TheUniversity and College Rugby League(UCRL), formerly known asthe Student Rugby League,[1]is the organisation which administrates university and collegerugby leaguefootball in theUnited Kingdom,on behalf of theRugby Football LeagueandBritish Universities and Colleges 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 asLondon Skolarsand theUniversity of Gloucestershire All Golds.
Yorkshire Universities and Colleges played against Lancashire atHalifax's then groundThe Shay,Halifaxin 1976. The Yorkshire side was selected byFred Lindop,coach and professional referee and included a number of players fromAiredale & Wharfedale College.22 - 0 down at half time the Yorkshire side fought back to tie the match at 22 - 22.
History
editFounded in 1967 when a team was created at Leeds University by Andrew Cudbertson, Jack Abernathy andCec Thompson,other teams soon joined in areas of theUnited Kingdomwhich 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 reachedOxford Universityin 1976 and the first Varsity fixture againstCambridge Universitytook place in 1981. Thevarsity matchhas 'discretionary full blue' status.
Student Rugby League reached Scotland in 1989 when a group of students atAberdeen Universityestablished 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 fromNapierin Scotland toExeterin 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).[1]
Student Rugby League Pyramid
edit- Premier North & Premier South
- Northern 1, 2A & 2B; Midlands & Western 1; South East 1
- 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 andfree-to-viewonPremier Sports.The BUCS Competition is split into nine playing leagues with the Premier North and the Premier South being supported by five 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 CarnegieChampion Collegesis the knock-out competition for the Further Education sector.
Alongside SRL competitions, the top university sides can qualify for theChallenge Cup.
Past winners
edit| Year | Super 8 | Premier North | Premier South | Northern 1A | Northern 2A | Northern 2B | Midlands 1A | Western 1A | South 1 | South East 1A | Midlands 2A | Western 2A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-08 | N/A | Leeds Metropolitan University | Loughborough University | Edinburgh Napier University | Bangor University | Leeds Metropolitan University 'A' | Nottingham University | N/A | N/A | N/A | Lincoln University | University of Wales Institute, Cardiff |
| 2008-09 | Leeds Metropolitan University | Edge Hill University | University of Wales Institute, Cardiff | Northumbria University 'A' | Bangor University | Leeds University | Cambridge University | N/A | Oxford Brookes University | Coventry University | University of Gloucestershire | |
| 2009-10 | Loughborough University | University of Central Lancashire | Loughborough University 'A' | Leeds Trinity University | Liverpool University | York St Johns University | Sheffield Hallam University | N/A | Oxford Brookes University | Loughborough University 'B' | Glamorgan University | |
| 2010-11 | Leeds Metropolitan University | Newcastle University | Exeter University | Northumbria University 'A' | University of Salford | Newcastle University 'A' | Nottingham Trent University | N/A | Exeter University 'A' | Coventry University | University of Wales Institute, Cardiff | |
| 2011-12 | Leeds Metropolitan University | Leeds Metropolitan University 'A' | Exeter University | Northumbria University 'A' | Manchester Metropolitan University | Leeds Trinity University | Coventry University | University of the West of England | Oxford Brookes University | N/A | Bath University | |
| 2012-13 | University of Gloucestershire | Newcastle University | Cardiff Metropolitan University | Northumbria University 'A' | Manchester Metropolitan University | Sheffield University | Nottingham Trent University 'A' | South Gloucestershire & Stroud College | Brunel University | N/A | University of Gloucestershire 'A' | |
| 2013-14 | N/A | Leeds Metropolitan University | Loughborough University | Sheffield Hallam University | Manchester University | Leeds University | Nottingham University | Exeter University | Cambridge University | Warwick University | Swansea University | |
| 2014-15 | N/A | Leeds Beckett University | Loughborough University | Manchester Metropolitan University | University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) | York St John University | Coventry University | Swansea University | Brunel University | Oxford Brookes University | N/A | |
| 2015-16 | ||||||||||||
| 2016-17 | ||||||||||||
| 2017-18 | ||||||||||||
| 2018-19 | ||||||||||||
| 2019-20 | N/A | Northumbria | St Mary's | Liverpool | Liverpool John Moors University | York St John | Nottingham 1s | Swansea 1a | Oxford Brookes | Northampton | ||
| 2020-21 | COVID Season | |||||||||||
| 2021-22 | N/A | Northumbria | St Mary's | Liverpool John Moors | University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) | Leeds 2s | Birmingham | Exeter 2s | Cambridge | Loughborough 2s | N/A | |
| 2022-23 | Leeds Beckett 1s | Exeter | University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) | Manchester University | Leeds Beckett 2s | Nottingham | Exeter | Cambridge | N/A | |||
| 2023-24* | Northumbria | Loughborough | Northumbria 2s | Lancaster | Sheffield Hallam | Loughborough 2s | Exeter 2s | |||||
Northern 2A
edit2019-20 Season
edit| Position | Team | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool John Moores | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| 2 | UCLAN | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 15 |
| 3 | Manchester | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| 4 | Salford | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 |
| 5 | Bangor | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| 6 | Lancaster | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | Chester | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | -3 |
2021-22 Season
edit| Position | Team | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | GF | GA | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCLAN | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 222 | 30 | 192 | 18 |
| 2 | Manchester | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 270 | 58 | 212 | 15 |
| 3 | Manchester Met | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 138 | 60 | 78 | 12 |
| 4 | Salford | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 82 | 128 | -46 | 6 |
| 5 | Bangor | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 426 | -426 | 3 |
| 6 | Lancaster | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 158 | 78 | 80 | 3 |
| 7 | Chester | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 100 | -90 | -12 |
2022-23 Season
edit| Position | Team | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | GF | GA | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 340 | 36 | 304 | 24 |
| 2 | Manchester Met | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 312 | 84 | 228 | 18 |
| 3 | Salford | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 194 | 172 | 22 | 4 |
| 4 | Bangor | 7 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 42 | 424 | -382 | 1 |
| 5 | Lancaster | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 96 | 268 | -172 | 0 |
2023-24 Season*
edit| Position | Team | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | GF | GA | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lancaster | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 176 | 50 | 126 | 9 |
| 2 | Salford | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 94 | 81 | 13 | 6 |
| 3 | Manchester Met | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 119 | 36 | 83 | 6 |
| 4 | Chester | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 46 | -40 | 0 |
| 5 | Bangor | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 188 | -182 | 0 |
| 6 | Leeds 2s | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
Tries: Charlie Rudman (Lancaster University) / Nathan Bannerman (Lancaster University)7
Conversions: Gabriel Black (Lancaster University)26
Northern Conference Cup
edit| Year | Winners | Runners Up | Tries | Conversions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | Manchester | |||
| 2022-23 | Manchester | |||
| 2023-24 | Lancaster | Sheffield Hallam | Nathan Bannerman4 | Gabriel Black13 |
Representative teams
editIn 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 theTertiary Student Rugby League World Cupevery four years. England also take part in theRFL 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.
See also
editExternal links
editReferences
edit- ^ab"Community Board organisations".Rugby Football League.Archived fromthe originalon 2017-06-29.