JS Greer – A Dedicated Saracens Club Man
John Stanley Greer was a member of the 1913-14 1st XV who served in WW1
WJ Irving – The Saracens Captain Who Never Was….
As we have already seen, the sport of rugby moved quickly to suspend participation upon the outbreak of the First World War, with the RFU Committee recording their decision on 4th September 1914 that “Club and County fixtures arranged for this season be cancelled and that, all being well, they should be carried over to…
FL Pilley – Our North London Saracen from ‘ackney!
During the course of our research on the Saracens players of the 1914 era, we have become accustomed to tracing their migratory routes from all corners of the UK to North London, where many of them settled as young men, combining employment in the capital with lacing on their rugby boots at Saracens each weekend.…
Percy Heddon – A Bristol-Born Saracen
Percy Heddon makes his first appearance in our surviving Club records in the team photo of 1912-13, where he is standing between AL Baker and DH Keith and behind two especially long-serving players CJ Leach and WA Andrew. His earliest recorded match for the 1st XV was on 26th October 1912, where he played as…
A Postcard Home from a Saracen – 4th Feb 1915
Sydney Sylvester’s Postcard to Home 4th February 1915 We have followed Saracens scrum-half Sydney Sylvester in earlier blogs, including ‘Sydney Sylvester Joins Up!’ as he volunteered for duty in 1914 with the 10th (Service) Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers. This body of men had quickly acquired the nickname ‘The Stockbrokers’ Battalion’, due to the very high…
PP Capelli – Il Nostro Primo Giocatore Italiano!
Our research to-date suggests that Paul Peter Capelli, who played at Saracens between 1906 and 1912 was, indeed, “Il nostro primo giocatore Italiano”….our first Italian-heritage player! As we will read, he served with distinction both on and off the field at Saracens during these years, before going on to join the Royal Flying Corps in…
Saracens at War – November 11th, 1914
There was to be no ‘Remembrance Day’ on November 11th 1914, obviously. Wednesday, 11th November 1914 was the one hundredth day of the war, and was instead marked by the launch of von Hindenburg’s offensive against Warsaw in the east, and a final attempt by the Prussian Guard to seize back the Belgian city of…
Sydney Sylvester Joins Up!
Sydney, as we have seen, had fought his way into the Saracens 1st XV in 1909 as a 17-year-old, where his agile running into spaces as the Club’s first-choice half-back had won the appreciation of his teammates. With Britain declaring war against Germany on August 4th, his thoughts clearly turned to how best he could…
Saracens Announce New Club Shirts….1894 & 2014
On the day in 2014 that Saracens launch their new home and away kit for the season with the approval of fans across the social media spectrum, it is worth recalling that such Club shirt changes were not always greeted with universal enthusiasm in Victorian times…. From its foundation in 1876, the Club had adopted…
Remembering Our Scottish Roots, Pre-1914
In a week that our Saracens Professional side welcome London Scottish RFC to Allianz Park for a pre-season match, it is good to reflect upon the distinctly Scottish influence that helped shape the Club in the period prior to August 1914. Saracens has long had a tradition of attracting exiles from foreign shores, and embracing them…
Saracens Rugby Club and W.W.1 