Grave of first Northampton Saints rugby captain restored

Jim Barker's grave in Dallington, near Northampton Saints ground, has been repaired by the club

The grave of the first captain of Northampton Saints rugby club has been restored and rededicated.

Jim Barker captained the club in 1880-81 but his resting place had been allowed to fall into disrepair.

His grave was covered in weeds and had no headstone, following his burial at Dallington Cemetery in 1929.

Current Saints coach Phil Dowson said the restoration was "important with regards to our history and understanding where we've come from".

Jim Barker (top right) was captain of the Saints during their first season in 1880

Barker, from St James in Northampton, worked as a painter and decorator during the week, before leading the team out on Saturday afternoons.

He had moved to the town as a teenager and joined the St James Church choir.

Barker had also joined a boys' improvement class which was run out of the church by its curate, the Reverend Samuel Wathen Wigg.

It was that class that eventually became Northampton Saints Rugby Football Club.

Saints coach Phil Dowson said Jim Barker was a working man and the club's youngsters would be given the job of maintaining the grave

Dowson, who will take over as head coach next season, said the restoration will be used to "educate everyone in the club as to why it's important how we look after people who represent the club".

He told BBC Radio Northampton the grave represented "the history and heritage of where we've been, what we've been through, the players that have represented [the club], and what they've been through".

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Current Saints captain Lewis Ludlam was "experiencing the same things, wearing the same shirt and trying to do the same things" as Jim Barker, Dowson said.

The restoration was paid for by the club and the Northampton Saints Foundation, and Dowson said the club's academy players "will be tasked with making sure it's looked after".