team over the next ten years culminating in the Heineken European Cup Final success of 2000.

Manufacturing

Manufactured by Ellis Rugby from satin touch 100% cotton, the Northampton Saints Rugby Shirt features Northampton Saints Crest as a smart appliqué on the front chest and Ellis Rugby branding on the arm. Other features include herringbone finish on the vents and velvet tape on the neck opening.

As well as the Northampton Saints Rugby Shirt, we also offer a Northampton Saints Rugby Polo Shirt.

The available sizes are S to 4XL.