Albany Knicks, Saratoga Cavalry rugby clubs revive Mayor’s Cup

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of their club, the Knicks have revived the Mayor’s Cup, with the Saratoga Cavalry taking the part of the Reds.

The first Mayor’s Cup between the Knicks and Cavalry will kick off at 2 p.m. Saturday at Dick Green Field in Albany. (Saratoga will host next year’s match.) The trophy presentation will be at 3:45, with a social gathering at Wolff’s Biergarten to follow. Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan and Saratoga Mayor Ron Kim will both be in attendance.

“I think it’s really going to help create a stronger rugby community, in general, in the Capital District that’s been missing for a little while,” said Knicks captain Cono Cirone.

There’s no admission, but there is also no seating, so spectators should bring their own chairs or picnic blankets.

The trophy is the same one inaugurated by Albany Mayor Erastus Corning II and Schenectady Mayor Frank Duci in 1974 with a new plaque on the base.

The Knicks and Cavalry had made previous attempts to restart the Mayor’s Cup tradition, but scheduling and logistical issues got in the way, according to Cavalry president Rob Michelin. Despite being less than an hour apart, the teams play in different geographic divisions of USA Rugby.

This time, they started planning in the fall of 2022, early enough to put the event on the calendar.

“From a cultural standpoint, I always thought it was really important to start to get this to happen because it really creates that kind of rivalry culture, which in turn revamps each club to want to compete in it, and it really helps the overall culture of rugby in this area,” Michelin said.

The rivalry between the Reds and Knicks started early — Schenectady was the second match the Knicks ever played on Sept. 29, 1973, recalled Paul Keitzman, one of the original Knicks members. (He remembers the date so clearly because it was his wedding day. Yes, he still went to the match, wearing his tuxedo.)

The teams eventually prevailed upon Corning and Duci to put up a trophy, and the Reds won the first Mayor’s Cup 18-9.

“It was always a really hard-fought match. I guess you could call it a grudge match, except rugby is one of those where it’s only a grudge until somebody taps a keg after the game,” Keitzman said.

At first, Schenectady was the favorite, being the more established team and boasting the play of Tom Selfridge, who played for the U.S. National Team and was inducted into the Rugby Hall of Fame.

But the Knicks quickly made a name for themselves, playing teams from overseas who would come to the East Coast to play in New York City and Boston and stop in Albany in between.

“Back then our club was very strong,” said “old boy” Greg Griffin. “We were playing first division, fielding three sides, put several players on the national team.”

When the Reds folded, the Knicks absorbed many of their players, a pattern that continued as other Capital Region teams came and went.

Now, Griffin said, the club is in something of a rebuild, with a large number of newer players. The Knicks also have a robust youth program and women’s team.

Other than a Saratoga win, Michelin said he “would love a game where both clubs bring their best and play some of their best rugby that they’ve played all year up to this point, and give us the opportunity to really enjoy the culture of rugby.”

That includes the post-game socializing.

“We’re like a big family. It’s more than just the game on Saturday,” Griffin said. “I moved here in ’83, and I’m still hanging out and friends with the same guys from 40 years ago that I met my first day.”