Sydney University Football Club

Last updated

Australia
Sydney uni rugby.png
Nickname(s)
  • Students
  • Varsity
  • Uni
Founded1863;161 years ago (1863)
Location Camperdown, Sydney, New South Wales
Ground(s)Sydney University Football Ground [1]
(Capacity: 2,500 [2] )
President David Lyons
Director of Rugby Nick Ryan
Coach(es) Todd Louden
Captain(s) Jack McCalman, Ciaran Loh
League(s)
20247th of 12
Kit left arm Unileft.png
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body Unikit.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm Uniright.png
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts Unishorts.png
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks Unisocks.png
Kit socks long.svg
Team kit
Official website
sydneyunirugby.com.au

The Sydney University Football Club, founded in 1863, is the oldest club now playing rugby union in Australia, [3] although this date is disputed by historian Tom Hickie who argues that it was 1865. [4]

Contents

Sydney Uni was a member of the inaugural Sydney club competition in 1874,[ citation needed ] along with the Balmain Rugby Union Football Club, Newington College and The King's School. The club currently competes in the Shute Shield competition and has the most senior premiership titles of all Sydney clubs.[ citation needed ]

After playing home games at the Sydney University Oval No.1 for 153 years, the club moved to the redeveloped Oval No.2 for the 2016 season. Sydney Uni Sport completed the building of a new training facility and grandstand at that ground accommodating 1,200 spectators. [1]

Club information

History

Sydney University team of 1878 Sydney university rugby 1878.jpg
Sydney University team of 1878

Having been established in 1863, [5] The club is officially known as "Sydney University Football Club" because it was the first club of any football code in NSW. [6] The club also played Australian rules football in its early history, making it the first NSW club in that code as well. [7]

The club is often referred to as "Uni", "The Students", as well as "The Birthplace of Australian Rugby" or simply "The Birthplace", marking its origins at a pioneer rugby club. [6] The first mention of students at the University playing football came in 1865 on Illustrated Sydney News, which stated:

“A football club, the first in the colony, has recently been formed and named the Sydney Football Club.” [6]

Nevertheless, Sydney's The Referee wrote in 1918: "We believe the first recognised rugby football club formed in Sydney was the Wallaroos, in 1870, [n 1] though football was played prior to that in New South Wales and Victoria". [6]

Honours

The Club has won 29 Shute Shield Major Premierships and has been runners-up 12 times. The Club has won 50 Premierships and has been runners-up 24 times since 1865.

International representatives

To date, 133* Sydney University players have been selected to play for Australia. [10] The first Australian representative was Hyram Marks in 1899. The club's most famous Wallaby would probably be Nick Farr-Jones, who had a long representative career (including World Cup success as Captain in 1991). Harry Potter became Wallaby #989 and proudly joined the ranks of SUFC Wallabies as the 112th player from our club to achieve this honour. Harry also scored a try on debut at Murrayfield, Scotland on 25 November 2024.

Rugby World Cup Winners

Women's Rugby

The Club has produced 13 Australian Female Representatives of which 11 are Wallaroos; our most recent debutant is Piper Duck (October 2022 v Scotland during the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand).

Super Rugby players 2025

Will Caldwell playing for Sydney University Will Caldwell.jpg
Will Caldwell playing for Sydney University

Super W players 2024

# Denotes Uncapped

Notes

  1. It refers to the "Wallaroo Football Club", formed in 1870. [8] [9]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Sydney University No.2 Oval and Grandstand Update". Sydney University Football Club. 8 December 2015. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  2. "Sydney University Football Ground". austadiums.com. Archived from the original on 13 February 2022.
  3. Football in Australia – Australia's Culture Portal Archived 2009-05-15 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Hickie, Thomas V., A Sense of Union. The History of the Sydney University Football Club, 1998, ISBN   0949853623
  5. First Grade records on Sydneyunirugby.com.au
  6. 1 2 3 4 Sydney University: Australia's first rugby club?] at Saints & Heathens blog
  7. "Sydney University". Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2007.
  8. Australian Town and Country Journal. Sat 8 Oct 1892, page 39 at trove.nla.gov.au
  9. The History of the Buildcorp Wallaroos at wallaroos.rugby
  10. https://www.sydneyunirugby.com.auchrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.sydneyunirugby.com.au/files/3._SUFC_Australian__RepresentativesKS.pdf.{{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)