Bio

Years: 1919-1926
England caps: 21
British & Irish Lions tours: South Africa 1924

Freddie Blakiston was one of the greatest forwards Northampton Saints ever produced.

Along with Wavell Wakefield and Tom Voyce, he formed a formidable back row in the England team that won three Grand Slams in four seasons, and Blakiston also represented the British & Irish Lions in all four test matches during their 1924 tour of South Africa.

Blakiston was a schoolmaster at the Grammar School in Northampton. He also played for Blackheath, Liverpool, East Midlands, Lancashire and the Barbarians during his playing career.

Before he came to Northampton in 1919, he served as a lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery in the First World War, taking part in the fighting on the Western Front, in Salonika, and Palestine.

In September 1918, an ammunition column under his command came under fire in Belgium. Despite being under constant shelling, Blakiston rescued wounded men, managed to deliver ammunition to the front line, and was subsequently awarded the Military Cross.

Since 2018, Saints’ playing squad takes part in an annual preseason challenge in Blakiston’s honour – which has so far been won by Dan Biggar, Reuben Bird-Tulloch, Piers Francis and Alex Coles (twice).