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The Saints go Marching on.. and on.. and on..
By BrianC
May 26 2004
Today we look at Northampton who have emerged from a somewhat troubled spell in the 90's which included relegation. They now have the potential to be one of the great clubs in Europe.
Northampton

Northampton

The Saints go Marching on.. and on.. and on..

For a full explanation of the source of and rationale behind these figures please refer to The Figures Explained.

Season Average Att. Position (Out of) Weighted Position Final ZP Position Percentage Growth
97-98 6515 5th(10) 6th 8th(12)  
98-99 7175 4th(10) 4th 2nd(14) 10.1%
99-00 7282 2nd(10) 3rd 5th(12) 1.5%
00-01 7929 3rd(11) 3rd 4th(12) 8.9%
01-02 9300 2nd(11) 3rd 5th(12) 17.3%
02-03 10606 2nd(11) 3rd 3rd(12) 14.0%
03-04 11272 2nd(12) 3rd 3rd(12) 6.3%
         
Variation '97 - '04 (1997/8=100%) 173% 3rd(12)      
Crowd Growth Absolute 4758 2nd(12)      
Average Growth 9.7% 3rd(12)      

2003/4 Season

8-May-04 ZP  Northampton vs Harlequins 18 - 17 Franklin's Gardens 12048
18-Apr-04 ZP  Northampton vs Bath 16 - 6 Franklin's Gardens 12005
27-Mar-04 ZP  Northampton vs Saracens 24 - 3 Franklin's Gardens 12003
21-Feb-04 ZP  Northampton vs Sale 51 - 12 Franklin's Gardens 11756
7-Feb-04  ZP  Northampton vs Rotherham  18 - 8  Franklin's Gardens 10839
20-Dec-03  ZP  Northampton vs Leicester  14 - 0  Franklin's Gardens 12150
22-Nov-03  ZP  Northampton vs Leeds Tykes  48 - 24  Franklin's Gardens 11292
1-Nov-03  ZP  Northampton vs Gloucester  30 - 17  Franklin's Gardens 11026
18-Oct-03  ZP  Northampton vs Newcastle  33 - 20  Franklin's Gardens 9923
11-Oct-03  ZP  Northampton vs London Irish  24 - 30  Franklin's Gardens 10384
27-Sep-03  ZP  Northampton vs Wasps  27 - 17  Franklin's Gardens 10571

Northampton share with London Irish the distinction of being the only club to have grown their crowds every single year during the professional era. With an average gate of 11,272 this season they are now, in un-weighted terms, the second best supported club in the country.

There are plans afoot to further develop their Franklins Gardens home by re-developing the existing Sturridge Pavilion, although nobody seems to be sure when these plans are going to be submitted. The intended development would increase capacity from just over 11k to 16k. This will probably buy the Saints enough room to grow for four or five years. After that things may become a tad trickier.

In theory Franklins Gardens could be redeveloped to a capacity of 25k by remodelling the existing stands into two tiers. That however may not be economically viable in terms of ROI (Seat prices against construction costs against time to service and repay capital.) At some stage in the current decade a move may be on the cards.

Northampton supporters, whilst very attached to Franklins Gardens, do appear to be philosophical about this possibility. Given the relatively go-ahead approach of the club in the professional era I very much doubt that Northampton would let themselves be constrained by ground size for long in the same way as Bath.

If we project their average growth thus far forward another five seasons, this is what we see.

Season  -  Attendance

04/05 12365
05/06 13563
06/07 14877
07/08 16318
08/09 17899

If, as many believe, professional English club rugby develops in the same way as soccer whereby there are a small number of 'super' clubs then Northampton seem to be well placed to be one of them. 

The next article in this series will take us to the West Country, as we look at Gloucester.

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