Northampton Town Football Club

Northampton Town's Sam Hoskins has a very famous Great, Great Grandmother!

Hoskins is the Great, Great Grandson of Matchgirls Strike leader Sarah Chapman.

For those of you not up on your history, please allow us to explain.

The Matchgirls Strike of 1888 happened in Bow in London’s East End. The Matchgirls worked with social reformer Annie Besant and others to change dreadful working conditions. In protest at their working conditions, they went on strike.

Within two weeks of the strike beginning, all demands for improved conditions were met and a new Union formed. Strike Leader Sarah Chapman (Sam's Great, Great Grandmother) became their first TUC Delegate.

To remember and commemorate Sarah and her colleagues, the Matchgirls Memorial Charity has been set up to raise awareness of the Matchgirls story and seek funding for a permanent and public memorial to all the Matchgirls.

Thanks to their work and the precedent set, the Matchgirls are widely credited in helping to improve working conditions for all workers at that time as they helped to usher in a wave of trade unionism to protect the rights of workers."

We are supporting the fundraising to secure a memorial for Sam's Great, Great Grandmother and her colleagues. If you would like to learn more about the charity and the Matchgirls story, or help with fundraising, please email matchgirls1888statue@gmail.com