The Christie Cup is an annual

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 ...

between the Universities of

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in numerous sports and has been held since 1886. After the well-known rivalry between Oxford and Cambridge, the Christie's Championships is the oldest inter–university competition on the English sporting calendar. The annual event is named after the benefactor

Richard Copley Christie Richard Copley Christie (22 July 1830 – 9 January 1901) was an English lawyer, university teacher, philanthropist and bibliophile. He was born at Lenton in Nottinghamshire, the son of a mill owner. He was educated at Lincoln College, Oxford ...

, who was a professor of History and Political Economy in Manchester from 1854 to 1866. After his death in 1901, his widow Mary Helen Christie donated the Christie Cup and Shield which is still played for today. The three constituent colleges of the former Victoria University are facing each other annually in 32 different sports. The contested competitions range from traditional British sports like football,

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 ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

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 ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

, and

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

to modern competitions like

climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or any other part of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders), to small boulders. Climbing is done ...

or ultimate. Students compete in 32 different sports, all rolled into one afternoon of competition. As a triangular competition, Christie Championship is recognised nationally as one of the largest sporting varsities with more than 1,500 students taking part. The competitions are held each year in April or May on two Wednesday afternoons to be hosted by one of the three universities each. Manchester had won for five consecutive years until 2011 where the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

won the competition on home soil. In 2018 the University of Liverpool won the title for the first time since 1991.

References

External links

Official event website
University of Manchester University of Leeds University of Liverpool Student sport rivalries in the United Kingdom {{England-sport-stub