The Bottle Match is a

varsity match A varsity match is a fixture (especially of a sporting event or team) between two university teams, particularly Oxford and Cambridge. The Scottish Varsity rugby match between the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh at Murrayf ...

played between the

Camborne School of Mines The Camborne School of Mines ( kw, Scoll Balow Cambron), commonly abbreviated to CSM, was founded in 1888. Its research and teaching is related to the understanding and management of the Earth's natural processes, resources and the environment. ...

(CSM) of

Exeter University , mottoeng = "We Follow the Light" , established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter) , type = Public , ...

and the

Royal School of Mines The Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London. The Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics and parts of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Bioe ...

(RSM) of

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

. The first recorded match between the two sides took place on 16 December 1902. The Bottle Match started as a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

match, but as the schools sporting interests diversified, other sports began to be played as part of the match. Since 2006, the match has included six games played between the two institutions: men's

, football, men's and women's

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

. As of 2010,

Netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

has been included as an event. In 2017, mixed-gender

Lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

was added to the list of sports. The Bottle Match is traditionally held in February, normally on the third weekend of the month. The match reflects a long-standing rivalry between the RSM and CSM.

Trophies

The winner of the Bottle trophy itself hinges entirely on the outcome of the rugby match. The winning team takes home the 'Bottle', a 3-ft tall tin beer bottle adorned with the two crests of the institution, which was acquired in 1926 by a number of RSM students from the top of a Bass lorry. Since the 1950s, players on the winning side were presented with personal tankards from the South African-based company

Union Corporation Union Corporation Limited was a South African mining house. It was founded as the A Goerz & Co Ltd in the late 1890's as a gold mining company. After World War One, it was renamed the Union Corporation. In 1980 it was merged into the General Mining ...

Gencor Gencor Ltd was a South African based mining company. It was formed in 1980 after the merger of the General Mining and Finance Corporation and the Union Corporation. Parts of the company are now owned by Gold Fields and BHP. History Gencor has it ...

. This tradition continues with the tankards provided by Michael West and the ''Mining Journal''. There is also a trophy awarded to the

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

. The Centenary Bottle Match was held in Cornwall in 2002, with RSM being victorious, and Anton Griffiths from CSM winning the man of the match trophy. The winners of the men's hockey take the Sharpley Cup, a silver cup presented by J.E. Sharpley, an RSM alumnus, in the 1950s. The winners of the women's hockey take the Golders Cup, a small silver cup presented by Golder Associates the 1990s.

Bottle Match results

Total wins

''Note that there are 28 missing years from the tally.''

Bottle Match weekend results

Where scores are available: ''Note that when matches are drawn, the trophy is retained by the previous winners. The "2021 Bottle Match" was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.''

References

External links