Varsity Football (South Africa)

Varsity Football is a South African university association football competition. It is one of seven sports in the Varsity Sports series. The annual tournament involves the top football playing universities in the country, which belong to the University Sports Company. The tournament is run by Varsity Sports South Africa, and is endorsed by the South African Football Association and University Sport South Africa.[1]

Varsity Football
Founded2013
RegionSouth Africa
Number of teams8
Current championsUP Tuks (2nd title) (men)
TUT (1st title) (women)
Most successful team(s)UP Tuks (2 titles) (men)
TUT and UJ (1 title) (women)
Websitevarsitysportssa.com/varsity-football/
2015 Varsity Football

The current champions of the men's competition are UP-Tuks and TUT for the women's competition.

History

The Varsity Cup tournament was founded in 2008, featuring the rugby teams of eight universities. Varsity Sports was expanded in 2012 to include other sporting codes.[2] University Sport South Africa discussed the Varsity Football proposal at its 2012 annual general meeting. The idea was initially rejected, as it was seen to split the member institutions.[3] However, it was later accepted, and 2013 was the inaugural season of Varsity Football, with an 8 team men's tournament.[4] A four team women's tournament is also being played.[5]

Participating Teams
UCT is the oldest of the competing universities
Tuks are the 2014 men's Varsity Football champions

As of 2014, 10 different teams have competed in the men's Varsity Football tournament:

Varsity Football
Team Name University Stadium
LimpopoUniversity of LimpopoOscar Mphetha Stadium
NMMU MadibazNelson Mandela Metropolitan UniversityNMMU Stadium
NWU MafikengNorth-West UniversityMafikeng Sports Fields
TUTTshwane University of TechnologyTUT Stadium
UCT Ikey WarriorsUniversity of Cape TownThe Green Mile
UFS KovsiesUniversity of the Free StateShimla Park
UJUniversity of JohannesburgUJ Stadium
UP-TuksUniversity of PretoriaTuks Stadium
UWCUniversity of the Western CapeUWC Sport Stadium
WitsUniversity of the WitwatersrandBidvest Stadium

Five different teams have competed in the women's Varsity Football tournament as of 2014:

Varsity Football
Team Name University Stadium
LimpopoUniversity of LimpopoOscar Mphetha Stadium
TUTTshwane University of TechnologyTUT Stadium
UP-TuksUniversity of PretoriaTuks Stadium
UJUniversity of JohannesburgUJ Stadium
UWCUniversity of the Western CapeUWC Sport Stadium

Qualification

For both the men's and women's tournaments, qualification is based on the previous season's University Sports South Africa Football National Club Championships, held annually in December. In order to qualify, men's teams need to be one of the eight highest placed teams associated with Varsity Sports. Women's teams needed to be one of the semi-finalists, and also be associated with Varsity Sports.

Teams not associated with the University Sports Company are not eligible for the competition. UKZN Pietermaritzburg for example, a losing semi-finalist at the 2012 men's University Sports South Africa Football National Club Championships, were ineligible, not being linked to Varsity Sports. The next highest placed teams at the University Sports South Africa Football National Club Championships, that are associated with Varsity Sports, will take the places of the ineligible teams.

Format

The tournament begins with a round robin stage, in which all teams play each other once. After the round robin stage, the top 4 teams advance to the knockout stage. The teams ranked 1 and 2 host the semi-finals, against the teams ranked 4 and 3 respectively. The winners advance to the final, to be hosted by the highest ranked finalist. The league scoring system follows a standard scoring system and awards 3 points for a win, and 1 point for a draw. Teams are separated first on points, and then on goal difference.

The women's tournament starts at the semi-final stage.

All matches are played on Monday evenings.

Teams' performances
Team 2013 2014
UP-Tuks W W
NWU-Mafikeng SF SF
NMMU Madibaz RU 6th
UFS Kovsies 5th SF
UWC 6th 5th
UCT Ikey Warriors 8th 8th
UJ DNQ RU
TUT SF DNQ
Wits 7th DNQ
Limpopo DNQ 7th

Notes:

  •      W = Winner;      RU = Runner-up;      SF = Semi-finalist; DNQ = Did not qualify

Notable players

Players who have since represented Bafana Bafana.

Sponsors

The tournament is sponsored by:

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References
  1. "Football to get Varsity passion". Varsity Sports SA. 19 July 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  2. "More sporting codes to boost varsity sports". SABC. 12 April 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  3. "Minutes of the USSA Football Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at the University of the Western Cape, Bellville, on 06th– December – 2013" (PDF). University Sport South Africa. 6 December 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  4. "Explosive Mondays back with Varsity Football". Varsity Sports SA. 12 July 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  5. "Ladies' chance to shine". Varsity Sports SA. 6 September 2013. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
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