- Stadium opens 1pm, kick-off 2pm.
- Tickets for Lightning vs Sharks remain on sale from £7.50 adult and £3 junior*.
- Soloist Hannah Faulkner performing in Rodber Bar before and after the match
- Soprano Emily Haig performing on the pitch at half-time!
- Red Roses and Lightning star Emily Scarratt is hosting a skills clinic for Under-12 to Under-18 girls - click HERE for details.
- New Lightning Fan Zone inside and outside the Rodber Bar, featuring food and drink, a passing cage and face painting.
- Pick up your new Loughborough Lightning hoodies, t-shirts and caps in the Saints Store and Lightning Fan Zone.
Loughborough Lightning and Sale Sharks go head-to-head this weekend at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens as both clubs search for their opening win of the 2024/25 Premiership Women’s Rugby season.
The African Violets picked up a point for their efforts in Round 2 but enter Saturday’s game (kick-off: 2pm) keen to bounce back from losses to Bristol Bears and Trailfinders Women.
After sitting out of Round 1 with their bye week, Sale Sharks went down 42-15 at home to Saracens. The sides have already met once this season in a high-scoring PWR Up Series encounter at the CorpAcq Stadium in September, which Lightning won 45-31.
This extended Lightning’s winning run in this head-to-head to six matches, stretching back to the narrow lost in Sale back in December 2022.
Tickets are still available HERE, with prices starting at just £7.50 adult and £3 junior*.
For more detail on everything going on at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens (including off-pitch entertainment, opening times and other important information) please click on the titles below...
+ Tickets
- Tickets for Lightning vs Sharks remain available to purchase online HERE – with prices starting at £7.50 adult and £3 junior*.
- Your match tickets are attached to your purchase confirmation email – please ensure you have these either printed on A4 paper, viewable on your smartphone, or added to your smartphone digital wallet before arriving at the stadium. Screenshots of your tickets are not accepted by the scanners on our turnstiles.
- Those who have not printed their tickets at home, or are not able to show their barcode on a mobile phone, will be able to have their matchday ticket printed at the Ticket Office for a £2.50 fee.
- This match is included in a Loughborough Lightning Season Ticket for the 2024/25 season – Season Ticket Holders should have received their individual match tickets for this fixture.
+ Opening Hours
- The Saints Store, Fan Zone Store, Ticket Office and Stadium will be open at the following times for Lightning vs Sharks:
- 10am: Saints Store and Ticket Office open
- 1pm: Stadium open, Fan Zone Store and Rodber Bar open
- 2pm: Lightning vs Sharks KO
- 2.45pm (est): Lightning vs Sharks HT
- 3pm: Saints Store and Ticket Office close
- 3.45pm (est): Lightning vs Sharks FT
- 4.15pm (est): Fan Zone Store closes 30 minutes after full-time
- 4.45pm (est): Bars close
- The Saints Store, Fan Zone Store, Ticket Office and Stadium will be open at the following times for Lightning vs Sharks:
+ Entertainment
- Solo artist Hannah Faulkner will be perform live acoustic music in the new Lightning Fan Zone (based inside and outside the Rodber Bar) before and after the match.
- Soprano Emily Haig is performing on the pitch at half-time!
- Why not enjoy the match having received a coaching session from one of the sport’s greatest ever players? Emily Scarratt has returned from WXV with the Red Roses and is hosting a girls only matchday skills clinic for Under-12s to Under-18s. To book your place and for more information, please click HERE.
- The Rodber Bar will also host a passing cage to test your rugby skills, and a face painter!
- A Question and Answer session will be held in front of the Carlsberg Stand with a Lightning player not participating in the match, 15 minutes before kick-off.
- Make sure you’re pitchside come the final whistle for your chance to receive a signed ball from a Lightning player.
- Then head into the Rodber Bar where a Lightning player will be assessing the match in a Q&A.
- Watch out for Bernie the Dog, who will be entertaining those in attendance throughout the afternoon.
- Make sure at half-time you give a wave to the participants of the Girls Under-12s Festival, which is taking place on the back pitches before kick-off.
- Our mascot for the match is 11-year-old Isaac!
+ Season Tickets
- Lightning versus Sharks is included in the 2024/25 Lightning Season Ticket.
+ Food & Drink
- Rodber Bar will be open from 1pm. Hot and cold drinks will be available along with food options.
- Rodber Bar will close around an hour after the final whistle.
- Please be aware that cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens is a cashless stadium; all bars and food outlets will only accept card payments.
+ Car Parking
- Car Park D is available for supporters, priced £3.
- Car Park hangers do not apply for this fixture.
- Car Parks open from 11am.
- After the Car Parks close at 8pm on Saturday, there will be no access to any vehicle left behind until Monday morning.
- Given that cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens sits in a residential area of the town, Saints strongly urge all supporters to use the Club’s Car Parks. Should they choose not to do so, supporters must park with due care and respect for the needs of local residents and businesses.
+ Smoking
- cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens is a NO SMOKING stadium. Smoking and the use of e-cigarettes is not permitted anywhere in the stadium or Supporter Village pre, during or post-match.
- Supporters wishing to smoke will be allowed to exit the stadium during half-time to use a designated area beside the Fan Zone outside the Rodber Bar. Stewards will be on hand to direct you and will manage exit and re-entry into the stadium.
+ Other Important Info
- The Club requests that supporters refrain from standing at the side of the pitch to watch the warm-up to prevent congestion. Please watch the warm-up from your seat.
- There will NOT be an official timekeeper in attendance at the game on Saturday, so the in-stadium clocks will not stop during the game.
- Saints’ Fan Radios will NOT be in use on Saturday.
MATCHDAY TIMINGS
| 10am | Saints Store and Ticket Office open |
| 11am | Car Parks open |
| 1pm | Stadium and Rodber Bar and Fan Zone open |
| 2pm | Loughborough Lightning vs Sale Sharks KO |
| 2.45pm | Loughborough Lightning vs Sale Sharks HT |
| 3pm | Saints Store and Ticket Office close |
| 3.45pm (approx) | Loughborough Lightning vs Bristol Bears FT |
| 4.15pm (approx 30mins after FT) | Fan Zone Store close |
| 4.30pm (approx) | Rodber Bar and Fan Zone close |
| 8pm | Car Parks close |
Next Home Match
14
Days
14
Hours
43
Mins
Sunday 8 December - 3:00pm
* All match ticket prices are subject to a £1.50 booking fee.
