Saracens are aiming to “pique” their football neighbours Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur by rebranding themselves as “the original club of north London” ahead of the new rugby union season.
In a bid to create fresh interest and fill their StoneX Stadium, which has been running at 85 per cent of its 10,000 capacity, Saracens will put their punchy new slogan on billboards and public transport around the capital, with a social-media advertisement featuring a north London rugby fan named Loraine having her arm tattooed with the club’s star-and-crescent logo.
The i Paper understands Saracens considered changing their name to include “north London” but rejected it.
But they are leaning into their location and history to actively trade on the club having been founded in 1876, whereas Tottenham came into being in 1882 and Arsenal in 1886.
Fans of the two football teams might find the comparison ludicrous, given their clubs have a global recognition built across decades of winning league and European titles and FA Cups, while Sarries were playing in front of a few hundred people on a public park before rugby turned professional in 1995.
They moved from that ground in Southgate to play in Enfield then Watford before making their current home in Mill Hill, although the players train outside the capital in St Albans.
But the new Saracens campaign aims to link them to north London’s youth and diversity, and Mike Leslie, the club’s chief growth officer, told The i Paper: “It’s about celebrating the community around the club. It’s about ‘born here, built here, still here’.
“And it’s wrapped in what we think is a pretty bold statement – ‘original club of north London’ – that is true, and no doubt going to pique some of our neighbours, which is just fine.”
The anticipated friction will be partly tongue in cheek as Saracens have an agreement with Spurs to play an annual fixture at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – the sixth of these “Showdowns” will be a double-header against Northampton Saints and Sale Sharks Women in March – and they intend to share details of the campaign with Arsenal’s commercial department.
It was conceived by Leslie, a South African who works jointly with the Durban-based Sharks, and Flo Williams, Saracens’ creative director and former fly-half.
“Hopefully we’ll win some of their [Arsenal and Spurs] fans over,” Leslie said.
“It’s deliberately a little provocative and bold, and we probably haven’t been that as much as we could be.
“It’s also about celebrating the things that make rugby special. So what you’ll see coming through is that gladiatorial nature, the cauliflower ears and the physicality and the amazing athletes that actually play the game.”
Saracens’ captain Maro Itoje will be a central figure in announcing the campaign, and the England and Lions skipper often refers to his north London upbringing and support for Arsenal.
“The original club of north London” will be on flags on the road leading into the stadium, and on the gates and the sides of the stands at the StoneX. A pictorial display in the Olympic bar under one stand will tell the club’s story. Three local schools already bear the Saracens name in a multi-academy trust.
It is part of a trend in rugby’s Premiership of clubs exploring new brands and storylines to grab attention and a younger audience.
The league changed its name to “the Prem” this summer, while Red Bull bought Newcastle Falcons – whose strapline is “True North” – and Leicester Tigers, Northampton Saints, Gloucester and Exeter Chiefs have altered their badges in recent years, and Bristol became the “Bears”.
As for Saracens’ closest geographical rivals, Harlequins have attempted to lay claim to the capital in the past, and their home shirt last season contained pictures of the London Eye and other landmarks, with a slogan: “London. Since 1866.”
Quins regularly sell out their 14,800-capacity Stoop, while both clubs have attracted big crowds to their occasional matches at Twickenham, Tottenham, Wembley and the London Stadium, and are desperate to build on that interest.
Saracens have a wealthy owner in Dominic Silvester, but a loss-making business.
Leslie said: “The sports that are growing the fastest are leaning into personality and leaning into identity. For us, that means leaning into who we are, unapologetically… planting that flag and owning that and then also providing a vision for the future.
“When the stadium is full and it’s loud and people are engaged and it’s vibrant, there’s a vibe, an amazing experience. So it’s critical we start we start filling this stadium, and we’re really only talking about 1000 or 1500 people.
“North London is not typically a very strong rugby area – and we like that. It’s gritty, it’s more diverse; it gives us differentiation. We also think North London is very aspirational. So we think this will appeal to not just young rugby fans but also older rugby fans, across the country and not even limited to the country. London being an iconic global city, we think it’s got global relevance.”