Cambridge University Australian Rules Football Club (CUARFC, also known as the Lions), founded in the early 20th century, is the Australian rules football club for

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

. Both men's and women's teams represent the club in the National University League, the Fitzpatrick Cup, and the annual Oxford-Cambridge Varsity match, among other things.

History

Australian rules captains of Oxford Cambridge match in 1949 from Avon Argus and Cunderdin-Meckering-Tammin Mail 5 January 1950

The club has been active for over 100 years, with the first recorded men's game against

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

taking place on March 18, 1911. The women's game has developed more recently, with the first women's varsity match in 2018 ending in a tie. The 90th Varsity match was the subject of a short

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

documentary. The connection between the university and the sport in fact stretches much further back to when

Tom Wills Thomas Wentworth Wills (19 August 1835 – 2 May 1880) was an Australian sportsman who is credited with being Australia's first cricketer of significance and a founder of Australian rules football. Born in the British penal colony of New ...

, one of the founders of the game, studied there (seemingly to be more concerned about playing cricket than academics), then returning to Australia to set up the Melbourne Football Club.

Club record

Varsity match results

Membership & organisation

Membership of the club is not restricted to Cambridge University students or staff, although a significant proportion of the club would fall into these groups. The club naturally has a large Australian membership, as well as many Irish players, due to the similarity of the game to Gaelic football. Players have a wide range of sporting backgrounds, ranging from having not played much sport at all, to having played Australian rules previously for a large part of their lives. The club is managed by a committee, elected annually, consisting of the President, Treasurer, and other responsible people. The club also has strong ties with the

North London Lions AFL London is one of the largest organised Australian rules football leagues outside Australia. The league organises multiple grades of full 18-a-side games across London, United Kingdom. The competition provides a competitive and fun game of fo ...

, and a handful of players have ended up playing for both teams.

References

External links