The recent discovery of an original newspaper story covering the Saracens 50th Anniversary Jubilee Club Dinner has been very insightful. The detailed journalistic coverage of the gala evening, held at the famous Cafe Monico (on Tichborne Street, near what is now Piccadilly Circus), captures wonderfully the spirit of the evening via the speeches, the humour, the…
Our starting point and effective ‘bible’ for this project, the ORG Williams ‘Outline History of Saracens F.C. (R.F.U.)’, cannot be leafed through, even in the most casual way, without stumbling across the mention of a Bongard. The first mention of a player by the name is in the 1884/1885 season – Mr. J.L. Bongard –…
John Stanley Greer was a member of the 1913-14 1st XV who served in WW1
Saracens’ opponents, Sale, have been and continue to be one of the stalwarts of both northern and Lancashire rugby. Founded in 1861, they are one of the oldest clubs surviving in English rugby and have thrived despite being in the heartland of Rugby League. With Saracens meeting Sale Sharks twice in as many weeks, it is a…
“There is one name in the history of the Saints that stands as much for gallantry, bravery, leadership and heroism as playing ability and statistics – Edgar Mobbs.” It would be impossible to ignore the importance of Edgar Mobbs in the history of Northampton rugby club. A winger making 234 appearances for the club, and…
Considering the long and proud history of both clubs it is perhaps surprising that the first meeting between the two did not occur until March 23rd 1963. Unfortunately for Saracens, it was a rather one-sided affair, losing 25-6, a veritable drubbing in an era with lower points awarded for tries, and typically lower-scoring affairs anyway. Leicester…
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…
For two such old and distinguished metropolitan clubs it would be easy to imagine a long historical rivalry, with ferocious contests on the field punctuated in the fixture list only by breaks for the greater battles fought abroad. Sadly though this is not to be. The first recorded game between the two clubs now vying…
“The Insects arrived on Saturday without their stings, and consequently were utterly routed by the representatives of ancient oriental glory” So opened the match report in Sporting Life, detailing the first fixture to be played between the Saracens and Wasps at Saracens home ground in Walthamstow back in 1886. On that day Saracens were to…
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…
Saracens Rugby Club and W.W.1 