The 2014 Varsity Football challenge is the second season of a South African university
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
competition. It involves some of the top football playing universities in the country, which belong to the University Sports Company. The tournament is run by
Varsity Sports SA, and is endorsed by the
South African Football Association and University Sport South Africa.
History
The
Varsity Cup
Varsity Cup is the collective name for four South African rugby union competitions involving the top rugby playing universities in the country. It was launched in 2008, with eight teams participating in the Varsity Cup competition and each univers ...
tournament was founded in
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
, featuring the rugby teams of eight universities.
Varsity Sports
In most English-speaking countries, varsity is an abbreviation of the word ''university''. In the United States and Canada, the term is mostly used in relation to sports teams.
Varsity in the United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, varsity team ...
was expanded in 2012 to include other sporting codes. University Sport South Africa discussed the Varsity Football proposal at its 2012 annual general meeting. The idea was initially rejected, as it was seen to split the member institutions. However, it was later accepted, and 2013 was the inaugural season of Varsity Football, with an 8 team men's tournament. A four team women's tournament is also being played.
Participating Teams
The eight teams competing in the men's Varsity Football challenge are:
The four teams competing in the men's Varsity Football challenge are:
*
1 The
University of Limpopo
The University of Limpopo is a university in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2005, by the merger of the University of the North and the Medical University of South Africa (MEDUNSA). These previous institutions form ...
was unable to host any matches at
Oscar Mphetha Stadium, as the stadium did not meet league standards. As such, the team played all of their matches away.
Qualification
Qualification was based on the 2013 University Sports South Africa National Club Championships. In order to qualify, men's teams need to be one of the eight highest placed teams associated with
Varsity Sports
In most English-speaking countries, varsity is an abbreviation of the word ''university''. In the United States and Canada, the term is mostly used in relation to sports teams.
Varsity in the United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, varsity team ...
.
Standings
Format
The tournament begins with a round robin stage, in which all teams play each other once. After the round robin stage, the top 4 teams will advance to the knock-out stage. The teams ranked 1 and 2 will host the semi-finals, against the teams ranked 4 and 3 respectively. The winners will advance to the final, to be hosted by the highest ranking finalist. All matches are played on Mondays. The league scoring system follows a
standard scoring system and awards 3 points are awarded for a win, and 1 point for a draw. Teams are separated first on points, and then on goal difference.
Round robin stage
The 2014 season began with the round robin stages on 21 July, which will end on 1 September.
* ''All times are
South African (
GMT+2
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the Local mean time, mean solar time at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, i ...
)''
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Knockout stage
The top four placed men's teams progressed to the knockout stage, as did all four women's teams. The semi-finals for both men and women were played on 8 September and the finals on 15 September.
Men's tournament
Semi-finals
Final
Women's tournament
Semi-finals
Final
Notable Players and Coaches
Players and coaches who have since been signed by professional clubs.
Sponsors
The tournament is sponsored by:
*
Cell C
*
Debonairs Pizza
*
First National Bank
*
Samsung
The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
References
External links
* http://www.varsitysportssa.com/varsity-football
{{Authority control
Football
Soccer competitions in South Africa