Running the burger vans: The negotiations to establish Saracens Women
Former England captain and founding member of Saracens Women Emma Mitchell, regarded as one of the most talented scrum-halves to have played the game, recalls the deal that was struck to establish a women’s side in north London over 30 years ago.
Mitchell tells the entertaining story of how the club she played at for 15 years came to be, why it wasn’t all smooth sailing at the beginning and how the founding journey came full circle.
“When I left Loughborough in 1987 there weren’t that many clubs, so myself and three other Loughborough graduates set up a side in Kent,” remembers Mitchell.
“I ended up living in London and about nine of us got together and decided that London could do with another club, there was only Wasps and Finchley at the time, which later moved to Richmond.
“We were looking at trying to establish a club in north London and Saracens was the obvious choice, plus they were about to come back into the first division. There was a chap called John Heggadon who was ahead of his time in supporting the women’s game and he encouraged us to put a proposal together and send it to the Saracens committee which we did.
“He turned up at the committee meeting and this women’s proposal wasn’t on the agenda and he was quite frustrated with us and called to ask why we hadn’t sent it in, and we said we had. It turns out the secretary at the time had read the proposal and made a unilateral decision that women either don’t or shouldn’t play rugby so tore it up and put it in the bin and so it’s only that we had someone in the committee who knew it was supposed to be coming on the agenda which made it happen.
“We were then invited to deliver a presentation and the committee came back and said they would like to support us in setting up a women’s section at Saracens, but there were three conditions, one is that on Saturdays and Sundays we had to run the club shop selling socks and shorts, two, on men’s match days we had to help with running the bar, manning the burger vans and staffing the turnstiles and three, at Vice President lunches which happened twice a year, we had to provide the waitressing staff.
“So, we said ‘brilliant, yes absolutely we’ll do all of that,’ and very quickly we established ourselves. It was the sort of price you had to pay in those days to get through the door. It turns out we had both the Welsh and the English captains serving lunches to the Vice Presidents!
Celebrating when Saracens started a women’s team 30 years ago, all that has been achieved since and the bright future ahead #lovesarries https://t.co/fipZ5nhdWF
— Emma Mitchell (@emmamit09) April 11, 2019
“A nice little end to the story, is that by 2009, 20 years on, there were three of us founder members who were made honorary Vice Presidents of Saracens and the President at the time Lee Adamson made a wonderful speech telling the same story and how it was his pleasure to actually serve us our lunch on that day and how it had come full circle, which was very touching.”
A veteran of four World Cups, Mitchell also helped shape the international landscape in the early days, as well as England’s club game.
“What’s worth remembering is that in the 1991 final, the USA beat us and beat us well and gave us lessons to learn on how we needed to play and develop as a team. The bulk of that 1991 side committed to stay together and worked really hard in the intervening three years, so there was quite a nice journey between 1991 and 1994 which saw us deliver a fantastic performance and lift the World Cup trophy, which was really rewarding.
“In 1998 we were defending champions and went out in the semi-finals to New Zealand. Earlier in the tournament captain Gill Burnes had a bad ankle injury and I stepped in as vice-captain, I think it was England’s worse ever finish at a World Cup to date, but I was still proud.
“Between 1998 and 2002 I suffered an ACL injury and was out for a good year and coming back it was quite different for me. I knew I was going to retire after the 2002 tournament and it was much more about trying to get back into the squad.
“Jo Yapp was the number one scrum half at the time. In 1998 she was a young teenager, and I was the number one nine and then we kind of switched so come 2002, she was first choice and I was her backup. I was just really glad to be able to sign off on my terms. My last game was the semi-final win over Canada, and we lost in the final to New Zealand.”
World Rugby has only recently recognised the 1991 and 1994 World Cups, and Mitchell recalls what it felt like as a player.
“It was frustrating. The 1994 World Cup was originally meant to be in Holland, but it was in the January that the IRB (now World Rugby) said they weren’t going to support the tournament which led to the Netherlands withdrawing. Up in Scotland, a handful of players said they’d organise it and in a matter of weeks, they’d set up the 1994 World Cup and all the countries committed to going to it.
“The shame was that New Zealand didn’t come and what I understand is that the New Zealand players wanted to come unofficially but weren’t allowed. They then went into the wilderness for a few years and didn’t emerge until the Canada Cup in 1996. From 1991-96 the Black Ferns weren’t really seen, so things have certainly changed in terms of how the unions view and support the women’s game.”
Mitchell formed a formidable partnership at half-back with another hugely influential England player Karen Almond, with the team reaching the 1991 and 1994 World Cup finals under their influence.
“It was great timing as Karen changed clubs from Wasps to Saracens in 1992 so we played our club rugby together and that was really good for us going into the 1994 World Cup.
“We got so used to how each other played and what we needed from each other. No matter what pass I threw out at her she’d pick it up and do something brilliant. We used to work hard on our communication about what sort of pass she needed from me and how she’d communicate that with hand signals.
“It’s lovely that when we went through and worked out the Red Rose numbers she was in that first side in 1987 to play Wales and that squad was listed alphabetically so she became Red Rose number one and that’s so fitting because she really was the player that set the bar for all of us.”
RFU make two new appointments in performance roles ?
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) January 11, 2022
Emma’s career off the field has seen her work in academic publishing and most recently as a Performance Lifestyle Advisor for the English Institute of Sport for 14 years, where she coached Great Britain Hockey players off the field, organising future career opportunities and helping them through international retirement, as well as supporting their holistic development.
Mitchell has recently returned to the Rugby Football Union where she has been appointed as a Performance Consultant for the women’s game.
Comments on RugbyPass
In the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getitng to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
5 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
7 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
5 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
7 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
54 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
54 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
7 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
54 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
54 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
54 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
18 Go to comments