The University and College Rugby League (UCRL), formerly known as ''the Student Rugby League'', is the organisation which administrates university and college

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 ...

football in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, on behalf of the

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...

and

British Universities and Colleges Sport British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the governing body for higher education sport in the United Kingdom. BUCS was formed in June 2008 following a merger of British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) and University College Sport ...

(BUCS). Rugby league in universities has been an important vehicle for expansion of the game as players from outside the heartlands often first began to play at university level. Many continue to play after leaving university and this has led to the creation of teams in non-traditional areas such as

London Skolars The London Skolars are a professional rugby league club based at the New River Stadium, Wood Green, Haringey in north London. They were founded in 1995 and have been professional since 2003, operating in the Betfred League 1. They also run an ...

and the University of Gloucestershire All Golds. Yorkshire Universities and Colleges played against Lancashire at Halifax's then ground

The Shay The Shay is a sports stadium in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium is owned by Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council and leased by the Shay Stadium Trust, a not-for-profit company set up to preserve the ground as a sports stadiu ...

, Halifax in 1976. The Yorkshire side was selected by

Fred Lindop George Frederick Lindop MBE (20 July 1938 – January 2023) was a British rugby league referee. He refereed 22 test matches, including the World Cup Final in 1970. He also refereed five Challenge Cup Finals. Lindop was awarded the MBE in 1989 ...

, coach and professional referee and included a number of players from Airedale & Wharfedale College. 22 - 0 down at half time the Yorkshire side fought back to tie the match at 22 - 22.

History

Founded in 1967 when a team was created at Leeds University by Andrew Cudbertson, Jack Abernathy and

Cec Thompson Theodore Cecil Thompson (12 July 1926 – 19 July 2011) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He was born in County Durham, the son of a mother from Durham, England, Durham, and a Trinidad ...

, other teams soon joined in areas of the

which lay outside of the games traditional heartlands. The first university game was between Leeds and Liverpool in 1968. A year later the Universities and Colleges Rugby League was formed after student pioneers fought hard to get the sport recognised in higher education. Portsmouth and Swansea were early non-traditional areas to accept the game. Rugby League reached

Oxford University 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 ...

in 1976 and the first Varsity fixture against

Cambridge University , 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 ...

took place in 1981. The

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 Murray ...

has ' discretionary full blue' status. Student Rugby League reached Scotland in 1989 when a group of students at

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

established a team and formed the first Scotland Students squad The Pioneers were formed in 2005 and made their inaugural tour that year to Estonia. In the following years, development tours visited the Czech Republic, Latvia, Ukraine, Norway, Kazakhstan, Greece, Poland, Morocco and in 2014, to Ghana. By 2006, the Student Rugby League had over 70 member clubs playing in 9 leagues, club locations ranging from Napier in Scotland to

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

in the South West of England. The elite Premier North & South competition was formed as the Super 6 in 2008. In 2014, the Student Rugby League was renamed the University and College Rugby League (UCRL).

Student Rugby League Pyramid

* Premier North & Premier South * Northern 1, 2A & 2B; Midlands 1 & 2; South East 1; Western 1 & 2 * HE Merit League The Premier North & South competition is the elite student league. Five matches from the 2011 Super 8 including the inaugural Grand Final were televised live and

free-to-view Free-to-view (FTV) is a term used for audiovisual transmissions that are provided free without any form of continual subscription . It differs from free-to-air (FTA) in that the program is encrypted. Free-to-view vs. free-to-air The free-to-view ...

Premier Sports Viaplay Sports and Premier Sports are a group of pay television sports channels owned by Viaplay Group. Viaplay Sports holds exclusive live UK and Republic of Ireland TV rights to La Liga, Scottish League Cup, Elite Ice Hockey League, NHL an ...

. The BUCS Competition is split into nine playing leagues with the Premier North and the Premier South being supported by seven regional leagues. The fixtures run from October until March leading up to the Championship play-off series. The U19's College Competition is split into three leagues, the North West, Yorkshire and the Premier Division. The College leagues play from September until March culminating in a top four play-off series. The Carnegie

Champion Colleges The Champion Colleges is a rugby league football competition administered by the University and College Rugby League (formerly the ''Student Rugby League''). It is open to teams in the 12-13 year groups at Sixth Forms and Further Education (FE) ...

is the knock-out competition for the Further Education sector. Alongside SRL competitions, the top university sides can qualify for the

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

Past Winners

Representative teams

In England, a series of regional games take place which lead to a North and South team being selected to play the University Rugby League Origin Game, from which the England team is selected. Wales, Scotland and Ireland run national teams. All four teams take part in the 4 Nations Championships that take place annually and the

Tertiary Student Rugby League World Cup The Tertiary Student Rugby League World Cup, also known as the University Rugby League World Cup, first took place in 1986 in New Zealand, when the then five test nations each entered a side in what was the first non-first grade World Cup hosted b ...

every four years. England also take part in the RFL President's Cup. Previoualy a Great Britain and Ireland Academic Lions squad has been selected but this has been mothballed since 2014. The 'GB Pioneers' are a representative team that undertake rugby league development tours to emerging nations.

External links

Student Rugby League

Great Britain Student Rugby League 'The Pioneers'

Brunel University Barbarians RLFC

References