One-cap England winger Mike Bulpitt created the Lloyds Black Horse that now sponsors the RFU

The RFU’s announcement of Lloyds Bank as its new back-of-shirt sponsor this week carried an unexpected footnote: the bank’s famous Black Horse logo, now set to appear on England jerseys, exists largely because of a one-cap winger who last pulled on the white shirt 56 years ago.

Mike Bulpitt was born in Richmond, Yorkshire, in April 1944 and built a playing career that took him through Blackheath, Rosslyn Park, Eastern Counties, London Counties and the Barbarians. His sole international appearance came as a replacement for Martin Hale in England’s 14-5 defeat to Scotland in 1970. When John Novak shifted to the left wing for the final Championship match against France, Bulpitt lost his place and was never recalled.

“Obviously, I would love to have had a few more, but as everyone repeatedly says to me, at least you got one,” Bulpitt told RugbyPass. “There are a number of people who knocked on the door for England but never got a chance.”

The selection itself arrived in memorable fashion. “I remember returning home to my flat in Kensington to be told that Albert Agar, the chairman of the England selectors, had left a message for me to ring him. I was amazed when I heard the news from him that I’d been selected. It was midnight, but we all went round to my parents’ flat to have a champagne party.”

After rugby, Bulpitt moved into advertising, working at the agency Coleman Prentice & Varley before joining Lloyds Bank as Assistant Advertising Manager. It was there that he developed the Black Horse campaign that has since become one of British banking’s most recognisable symbols. He rose to chief manager of marketing communications before retiring.

The connections between English rugby and Lloyds run deeper still. Albert Agar — the selector who called Bulpitt with the news of his cap — worked as a treasurer at Lloyds Bank. John Clayton, who played in England’s very first international against Scotland in March 1871, was a director of the bank; he died in the back of a taxi following a board meeting in London in March 1924. And Henry Bell, capped once against Ireland at Lansdowne Road in February 1884, founded Lloyds Bank Rugby Club in 1913 and sat on the bank’s board until his death in September 1935.

Bulpitt was also part of the London Counties side that faced the Springboks in 1969, a match disrupted by anti-apartheid demonstrations led by Peter Hain and future Labour Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

For a man whose international career lasted a single match, Bulpitt’s legacy on the England shirt may ultimately prove more enduring than most players who wore it far more often.