pic courtesy Chris Hoddle

By tedge
June 29 2015

In the second of our off-season summer articles, COYSDC message-board contributor, Tedge, asks what we know of former Saints players. As the title suggests, where are they now?

Where Are Those Old Saints Now ?

I recently turned seventy so I guess that makes me an old fogey on this board and an obstreperous one at times. As a born and bred Northamptonian my first love was football and I was an avid Cobblers fan in my early years. However, attending the Boys Grammar School I was introduced to rugby and taught the game by Saints greats Phil Taylor, Frank Sykes and Roger Hosen. Being on the short side I was not physically well equipped for the game but was encouraged by “Smiler” Randall and managed a season in the school’s under 16 second team. Being the second XV of that age group we played matches against the local secondary schools like Bective and Roade where rugby was not the main game. I think the Technical College (later Trinity) was also a regular opponent. The school’s first fifteen’s fixture list included public schools like Oundle, Bedford, most of the grammar schools in the Midlands and even “men’s” sides like RAF Halton. Quite a few players were good enough to represent England Under 19’s

I first watched Saints in the late 1950’s when Saints carried all before them in English club rugby. The school produced a steady stream of new blood and players from my era who later made their mark included Andy Johnson (considered “the best hooker not to play for England”), Bob Taylor, Glen Robertson, Brian Page, Geoff Allen, Bob Kottler et al. Saints in their turn supplied international players like the aforementioned Sykes, Underwood, Hancock, Hetherington, Jeeps, White, Cannell, Butterfield, Brian West, David Powell and many others whose names don’t automatically spring to mind.

Many of these also qualified for East Midlands which as a “county” side was usually amongst the also-rans in those amateur days but did have the one outstanding annual Mobbs Memorial Match against the famous Barbarians. I think it was played alternately at Franklin’s Gardens and Goldington Road, usually on a Wednesday afternoon in March. Some of us were allowed off school to watch the fixture, guaranteed to see the stars of the day in the flesh. Although the match has been resurrected by Saints of late it did begin to lose its glitter during the professional era as more and more fixture pressures built up. As I write this we are commemorating the outbreak of the first world war which adds a certain poignancy to memories of the match. In those days FG had a capacity of around 5/6000 and it was invariably packed for the Mobbs match.

Saints continued in the elite of club rugby well into the Sixties when their fixture list included all the top teams in England and Wales, the latter often visited on the annual Easter tour when it was not unusual to play 3 matches in 4 or five days against the likes of Cardiff, Llanelli, Aberavon, Pontypool and Bristol. For reasons I haven’t been able to put a finger on there was a gradual decline in Saints’ fortunes in the seventies and eighties and it became rarer for its players to represent their country, except for shining examples such as Gary Pearce.

Getting back to the title of this piece, inevitably a good number of the players mentioned have sadly died, but some will still be around – Bob Taylor, Geoff Allen and “Piggy” Powell are still involved with the club – and it would be interesting for any other oldsters to dredge their memories and throw some light on what happened to them and their peers in their post-rugby careers.

News: Where Are Those Old Saints Now ?

Discussion started by ComeOnYouSaints.com , 29/06/2015 23:16

ComeOnYouSaints.com
29/06/2015 23:16

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harryw
30/06/2015 02:13

Living in Australia I regret to say I can't help with where are they now other than I don't know of any in Perth.

But the article is memorable for me in that Tedge you are my vintage,same school,same teachers and similar memories.

Remember seeing Phil Bennett at one of the Mobbs games when the pitch was a glue pot but he seemed oblivious to it and flew over the ground.

Also watching games from the hill where the Sturtridge was in the rain sitting on the ground wearing my bike cape

Ah the good old days

Thanks for the memories

Harry



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015:06:30:02:39:36 by harryw.

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keith in bahrain
30/06/2015 06:45

I'm a tad younger, but similar vintage and similar experiences.

A couple of memories - watching the warm up for a match at NGS, saw Mick Roper putting over place kicks from the centre spot, and recall that Frank Sykes taught geography in addition to his other duties. A number of us were scandalised when he got the colours of the pre-nationalisation railway companies wrong. And at Twickenham, screaming "Give it to Hancock" all through the match, though I don't think we were influential in his wonderful try.

Yes, happy days.

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St Francis
30/06/2015 07:37

I remember my first rugby lesson at Wellingborough Grammar School, with John Hyde showing us first formers how to tackle - up on stage in the main hall. Then in my second or third year Bob Taylor turned up to teach maths, well, rugby with sums on the side...

With those two as influences, it would have been hard NOT to become totally absorbed by the game.

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Flinstone Saint
30/06/2015 08:34

Thanks Tedge for those wonderful memories. They certainly conjure up some lovely images.

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gascon saint
30/06/2015 11:34

Like Tedge, I find it nice to remember the "good old days"

I came across an article about Frank Sykes. After leaving NGS in the late 60's, he and his wife, Marty, taught at a Californian school for 30 years. There is a tribute to them in the school magazine at [www.cate.org]. You need to scroll down to page 6. Those who knew Frank or were taught by him may be surprised by some of his later achievements - or maybe not!

Frank is now 87 and living in Washington State.

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Biggysaint
30/06/2015 17:03

Frank Sykes is fondly remembered by many OBs. Many of us who played in the school age group rugby teams were disappointed when he left NGS to take up a post, primarily to teach soccer, at Cambridge High School in Boston Mass (just down the road from Harvard if my memory serves me correctly). Most of us couldn't believe that he had left England not to teach rugby. True to his word, however, he flew back a couple of years later, with his 1st team of soccer lads,to play us. Although we overwhelmed them somewhat, I can recall Frank grinning from ear to ear when he realised the goalkeeping rules had changed in his absence and his school goalie was running all over his penalty area bouncing the ball, when internationally, the three step rule was in force.

His love for all things Saintly still burns strongly. Never so strong as when he flew back in for the AGM when the old guard was replaced at the Gardens in the pre professional era - to ensure that 'things' were carried out properly!

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tedge
30/06/2015 17:18

Shame to read about FD Sykes' ill health. I am not really surprised that he seems to have moved on to other areas of teaching. His supplementary subject to Games and PT was indeed geography and I venture he wasn't the world's best - probably on a par with RJH's history ! Nevertheless they weren't hired for their academic aptitude but to pass on what they were really good at, and their legacy in that respect,and those of a good few well known names who followed them after I left the school, is unchallengeable.

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skybluesaint
03/07/2015 15:35

All before my time, but we used to see Frank and Marty in the Adelaide pub for big games on the tv, when a seat was reserved for him marked "Frank Sykes British & Irish Lion". Mrs SBS knew Marty quite well and when we moved to France (June 2013) they were about to go to the USA, but not to live permanently as far as we were aware. Might be back in Kingsthorpe village!

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saintcobbler
07/07/2015 10:32

I remember also Martin Underwood, he with the 'torpedo' throw from his couple of games on the wing for England. He taught us geography also, a subject seemingly thrown to anyone with rugby ability.

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