Editing Northampton (section)

====Rugby Union====

The town is home to [[Guinness Premiership|Premiership]] [[rugby union]] champions [[Northampton Saints]], who play at [[Franklin's Gardens]] in the St James End area to the west of town. The Saints have won 3 major titles so far: the [[Heineken Cup]] in 2000, and the [[Gallagher Premiership|English Premiership]] twice in 2014 and 2024 respectively, and have the highest average attendance of any professional sports team in the town.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.northamptonsaints.co.uk/rugby/results/senior | title=Northampton Saints Results &#124; Saints Score }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.footballwebpages.co.uk/northampton-town/attendances | title=Northampton Town &#124; Home Attendances &#124; Football Web Pages }}</ref>

Rugby Union also maintains itself as a very popular amateur sport in the town, with it being played by nearly every secondary school in the area, as well as by around 10 amateur clubs within Northampton itself, most of which field multiple teams on weekends.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.englandrugby.com/play/find-rugby-results?postcode=northampton | title=Find Rugby Results &#124; Rugby Football Union }}</ref> Northampton is also home to Northampton Outlaws, its first inclusive rugby team and the 9th gay-friendly team in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ben Cohen joined celebrations with the Northampton Outlaws RFC :: The Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation |url=http://www.standupfoundation.com/standup-news/ben-cohen-joined-the-celebrations-with-the-northampton-outlaws-rfc/ |access-date=29 August 2013 |publisher=Standupfoundation.com}}</ref> Due to its introduction to the town as a sport for all, it has maintained a considerably more working class character than elsewhere in the UK.<ref>{{cite book |last=Barron |first=Brian | date= June 2005 |title= Nothing Without Labour, Northampton Saints The First 125 Years |pages=1–2 |location= Kings Heath, Northampton NN5 7QP |publisher= Avalon Print |isbn= 0-9551699-0-9}}</ref>