Saracens through the ages

Established in 1876

The Saracens name can be traced back to the famous desert warriors led by Saladin in the late 12th century. They were renowned for their extreme mobility, and powers of endurance, which when allied to their bountiful enthusiasm, rendered the Saracens invincible.

In 1876 the Saracens Football Club was founded by the Old Boys of the Philological School in Marylebone (later to become Marylebone Grammar School) and its first fixture was at Primrose Hill playing fields with the red star and crescent worn. Amalgamation with neighbouring club, the Crusaders, occurred in 1878.

The new team retained the Saracens name under captain F.W.Dunn. From 1882 - 86 led by Alf Jenkins, Saracens were invincible. In the 1885/6 season the line was crossed only once! By 1890, the fixture list included all London hospitals, Wasps, London Scottish, Old Millhillians, London Welsh, Sutton and Rosslyn Park. The subsequent decade saw provincial sides such as Bristol, Northampton, Bath, Bedford and Nuneaton incorporated into the list.

The club came of age in 1897 - the 21st Annual Dinner was held in Holborn, and dignitaries included the President of the R.F.U. By 1926 (the 50th year) 1st, A, B, C, and Extra -C- sides were playing, and the names of G. P. Mayne, C. Tozer, F. Richards, O.R.G.Williams, K. Brown, and J.C. Brodie were celebrated, amid a team happily blending youth and experience.

Two years on, the relocation from Crown Lane, Southgate, to Firs Farm, N.21 transpired. This first rate set-up endured for some 12 years, facilitating the club's growth in physical stature and playing prestige. There were four pitches, five teams (which increased to nine, including a Gypsy XV playing away matches) and during K.Brown's three year captaincy from 1930/31 only 15 games were lost.

During the Firs Farm period, Saracens received excellent Press coverage, including several appearances in the glossy "Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic". However, when the lease expired in 1938/39, the owners, Edmonton U.D.C, had decided that they needed the land for building purposes. Saracens had played on nine different grounds before the move to Bramley Rd for the 1939/40 season (although the war actually prevented them from playing there until 1945).

In retrospect, Saracens have come through three wars. The Boer War made little impact, whilst the First World War had a more telling effect. In September 1939 many players and officials were called to National Service. The latter part of the Forties yielded a side of skill and determination, with G. A. Turner a tower of strength at full-back (and Captain for three seasons). In fact, the 1946/47 season saw them unbeaten at home, with an overall record of W.20, D.1, L.1 and a total of 286 points amassed. 1950/1 saw the 75th Anniversary, and the overall membership increased to 765, with 110 playing members restricted to 3 pitches. The following campaign saw the VIIs make their third consecutive appearance at Twickenham. K.Bartlett led Saracens into the Sixties, as ex-skipper V.J. Harding was awarded a third blue at Cambridge, and becomes the first International Saracen since J. H. Steeds - playing for England against France and Scotland. The death of Claude Tozer, who had served the club as President for thirty years was a great loss.

The club has enjoyed fixtures with the leading clubs for many years and enjoyed a particularly successful time in the 1970's when they reached the semi-finals of the National Cup (now the Tetley Bitter Cup). Special games played at Bramley Rd during this period include the 1971 match against a select International XV. It was a fantastic occasion, as a 5,000 strong crowd (the largest ever to watch a game in North London at the time) came to watch a magnificent contest, ending Saracens 34 International XV 34. Saracens were down 16 - 30 at one stage, before producing a great rally to equalise near the end. This was no mean feat considering the opposition contained J.P.R. Williams, and several other Lions! Open rugby was played throughout, with the day serving as a tribute to the late Brian Goodchild, and raising a considerable sum for a worthy cause.

After some bleak years in the early 1980's, the club responded to the challenge of the Courage Leagues, and with Floyd Steadman as captain and Tony Russ as coach, they won the second division in 1989 with a one hundred percent record. The following year in the first division the Saracens surprised many by finishing fourth in the league behind Wasps, Gloucester and Bath.

The 1992/93 season saw the leagues restructured with Saracens, along with three other clubs, being relegated to the second division. In 1993/94 Saracens finished third and narrowly missed out on promotion but the following year they finished as champions and were again back in the top flight. Saracens seesaw existence over the nineties was about to continue in 1995/96 where they again found themselves at the wrong end of the table along with West Hartlepool but they were saved in a reversal of the rules that saw them loose out a few years earlier.

In November of 1995 Saracens gained the financial backing of Nigel Wray and this enabled the club to recruit the likes of Michael Lynagh (World Record Points Scorer), Philippe Sella (World's Most Capped Player), Francois Pienaar (The last Captain to lift the World Cup) and Kyran Bracken (England's up and coming scrum half), just four of the big names signed in 1996/97. Saracens, as they had so often earlier in the century, 'up sticks' and moved to Enfield FC's ground and they started the new season well with a victory over title favourites Leicester. The rest of the season saw the team taking time to gel and they just missed out on European qualification finishing seventh.

With an almost clairvoyant like way, Saracens seemed to know that the next season, the 1997/98 season, was to prove to be one of the landmark years of the club. A move to Watford now took place over the close season and a ground share with Watford FC and their 22,000 all seater Vicarage Road Stadium. The appointment of Peter Deakin as Marketing Director saw Saracens splashed all over the broadsheets, tabloids, magazines and T.V. and with the help of a small band of be-fezzed followers that had been following the club for a number of years, the year of the Fez began.

Close season signings like Danny Grewcock, Roberto Grau, Gavin Johnson and Ryan Constable now joined forces with the home grown talent of Tony Diprose, Richard Hill and Steve Ravenscroft to form a side that would prove a significant force during the season losing only 3 games during the season to finish second in the Premiership, one behind Newcastle and making their first appearance in the Tetley's Bitter Cup at Twickenham, after defeating Leicester, Richmond and Northampton on the way, where they demolished Wasps 48-18. This victory was the perfect stage for Michael Lynagh and Philippe Sella to make their exit as they retired from rugby at the end of the season.

The following season Saracens replaced Sella with Jeremy Thomson, a centre from Super 12 side Natal Sharks and Lynagh with Brive's European Cup Winning captain, Alain Penaud. The season started with superb wins over Premiership favourites Northampton and Leicester and by the fourth game into the season Saracens were the only side with a 100% record. Saracens were now the favourites. The visit to Harlequins soon brought them down to earth with a 41-28 drubbing which was followed by loses to Gloucester, Newcastle and Wasps. After this blip Saracens got back on track with convincing victories over West Hartlepool and London Irish before the vital win over a strong Bath team at the Rec put them in second position.

Now in December Saracens handed out a little too much festive cheer to third from bottom London Scottish in a shock defeat at home but a win against Bedford and west Hartlepool and a draw with Wasps still saw them in touch with leaders Leicester. The last half of the season was a real roller coaster with Saracens going from eighth and out of European contention after a run of four loses, to eventually finishing third, after four very gutsy performances, as London's top club.

The following season saw more stars flock to Vicarage Road with Mark Mapletoft, Thierry Lacroix, Scott Murray and Dan Luger joining the club along with Darragh O'Mahony and the up and coming Julian White. With the squad ravaged by World Cup duty and then injury the club's first venture into the Heineken Cup was not a happy one. They lost 3 games by a couple of points in the last seconds of the game and didn't make the quarter finals, the season was becoming another disappointing one.

The Tetley's Bitter Cup looked to offer hope but another victory snatched away in the dying seconds put pain to that one. With a few games left they were looking at a possible failure to qualify for Europe again and the team were in the middle of a bad patch of form. Just when everything looked bleak Saracens scrum half Kyran Bracken returned from a ten month injury and inspired Saracens into fourth place and the last European place. On the bright side Saracens registered 7 scores of 50 or more, scored an average of 3.5 tries a game (scoring more tries than anybody else), finished top points scorers and managed to field an average of 10.5 English qualified players a game.

Youngsters like David Flatman, Ben Johnston, Kevin Sorrell, Rob Thirlby (now of Bath), Luke Harbut and Matt Cairns all saw first team action which puts the club in good stead for the future, and there's a lot more where they came from! In 2000 Saracens added possibly two of the World's best current players in the form of Tim Horan (voted Player of the 1999 World Cup) and Thomas Castaignede. Another addition Duncan McRae at fly half, a then little known Australian, proved to be inspired find at the beginning of the season as Saracens sparkled promising to return to the dizzy heights of 1998.

However come October and Saracens had effectively crashed out of the Heineken Cup with back to back defeats to Cardiff and with the team shorn of internationals due to the Autumn Tests the final blow was dealt when Thomas Castaignede suffered a career threatening Achilles injury. The results went downhill fast and a 5th place finish saw the club miss out on the final Heineken Cup place.

Season 2001/2002 was a bit of a gamble by Coach Francois Pienaar as he shed several internationals like Paul Wallace, Julian White, Dan Luger, Danny Grewcock and Tony Diprose and opted to use the young talent coming through the ranks. Castaignede was still likely to be missing for another season which prompted the rise to fame of 18 year old full back Adryan Winnan.

The season started brightly enough after an opening narrow loss to Wasps as Saracens climbed into the top half of the table but again as the Autumn Internationals started Saracens form suffered. By the turn of the year Saracens were embroiled an a possible relegation battle and as they exited the Powergen Cup and Parker Pen Shield at the quarter final stages in consecutive weeks moral hit an all time low. By the time Saracens lost at home to bottom placed Leeds the writing was on the wall for Francois Pienaar who stepped down as Chief Executive and Director of Rugby after 5 years at the club.

With relegation looming the players took charge while a replacement was sourced but as injury again played its part the initial successes against Bath were a false dawn and Saracens finished 10th, two places from the bottom. Preparations for the new 2002/2003 season saw the return of Peter Deakin as Chief Executive, the appointment of All Black legend Wayne Shelford as Head Coach and the signings of Andy Goode, Christian Califano, Craig Quinnell, Morgan Williams, Nicky Little, Craig Yandell, Johnny Marsters and Joe Ross.

Again the season started well with a superb victory over Bristol and then Bath but then a couple of bad loses against London Irish and then Wasps seemed to have a reality check on the squad. The results then fluctuated for the rest of the year apart from Saracens games in the Parker Pen Cup where they set a tournament record beating Dynamo Bucharest 151-0 and played one of the their best games of the season away against Colomiers for a place in the Quarter Finals.

Sadly Peter Deakin lost his battle with cancer in December, although he will never be forgotten by the fans and staff after his amazing achievements at the club during his two spells. His replacement, former ACT CEO Mark Sinderberry arrived in February to find that things had started to go from bad to worse in the Zurich Premiership and by the time Saracens were due to meet Bath in the Semi Finals of the Parker Pen Cup a relegation dog fight was beginning to look like a possibility. The last few games of the season were tense afairs but the Men in Black did the business beating Bristol in the penultimate game and then romping past Sale Sharks to earn a bonus point, Zurich Premiership survival and a place in the Zurich Wildcard Play Offs.

An end of the season that looked so bleak then turned on its head as the team turned on the style to thrash 4th placed Leeds Tykes to earn a Wildcard Final place against Leicester Tigers. Saracens final game of the season was worth the wait. At a sun baked Franklins Gardens Saracens and Leicester entertained the vocal fans of both sides with a passion filled battle. The game was level after 80 minutes following a superb Richard Haughton try and a 50 metre penalty from Andy Goode saw the score at 20-20 and the tie went into extra time. In the second period Neil Back broke Saracens hearts as he scored the winning try but at least the team finished the season with their heads held high.

Wayne Shelford and most of his back room staff paid the price for an indifferent season and were replaced by Rod Kafer and a conditioning staff of four. New players for the 2003/2004 season included Alex Codling, Simon Raiwalui, Andy Kershaw, Raphael Ibanez and Taine Randell and the hopes of a better season had been set.

But Saracens struggled to make an impact in the 2003/04 season despite being in the heady heights of the top three after the opening rounds. All Premiership clubs started the campaign short of numbers with players involved in World Cup campaigns for their respective countries.

Saracens were unable to string results together despite the hard work of Kafer and new skipper Raiwalui who was to be an ever present on the pitch that season. The club hovered around the lower reaches of the Premiership and would have been involved in a relegation battle had it not been for Rotherham who were a long away adrift at the foot of the table. The return of England's World Cup winning heroes Richard Hill and Kyran Bracken raised the spirits in the camp in the season half of the season and an away victory at London Irish on the final day of the season saw the Men In Black finish 10th.

By then, the club had moved quickly to recruit a number of high-profile English based players. The club had already brought in Forwards Coach Steve Diamond for the 2005/06 season and several players from his former club followed including the likes of Alex Sanderson, Kevin Yates, Iain Fullarton and former Saracen Matt Cairns followed. They were joined by the likes of Dan Scarbrough and Hugh Vyvyan to add further strength to the squad.

The 2004/05 season opened with the inaugural London Double Header where the Men In Black faced Wasps on the opening day of the season and they got off to a flier with a victory against the reigning champions. But mixed results in the Autumn months ended with the club parting company with Kafer and Diamond then took charge. After Christmas, a long unbeaten run lifted the club up the league to a fifth place finish and a place in the Wildcard semi-finals. A victory over Worcester set up a final against Gloucester at Twickenham and Tevita Vaikona's try sealed a victory over the Cherry and Whites and secured a place in the following season's Heineken Cup.

The 2005/06 season began with Diamond being appointed as Director of Rugby with Mike Ford, who had been with the club as defensive coach the previous season, stepping into the role of Head Coach. As in the previous season, Wasps were the first opponents at Twickenham but this time it was a narrow defeat. But results were good in the first few months of the season, but a run of defeats before and after Christmas saw the Board of Directors replace Diamond. Ford took control of the team and was assisted by former Australia Head Coach Eddie Jones who acted as a consultant for the final three months of the season. With the club struggling at the foot of the league and in danger of being dragged into a relegation battle, a win at eventual league champions Sale Sharks turned the fortunes around and the Men In Black were even challenging for a Heineken Cup spot as the season wore on. The year also saw Kyran Bracken call time on his career with the Men In Black and another high profile retiree was Taine Randell.

The interview process for a new Director of Rugby started before the end of the season and former Leinster, Munster and Australia coach Alan Gaffney was appointed in the role. Gaffney played the role as an observer and finalising pre-season preparations and recruitment before taking full control in June.

One of Gaffney's first tasks was to appoint a new coaching team following Mike Ford's decision to accept a post with the England national team. Gaffney was joined by Richard Graham as Backs/Skills Coach and Adrian Kennedy as Forwards Coach. The trio were to oversee the club's most successful campaign in seven seasons in 2006/07 as the Men In Black finished fourth in the Guinness Premiership.

The season started with a narrow defeat to Wasps in the London Double Header, but although disappointed with the result, Director of Rugby Gaffney took many positives from the game which also saw fly half Glen Jackson open his account for the season with 14 points. Jackson would go on to score more than 400 points for the club in the season - a feat which saw him win the PRA Player of the Year Award.

A draw followed at Bristol, but the side's opening win of the campaign came against Newcastle Falcons when five tries in a 44-20 victory got the season off and running.

A spell of just three defeats in 16 matches stretching from October to March really put Saracens into play-off contention. The side was also boosted by the return to fitness of Richard Hill who had been missing through injury for 18 months. The form was also reflected in the European Challenge Cup with the club reaching the semi-finals of the competition. However, a defeat by Bath in the final four ended hopes of a final appearance and when Gloucester ran out comfortable winners at Kingsholm in the last four of the Guinness Premiership, it ended what had been a positive campaign for Saracens.

Not wishing to sit on his laurels, Gaffney moved quickly to add new faces to his squad for the 2007/08 season. All Black second row Chris Jack, widely regarded as one of the best in his position in the world, is part of the squad with Scotland fly half Gordon Ross among those joining. But 2006/07 was to see the club say farewell to one of its' most loved sons with Thomas Castaignede calling time on his club rugby career.

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