University Match (hockey)
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| Administrator | University Hockey Match Committee |
|---|---|
| Headquarter | Southgate Hockey Centre |
| First tournament | 1890 |
| Next tournament | March 2014 |
| Number of teams | Oxford University & Cambridge University |
| Current champion | Cambridge (Women) & Cambridge (Men) |
| Most successful | Cambridge (Women - 49 Wins) & Cambridge (Men - 50 Wins) |
| Website | www.varsityhockeymatch.com |
The University Match (hockey) is generally held to refer to the annual field hockey fixture between Cambridge University and Oxford University. The Men's fixture was first contested in 1890 and the Women's in 1898. In 2002, both fixtures were played on the same date for the first time. The contest has taken place at Southgate Hockey Club since 2003, prior to which the game took place at a variety of venues across the UK. Multiple International Hockey players have graced the Varsity Match, with 1988 Olympic Gold Medal Winning Captain Richard Dodds of particular fame (see Old Blues).
The Men's Varsity Match fixture remains one of the UK's largest amateur hockey matches, with 950 spectators attending Southgate Hockey Centre for the 2012 edition. The 2012 Men's fixture was dramatically won by Cambridge, who regained the victors crown after 3 successive defeats. Oxford's Women retained the title with a 0-0 draw, to ensure that the Dark Blues 8-year tenure as champions continued. In 2011, Oxford were dominant claiming both titles.
The 2013 fixture took place at Southgate Hockey Club on March 10, with Cambridge claiming a dramatic victory in the Women's fixture and retaining the Men's trophy following a 1-1 draw with the Dark Blues.
Those who are used to the regularity of Varsity (Cambridge-Oxford) events on the Tideway (since 1845), at Twickenham (since 1921), rackets at Queen’s Club (from 1888), or cricket at Lord’s each year since 1851, will be unprepared for the University Hockey Match to be making eleven moves since 1890. But the peripatetic nature of the event has meant that some of the legendary sports grounds in Southern England have hosted the match. Between the two great celebrations for Queen Victoria’s Golden (1887) and Diamond (1897) Jubilees, the first University Hockey Match took place in Oxford in 1890.
The organisers of the first match in 1890 - really a group of friends from Marlborough - had great difficulty in selecting or finding a ground that was acceptable to both sides. Eventually, they were allowed the use of the outfield of the University Cricket Ground in the Parks at Oxford. The ground had only been levelled in 1879 after a protracted filibuster by Rev C Dodgson (better known as Lewis Carroll), a mathematics don at Christ Church. He was given to writing pamphlets on various subjects and the idea of a cricket ground had raised his ire. In May 1867 he circulated around College common Rooms such a pamphlet in the form of a poem called “The Deserted Parks” which in no small measure helped to stop the cricket ground being created out of the Parks area in that year. But he was not successful when the project was raised again, the ground was laid in 1879 and some ten acres began to be used for cricket in May 1881. The early days of organised hockey had usually been played on cricket outfields during the winter months and hockey and cricket clubs remained very close, often duplicating members.
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