- Stadium opens 2pm, kick-off 3pm.
- Tickets for Lightning vs Tigers remain on sale from £7.50 adult and £3 junior*.
- Northants singer Robyn Wilson to perform during the afternoon!
- 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 take on Leicester Tigers in an eagerly anticipated East Midlands Derby at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday afternoon (kick-off: 3pm).
Nathan Smith’s side head into this PWR Up Series fixture in buoyant mood after securing a brilliant 36-21 victory away at Sale Sharks last time out – a performance they will be looking to build on before the opening round of the Premiership Women’s Rugby season next month.
Honours were even between Tigers and Lightning last season with both teams claiming a victory each. Lightning were triumphant at Mattioli Woods Welford Road in December 2023 before going down 22-17 in a tense return match at the Gardens in February 2024.
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 Tigers 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 Tigers:
- 10am: Saints Store and Ticket Office open
- 2pm: Stadium open, Fan Zone Store and Rodber Bar open
- 3pm: Lightning vs Tigers KO
- 3pm: Saints Store close
- 3.15pm: Ticket Office close
- 3.45pm: Lightning vs Tigers HT
- 3.55pm (est): Fan Zone Store close at end of half-time
- 4.45pm (est): Lightning vs Tigers FT
- 5.45pm (est): Bars close
+ ENTERTAINMENT
- Northamptonshire singer Robyn Wilson will perform in the new Lightning Fan Zone (based inside and outside the Rodber Bar) before and after the match.
- 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.
- Watch out for Bernie the Dog, who will be entertaining those in attendance throughout the afternoon.
- A half-time parade will be held to celebrate the Under-14s Girls Festival that is being held on the back pitches from 11am until 1.30pm. The teams involved are: Loughborough RFC/Lutterworth RFC/Peterborough RFC, Bugbrooke RFC and Ampthill RFC.
- Watch out for our Club of the Match, Buckingham RFC, who will be providing the Guard of Honour as the teams enter onto the field.
- There’s also ten matchday mascots aged from seven to 13 who will accompany Lightning players onto the pitch.
+ 2024/25 SEASON TICKETS
- Season Tickets are still available to renew or buy for the 2024/25 season HERE – with the Ticket Office open from 10am until approximately 3.20pm on matchday for supporters wishing to purchase or renew in person.
- Prices** start from just £40 for adults and £20 for juniors.
- Lightning versus Tigers in the PWR Up Series is included in the 2024/25 Lightning Season Ticket.
+ ECOCUPS UPDATE – PLEASE DO NOT TAKE THEM HOME
- Northampton Saints have made an adjustment to how EcoCups will be used and returned around cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens ahead of the 2024/25 season.
- For this season, the Club will no longer be charging a £1 deposit fee for EcoCups, having listened to supporter feedback.
- EcoCups can still be returned directly to bars or to dedicated EcoCup return bins located around cinch Stadium, with no refund now required on the cups.
- The Club asks that supporters do not collect these cups to take home, but rather return them to the bars or one of the dedicated return bins around the stadium.
- With EcoCup refunds no longer available to donate to Northampton Saints Foundation on matchdays, the Club have introduced an alternative; ‘One for the Foundation’.
- At all stadium bars, supporters will have the option to add ‘One for the Foundation’ to their drink/food orders, with £1 being added to their order total and donated straight to the charity.
+ FOOD & DRINK
- Rodber Bar will be open from 2pm. 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 Parks A, B and C are 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 |
2pm | Stadium and Rodber Bar open |
2pm | Fan Zone Store open |
3pm | Loughborough Lightning vs Leicester Tigers KO |
3pm | Saints Store close |
3.15pm | Ticket Office close |
3.45pm (approx) | Loughborough Lightning vs Leicester Tigers HT |
3.55pm (approx) | Fan Zone Store close |
4.45pm (approx) | Loughborough Lightning vs Leicester Tigers FT |
5.45pm (approx) | Rodber Bar close |
8pm | Car Parks close |
Next Home Match
* All match ticket prices are subject to a £1.50 booking fee
** All Season Ticket prices are subject to a booking fee of £2.50 per ticket.