Northampton Saints captain Lewis Ludlam was on hand to award the inaugural ‘Frank Anderson Cup’ at Spring Lane Primary School last week, as part of a celebration for Black History Month.
The 26-year-old Saints and England flanker attended a special assembly alongside the Club’s Historian, Graham McKechnie, and presented the winning team of an in-school tag rugby tournament with the gleaming new trophy, as well as 12 pairs of tickets to Saints’ upcoming match against Bristol Bears.
The Cup was created this year to commemorate Frank Anderson (Saint #166), believed to be the first mixed-race player ever to represent Northampton Saints, having made his first-team debut in 1900.
You can listen to a documentary (first released in October 2021) presented by McKechnie and Ludlam on Anderson’s life HERE, or to read more about him please CLICK HERE.
“It’s been incredible to come back to Spring Lane one year on from Graham uncovering Frank’s story, and seeing how much the school has embraced him,” said Ludlam.
“When Frank’s picture went up in the assembly, every child here knew exactly who he is and all about his history, which is really exciting and special.”
Lewis Ludlam
“Frank’s now an important role model for them; there’s so much in his story that many of these kids will be able to relate to, as he was born right here on this lane where the school still stands, and he was a person of colour as well.
“Even when I was growing up, there weren’t many people of colour playing professional rugby. I always looked up to the likes of Delon and Steffon Armitage, and Jason Robinson as well – they became my role models because they looked like me.
“For there to be a man like Frank, so close to home and so far back, shows that even then rugby was a game that’s open for everyone.”
Frank Anderson attended Spring Lane Primary School over 130 years ago – also in attendance for the assembly and presentation was Anderson’s great-grandson Martin Faulkner.
Saints, the War, and Walter Tull.
— Northampton Saints 😇 (@SaintsRugby) October 14, 2021
This is the quite remarkable story of Saint #166, Frank Anderson, the first player of mixed-race to pull on the famous Saints jersey.
Brilliantly told by @LewisLudlam and @GrahamMcKechnie.#BlackHistoryMonth pic.twitter.com/lyDlyuch7L
Last Friday, year five and year six children took part in the school’s first-ever tag rugby tournament – with Ennis-Hill House (named after former Olympian, Jessica) emerging as the winners.
Headteacher Peter Hynes believes the event (which will now be held each year during Black History Month), and more broadly the discovery of Frank Anderson’s story, has thoroughly inspired the students of Spring Lane.
He said: “It’s brilliant that Saints donated this Cup to our school for the children to compete for each year during Black History Month.
“It was fantastic to see the kids outside playing a sport that they hadn’t necessarily tried before. They loved giving rugby a go, but it was also a great way for us to retell Frank’s story.
“As soon as we heard about Frank, he became an iconic figure for the school. Even more so now after a year, the children are really keen to learn as much as they can about him because it’s an inspirational story.
“We have such a diverse group of children here at the school, and within the local community, so Frank – and Lewis Ludlam – are both people that the kids and their families can really look up to.”
Peter Hynes, Headteacher at Spring Lane Primary School
Ludlam is also an ambassador for the Northampton Saints Foundation, who have launched a new five-week heritage education programme for delivery to Key Stage Two children. Tackling Heritage aims to keep the legacy of historic rugby players alive, and includes a session on Frank Anderson, so his story is now told to local schoolchildren all year round.
If you would like to book the Tackling Heritage programme at your school, or arrange an ad-hoc delivery session about Frank Anderson for Black History Month, please contact [email protected].
McKechnie added: “It’s genuinely heart-warming to see how far Spring Lane Primary has gone to remember Frank Anderson and take up his story. All the children know exactly who Frank is, and they are so excited to know that someone so important in Saints’ history was from the school too.
“To know there’s a legacy of mixed-race players stretching right back to the early days of the sport has made a big difference to Lewis Ludlam.
“He is always able to bring the story alive and explain to the children why Frank Anderson is important to him, as well as the other black and mixed-race players he watched growing up, so this was a great way to cap off the school’s Black History Month celebration.”
