Franklin's Gardens (currently known for sponsorship purposes as cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens) is a purpose-built rugbystadium in Northampton, England. It is the home stadium of Northampton Saints and Loughborough Lightning. The stadium holds 15,249 people. It is also a conference, meeting, and events venue, as well as the only Premiership Rugby ground with its own cenotaph, the setting for a ceremony every Remembrance Weekend.[2]
History
The Gardens, originally known as Melbourne Gardens, were created by John Collier, and opened in 1864.[3] After his death in 1885 they were bought by John Franklin, a successful hotelier, in 1886 who renamed them Franklin's Gardens the following year.
In 1888 the Gardens were sold for £17,000 to the Northampton Brewery Company who started making extensive improvements. New features included a running track, bicycle track, cricket ground, swimming pool, bear pit, a large ornamental lake, an improved monkey house and a larger zoological garden.
Franklin's Gardens was described as the "Champs Elysees of Northampton" and trams ran from the town centre every few minutes for a penny. Home matches began in Abbey fields, next door to Franklin's Gardens and it wasn't until the late 1880s when the Saints moved to Franklin's Gardens.
At the end of the 1896/97 season a new stand was built by Mr A Dunham's building company, 45 feet long and costing £45 5s. It was carpeted and reserved for members paying 10s 6d for season tickets.
On 9 October 1920, a two-page advertisement in the Independent appeared offering 15,000 shares in a new company, Franklin's Gardens Sports and Pleasure Co Ltd. The company prospectus proposed to turn the site into a sports complex, allowing the Saints to play at the Gardens in return for a percentage of the gate.
During the Second World War Franklin's Gardens was used for livestock. However that didn't last long, as there was a new-look Franklin's Gardens in, with its £6,000 Member's stand.
The 1966/67 season kicked off with style with the opening of the Peter Haddon designed Gordon Sturtridge Pavilion, marked by a floodlit game between the Saints and an R E G Jeeps XV. The pavilion enhanced the Gardens' reputation for being one of the finest rugby grounds in the country.
During the 1976/77 season the club acquired a four-acre training pitch on a 60-year lease at the back of the ground and in November 1977, the committee pulled off its biggest coup by buying Franklin's Gardens outright for £30,000.
During the early 1990s a raft of temporary stands increased the capacity up to 10,000. Then in 2001 the stadium underwent a complete re-build. The fans got their first look of the £6 million new look Franklin's Gardens on 8 September 2001.
The Tetley's and South stands were opened formally by Ian McGeechan with the horseshoe stadium completed in summer 2002 with the building of the Church's Stand, opened by five Saints legends. But there was more development to come in 2005 when an extension to the South Stand became a further piece to the Franklin's Gardens jigsaw.
The north stand was re-developed in the summer of 2015, this included the demolition of the old Sturtridge Pavilion and the construction of the new Barwell Stand, marking the end of the original re-build plans.
In September 2021, Saints announced a six-year naming rights deal with car purchasing company cinch. The deal would see the stadium renamed cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens.[4]
Structure and Facilities
Stadium Bowl and Stands
The stadium bowl was constructed over a roughly 14 year period from 2001-2015, with the majority of the work on the bowl being undertaken from 2001-2005. Previously, the ground had a combination of permanent and semi-permanent stands surrounding the pitch, as well as the Sturtridge Pavilion to the north.
Carlsberg Stand
The Carlsberg Stand as seen from the Church's Stand
The Carlsberg Stand was constructed between April and September 2001, in order for it to be constructed, Saints demolished both the old terrace, as well as the Ritzy bar which previously stood where the current members car park lies.
The stand holds 6,000 (est) people, and has 19 executive boxes. Originally named the Tetley's Stand. The stand's capacity is split between the lower new Gordon Terrace and the upper seated area. Unlike premier league football stadiums, standing is allowed at rugby stadiums and the terracing was included as a specific part of the design. All of the people in the stand are under cover.
The Carlsberg Stand also includes the club's major conferencing facilities, including the Rodber Suite, Captains' Suite and Heroes' Bar. There is full wireless internet access throughout the stand. Facilities including all the bars and suites were refurbished to simulate the look and feel of the members' bar located in the Barwell Stand in 2016. In total the stand's conference facilities have a capacity of 920.
In November 2017, it was announced that through a continuation of the sponsorship from Carlsberg, the stand would be re-branded as 'The Carlsberg Stand', this rebrand was completed in July 2018.
The Cinch Stand
The cinch Stand (formerly The Burrda Stand and Elite Insurance Stand)
In 2005 the South Stand was doubled in size raising the Gardens capacity from 12,100 to 13,591. The redevelopment involved extending the South Stand over the lake in the village area of the ground to make room for additional seating, seven new boxes, a premium members' club, as well another bar and extra toilet facilities. The South stand extension was finished in the 2005/2006 season. At the start of the 10/11 season it was announced that the South stand will be renamed the Burrda Stand after the club's new kit suppliers. The stand was renamed in 2016 to become the Elite Insurance Stand, but this ended in 2018. The stand has been known as the Cinch Stand since 26 December 2020.[5]
The Church's Stand
The Church's Stand
The Church's Stand is the 'third' all seater stand. It was developed and completed the horseshoe in the summer of 2002. It was opened by five club legends, former captains – Ron Jacobs, Don White, Gary Pearce, David Powell and Vince Cannon in November 2002.
The stand replaced the old Members' Stand which had lasted since the 1920s. It contains both the home and away dressing rooms, TV camera gantry, press bench, press room and a cinema for Saint's players (this was a bar until the Barwell Stand development).
The Barwell Stand
The Barwell Stand
This is to the north of the ground and is the newest stand (built in 2015) which replaced The Sturtridge Pavilion, completing the redevelopment of Franklin's Gardens. This stand takes the name of the Barwell family, who were influential in making Northampton Saints one of English rugby's leading clubs at the turn of the professional era in the mid-1990s. This stand houses the members' bar, corporate facilities, control room, the Sturtridge Suite and approximately 2,000 seats. It also houses a war memorial to former Saints players who died in the 1st and 2nd World Wars. This stand was officially opened by Keith Barwell on 14 February 2016.
Previous Stands
The old Gordon Terrace
The Gordon Terrace, named after former club chairman Jerry Gordon, also referred to as the East Stand or the "shed", was an all-standing concrete covered stand. It was built in the 1920s and was later extended by around 20 metres either side in the 1970s in order to run along the entire length of the pitch. Demolition of the old terrace began in April 2001 to make way for the new Tetley's stand.[6][7]
The South Stand
The old South Stand was a temporary stand made with a steel beam construction and was half-covered. It came about as a temporary solution to the increasing interest in rugby union as a spectator sport in the mid 1990s. It wrapped around from the south corner of the Gordon Terrace to the end of the Members Stand. It was usually deconstructed during the summer and placed into storage until the beginning of the next season.
The Members' (West) Stand
The Members' Stand formed the main bulk of seating capacity of the stadium and lay on the western side of the ground (now the Church's Stand), backing onto the old Express Lift Factory. It was originally constructed in 1927[8] and by the 1990s served as the main seated area. It was demolished in 2001 to make way for the new Church's Stand.
Other Stands
There were a further two small temporary stands which were situated either side of the Members' Stand.
The larger of the two, which was situated to the north of the Members' Stand was first used in the mid 1990s, and was made of the same temporary material and had the same half-covered design as the South Stand, it was also last deconstructed in 2001 to make way for the Church's Stand.
There was also a smaller covered temporary stand which lay in the south corner of the ground until the first construction of the South Stand in the mid 1990s.
The demolished old Sturtridge Pavilion
The Sturtridge Pavilion
The 1966/67 season kicked off with style with the opening of the Peter Haddon designed Gordon Sturtridge Pavilion, marked by a floodlit game between the Saints and an R E G Jeeps XV. The pavilion enhanced the Gardens' reputation for being one of the finest rugby grounds in the country.
The Pavilion was earmarked for demolition and redevelopment when the original rebuild was designed, however, due to time and money, the rebuild didn't happen until 2015.
Supporters' Village
The supporters' Village lies behind the Cinch Stand and acts as a multi-functional social/communal area, as well as offering a variety of food and drink options.
The Supporters' Village looking east.
History
The Village lies on land that was originally part of the meadowed area forming the low-lying Nene Wetlands. Previously the southern half of the area had functioned as a bowling green, and the northern half, owned by Saints, contained the old pond, the Clubhouse and the members' bar, the Crooked Hooker. The land containing the bowling green was later purchased by the Saints in 1977.
The Village was initially used as a car park and storage area after the construction of the new South Stand in 2001, which also involved the partial draining of the pond. For the 2005 South Stand and car park redevelopment, the Village was used as a staging area for heavy machinery but returned to it's former position as a VIP car park shortly after.
The construction of the main car park in 2005 had already solved the parking capacity issue, but it wasn't until the early 2010s that it was decided to convert the area into a communal area for matches. By 2015 the Village had a number of food stalls, a marquee, a bar and several seating areas, as well as a large screen. Since then, a large tent has also been installed over the seating area.
Food and drink
Currently the Village contains the following amenities:[9]
·Three Burger Bars
·Four coffee stands
·Five further food stalls
·A Saints Store
·Nine Bars
Northampton Saints Foundation Centre
Previously referred to as the "Study Centre" before the Foundation was established in 2018, the Northampton Saints Foundation have their offices in the south east corner of the Village.
The building was originally built in the 1960s and served as the old clubhouse until the redevelopment of the stadium in the 1990s.[10]
Currently it is used by the heritage department as a research centre, as well as by the educational wing of the department as a classroom.[11]
The Crooked Hooker Bar
The members-only bar sits in the north west corner of the village
The Crooked Hooker Bar is one of the oldest structures standing in the ground, and was originally built as a clubhouse for the bowls club in the 1950s before being purchased by the Saints in 1967 with money gained from their sale of the Harlestone Road training ground.[12]
Future development
Franklin's Gardens from the air, the National Lift Tower can be seen in the background.
Further development on the existing ground would be compromised by the Beacon Bingo hall which sits in close proximity to the Barwell Stand. The Church's Stand also is compromised by backing onto the site boundary. Further opportunity could involve expanding the South and/or Tetley's Stand's.
Northampton Saints explored playing one fixture a season at the 30,000 capacity MK Dons stadium in Milton Keynes, although in 2017 it was announced that this would be put on hold for the foreseeable future.
The Gardens have hosted three major cup finals during the professional era.
The first cup final to be held at the Gardens was the Anglo-Welsh Cup final which saw Gloucester beat Newcastle 34–7 in 2011, the second being another Anglo-Welsh Cup final in 2015, seeing Saracens beat Exeter 23-20.
The most recent cup final to be held at the Gardens saw Saints have a home final against Saracens after a successful 2018-2019 Premiership Rugby Cup campaign. Saints produced special flags for every spectator and went on to win in front of a capacity crowd.[14]
Churchill Cup 2011
On 4 June the Churchill Cup was opened with a double header of fixtures as Canada defeated Italy 'A' before eventual winners England Saxons breezed past the USA.
Northampton and District Finals
Franklin's Gardens is used as the standard venue for the finals of the Northampton and District leagues, including junior and senior finals.[15]
