Oxford University Australian Rules Football Club (often referred to as OUARFC) is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

club representing the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

in the United Kingdom and playing in the

AFL England AFL England is the governing body for Australian Rules Football in England. It was formed in 2012 to succeed AFL Britain with the aim to be more effective in governing the game in England, as both Scotland and Wales had developed their own a ...

National University League. The club operates under the auspices of the Oxford University Sport Federation. It is the oldest Australian rules football club outside of AustraliaOxford University Australian Rules Football Club
/ref> It participates in the longest running fixture in the sport outside of Australia and is the most successful European university club in the sport.

History

The club was founded in 1906 by Prescott Harper, a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

(Oriel & Western Australia, 1905). The team was initially made up primarily of Rhodes Scholars from Australia and South Africa. The first match against a

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

team took place on 18 March 1911, in Oxford. The Oxford team was captained by Alfred Clemes, also a Rhodes scholar (Magdalen & Tasmania, 1908). The game was won by Oxford. There is no known record of other games against Cambridge until 1921, when the regular Varsity fixture commenced with the

Cambridge University Australian Rules Football Club 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 University of Cambridge, Cambridge University. Both men's and women's teams represe ...

. The Varsity Match has continued without any missed fixtures through until 2020. This history makes the AFL Oxford v Cambridge Varsity Match one of the oldest varsity matches, and an early example of the spread of

Australian rules football around the world The Geography of Australian rules football describes the sport of Australian rules football played in more than 60 countries around the world. By 2017 more than 26 nations had contested the Australian Football International Cup the highest lev ...

. Women played their first game in OUARFC colours in February 2015, and in 2018 Romy Minko was elected as the club's first female president. Cambridgeoxfordfootball

The club has participated in the National University League of

since its inception in 2018. Teams within this league include the University of Cambridge,

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

and a combined team of players from Universities of South Wales. The club also plays occasional games against teams from around the Europe and the UK including the Amsterdam Devils and the Odense Lions.

Team composition and notable players

Players have included notable

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...

such as Judges of the

Supreme Court of Victoria The Supreme Court of Victoria is the highest court in the Australian state of Victoria. Founded in 1852, it is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited and inherent jurisdiction within the state. The Supreme Court compri ...

Chris Maxwell and Joseph Santamaria, the prominent businessman Sir

Rod Eddington Sir Roderick Ian Eddington AO FTSE (born 2 January 1950) is an Australian businessman. He was first appointed to the board of News Corporation in 1999, still serves on News Corp board and also serves on the board of another of Rupert Murdoch' ...

, mining executive

Andrew Michelmore Andrew Gordon Michelmore, AO is an Australian lightweight rower. He won Australia's first rowing World Championship title – a gold medal at the 1974 World Rowing Championships in Lucerne with the lightweight men's four. Club, varsity and st ...

, and former

AFL Commission The AFL Commission is the official governing body of the Australian Football League Limited (AFL), its subsidiaries and controlled entities. Richard Goyder has been chairman since 4 April 2017, replacing Mike Fitzpatrick. It was formed in 1985 ...

Chairman and former

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Me ...

captain

Mike Fitzpatrick Michael Gerard Fitzpatrick (June 28, 1963 – January 6, 2020) was an American attorney and politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing from 2005 to 2007 and 2011 to 2017. He was fir ...

. The team often included multiple

Rhodes Scholars The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

, and Sir John Monash Scholars, while both teams also often attract an influx of

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 112 ...

and

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 ...

players of Australian heritage. Players from Ireland and Canada have become common as the sport's reach extends internationally, and due to the similarity of the game with

Gaelic Football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by ki ...

References

External links

Official Website
{{University of Oxford Australian rules football clubs in England Australian Rules Football Club, Oxford University Australian expatriates in the United Kingdom University Australian rules football clubs

History

Team composition and notable players

See also

References

External links