'The s**t people don't see': Saracens CEO Wray pens letter to fans

Saracens CEO Lucy Wray has penned an open letter to supporters following a 2021 calendar year where the relegated club bounced back into the Gallagher Premiership at the first attempt. The Londoners also completed a capital raise that resulted in a total investment of £32million of new funds in October.  

With the Saracens training ground currently closed to combat last week's virus outbreak, Wray has written to fans ahead of their Boxing Day fixture at home to Worcester. The letter, which contains more than 1,300 words, opened with the CEO dwelling on the things that stuck out most for her during their Championship season.

Those four topics were: the death of loyal supporter Stephen Thomas, the return of fans to matches, the meticulous preparation of the coaching staff to ensure the second-tier title was won, and the squad photo that was taken at the StoneX shortly after full-time following their aggregate win over Ealing.  

"At the start of 2021, there was still a huge amount of uncertainty surrounding the start of The Championship," she wrote. "Wow. there are some good people at those Championship clubs who care deeply about the game of rugby and worked tirelessly to make sure there was a competition."

Wray then switched into a topic she termed: 'The s**t people don’t see'. "As an organisation, we talk a lot about TSPDS - The S**t People Don’t See. This year, more than any other, TSPDS has been unbelievably important.

"Here are just a few examples from off the pitch: Our team manager Warrick Lang has spent approximately 10+ hours a week doing Covid testing at the training ground. Alex MacIntyre, Sam, Lauren and Aaron have worked relentlessly to assist and care for the NHS on-site with the mass vaccination centre, kept the West Stand project on course (with Deborah at the helm) and more recently somehow get a 20,000-litre water truck on-site and extra toilets with two hours’ notice to allow the game against Edinburgh to go ahead. 

"Our wonderful pioneers, who blow me away with their kindness, regularly go above and beyond to help people on a matchday and welcome everyone to StoneX Stadium with a big smile. Lastly, a special mention to Simon and the SRM security team at the stadium who are most definitely the nicest security team I have ever encountered."

Wray went on to discuss the Saracens Foundation, their women's rugby set-up and stadium redevelopment before concluding: "We are committed to keep pursuing excellence in every area of the organisation to go some way to repaying the loyalty of the Saracens family. 

"Furthermore, on the pitch and off the pitch, we will continue to build a club that everyone inside the Saracens family can be proud of. I have said this before but will say it again, we have unbelievably good people who care passionately about Saracens and we remain as fiercely ambitious as always for 2022 and beyond."