Since the year dot, I have been involved with Saints

EIGHTEEN months after turning out as a 17-year-old for Kettering 4s at Wellingborough Borstal, I found myself making my debut for Northampton against Harlequins.

- LENNIE NEWMAN

I was with Kettering 1sts by then and was supposed to be playing for them at Luton, but Saints had seen me play for East Northants, liked what they saw, and called me up as emergency injury cover at lock.

On the day of the match, Saints’ team secretary, Andy Johnson, rang me saying Dave Caplan, the England full-back who was a dentist from Stamford, would be picking me up and taking me to London. For some reason, in those days Harlequins played their first six home games across the road at Twickenham, and there were 20,000 people in the crowd. It was also our hooker’s debut so you had a hooker and a lock who had never thrown a ball to each other before in their life. The groundsman wouldn’t let us on the hallowed turf to practise lineouts so we used the car park instead.

I went back to Kettering for one more game, a Cup game against Lichfield, but that was it, the next 13 years (1979-1992) were at Saints. I wouldn’t say I was a great player but I would fight every single lost cause and put my head where others wouldn’t. I look back at DVDs that people have done for me and it’s a bit embarrassing seeing some of what went on. I wasn’t a dirty player but I could handle myself pretty well, hence I would always be picked for trips to Wales.