Cambridge University Association Football League

The Cambridge University Association Football League (CUAFL) is a football league between the Colleges of Cambridge University organised by the Cambridge University Association Football Club.[3]

Crest
Founded19th century
President
John Little
Chairman
Sam Ernest [1]
Treasurer
Jed Odagbu [2]

History

Origins of collegiate football

Football in Cambridge was being played on Parker's Piece as far back as the 1830s. However it was not until 1855 that the university had a formal football club, Cambridge University Association Football Club, making it one of the oldest clubs in the world. Collegiate football helped spread the game in the 1870s, and the first competition for these teams was held in 1882–1883. The format was a knockout tournament based on the FA Challenge Cup, which had been created in 1871. The first entrants included nine colleges (Caius, St. John's, Clare, St. Catharine's, Pembroke, Sidney, Jesus, King's and Trinity Hall) and three old boys sides (Old Harrovians, Trinity Etonians and Trinity Rest). It is likely that the university, quick to follow The FA in hosting a cup competition, also soon followed the idea of William McGregor, the founder of The Football League, by creating the Cambridge University Association Football League.

The Modern Era

For the 2006–2007 season, the number of teams in the league reached 78, and in the 2007–2008 season, 31 clubs and 75 teams entered CUAFL competitions. This means that at least 800 people play college football each season, however this is a very conservative estimate.

Competitions

CUAFL organises Seven divisions as well as four cup competitions, 'Cuppers' and the Plate for first teams, the Shield for second teams and the Vase for lower teams.

Cuppers is a knockout tournament with pairings drawn completely at random at the first captain's meeting of the season. There are no seeds and byes are only awarded if the number of entrants requires them. The final is contested the neutral venue of Grange Road. The competition starts in the fourth week of Michaelmas term. In 2004–2005, 31 teams entered the competition, including 26 full colleges, one college affiliated to the university, two local schools, and Cambridge's other university, ARU. To be eligible for entry, teams must be affiliated to CUAFL. Each club may only enter one team, which must be their 1st team. There are five rounds in total.

Cuppers was first contested in 1882–1883. The first entrants included nine colleges (Caius, St. John's, Clare, St. Catharine's, Pembroke, Sidney, Jesus, King's and Trinity Hall) and three old boys sides (Old Harrovians, Trinity Etonians and Trinity Rest).

The Plate competition is for teams that have been knocked out in the first round.

In recent years, when St. Catharine's College has been victorious in Cuppers they have challenged the Oxford University Cuppers Champions to a one-off "Supercuppers" match. In 2007, they defeated Brasenose College Oxford 3–2 (after extra time) in a match held at St. Catharine's Sports Fields, Cambridge. In 2009, they played St. John's College Oxford at Iffley Road, Oxford, and again were victorious 3–2.

Girton College went mixed in 1976 and the first male under-graduates arrived in October 1979. The college started playing in the college league, in division 5, for the first time in the 1980–81 season and won two successive promotions. In season 1986–87, with two blues players, Chris Elliott and Ian McKinnon, they made it through to the semi-finals of Cuppers, losing narrowly in extra time to Downing. By 1993–94, they made it to the top division and in 1997–98, they were crowned league champions for the first time, a feat they repeated in 2003–04.[4] In 1995 they won Cuppers for the only time in their history, beating APU in the final. Since then they have been Cuppers Runners up on 5 occasions, in 1999, 2001, 2003, 2008 and 2018.

Since 2014, Homerton College and Gonville & Caius College, the only two colleges with fourth teams that year, have competed for the Bucket in an annual informal 'cup' match. Homerton College won the inaugural contest 1–0. As of 2021, Gonville & Caius College hold the Bucket.

Results

The results of the principal competitions are shown below.[5][6]

SeasonDivision 1 ChampionsCuppers ChampionsPlate WinnersShield WinnersVase Winners
1945–1946 St. John's   
1946–1947 NO CONTEST   
1947–1948 Fitzwilliam House   
1948–1949 Christ's   
1949–1950 St. John's   
1950–1951 Emmanuel   
1951–1952 St. Catharine's   
1952–1953 Emmanuel   
1953–1954 Christ's   
1954–1955 Emmanuel   
1955–1956 Downing   
1956–1957 Christ's   
1957–1958 Christ's   
1958–1959 St. John's   
1959–1960 Christ's   
1960–1961 Christ's   
1961–1962 Christ's   
1962–1963 Christ's   
1963–1964 Christ's   
1964–1965 Christ's   
1965–1966 Christ's   
1966–1967     
1967–1968     
1968–1969 Fitzwilliam & Queens' (Shared)   
1969–1970 St. John's   
1970–1971 Christ's   
1971–1972     
1972–1973     
1973–1974 Trinity   
1974–1975 St. Catharine's   
1975–1976 St. Catharine's   
1976–1977 St. Catharine's   
1977–1978 St Catharine's   
1978–1979 Christ's   
1979–1980 Christ's   
1980–1981 St. Catharine's & Downing (Shared)   
1981–1982 St. Catharine's   
1982–1983 St. Catharine's   
1983–1984 Trinity Hall   
1984–1985RobinsonSt. John's   
1985–1986 Fitzwilliam & St. Catharine's (Shared)   
1986–1987FitzwilliamSelwyn   
1987–1988 Downing   
1988–1989     
1989–1990     
1990–1991 St. John's   
1991–1992 Fitzwilliam   
1992–1993TrinityDowning   
1993–1994Anglia UniversityFitzwilliam   
1994–1995DowningGirton   
1995–1996FitzwilliamLong RoadGirton  
1996–1997DowningLong RoadClare  
1997–1998GirtonFitzwilliamMagdalene  
1998–1999FitzwilliamChrist'sHomertonLong Road II 
1999–2000JesusLong RoadAPUFitzwilliam II 
2000–2001St Catharine'sSt. Catharine'sHomertonFitzwilliam II 
2001–2002FitzwilliamLong RoadChurchillHills Road II 
2002–2003St John'sSt. John'sKingsHills Road II 
2003–2004GirtonSt. John'sClareAPU II 
2004–2005FitzwilliamJesusGonville & CaiusAPU II 
2005–2006ChurchillFitzwilliamAnglia RuskinLong Road IIARU III
2006–2007ChurchillSt. Catharine'sCorpus Christi St. Catharines's III
2007–2008TrinityChrist'sSt. Catharine'sGonville & Caius II 
2008–2009DowningSt. Catharine'sPembrokeTrinity Hall IIChurchill III
2009–2010DowningTrinity 
2010–2011TrinityQueens'Jesus III
2011–2012DowningFitzwilliamTrinity HallHomerton IIJesus III
2012–2013FitzwilliamFitzwilliamSelwynSelwyn IIJesus III
2013–2014Trinity HallJesusRobinsonFitzwilliam IIJesus III
2014–2015DowningSt John'sSelwynJesus IIGirton III
2015–2016Queens' RobinsonChrist'sQueens' IIQueens' III
2016–2017Fitzwilliam FitzwilliamSelwynFitzwilliam IIFitzwilliam III
2017-2018Queens'FitzwilliamEmmanuelGonville & Caius IIGonville & Caius III
2018-2019FitzwilliamFitzwilliamTrinity HallQueens' IIFitzwilliam III
2019-2020Fitzwilliam & Churchill (shared/Covid)Fitzwilliam & Queens' (shared/Covid)St. Catharine'sJesus IIJesus III
2020-2021 N/A Fitzwilliam[7] Gonville & Caius[8] N/A N/A
2021-2022 Fitzwilliam [9] Fitzwilliam Downing Fitzwilliam II
2022-23 Fitzwilliam

The combined results of the Cuppers competition is shown below.

CollegeNumber of Cuppers Titles
Christ's16
Fitzwilliam16
St. Catharine's12
St. John's9
Long Road4
Downing4
Emmanuel3
Jesus2
Trinity2
Queens'2
Robinson1
Girton1
Trinity Hall1
Selwyn1

Board of directors

CUAFL President: Dr John Little

YearChairman
2001–2002Chris Palmer
2002–2003Rod Latham
2003–2004Will Jobling
2004–2005Martyn Race
2005–2006Martyn Race
2006–2007Bob Myhill
2007–2008Jamie Aspinall
2008–2009Rory Scott
2009–2010Luke Jesson
2010–2011Mark Baxter
2011–2012George Deeks
2012–2013Adam Donald
2013-2014Matt Reizenstein, Nikos Yerolemou
2014-2015Nicholas Hilton, Nikos Yerolemou
2015-2016John Harrison, Marcus Nielsen
2016-2017John Harrison, Marcus Nielsen
2017-2018John Harrison, Pablo Lemos Portela
2018-2019John Harrison
2019-2020Sam Ernest
2020-2021Sam Ernest
2021-2022Sam Ernest

References
  1. "Committee".
  2. "Committee".
  3. "CUAFL". CUAFC. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  4. "Titles for Girton and John's" (PDF). Varsity Online. 23 April 2004. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 October 2015.
  5. "Cambridge University Association Football Club - Mens League". mens.cuafc.org. Archived from the original on 13 March 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  6. "Cambridge University Association Football League".
  7. "Homerton 1-2 Fitzwilliam: Fitz comeback seals 2020-21 Cuppers title".
  8. "Plate 2020/21 Cambridge University Association Football League". fulltime-league.thefa.com. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  9. "Fitzwilliam win men's football Cuppers for sixth year running".
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