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]
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]
Juniors: Founded in 2005 and comprises Balmain Junior Rugby Club, Canterbury Rugby and Petersham Juniors Rugby Club. These clubs include girls and boys teams.
History
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.
Gregor George Cup Club Championships: (24) 1927, 1937, 1941, 1942, 1961, 1983, 1999, 2001, consecutively from 2004 to 2019 and 2022
Jack Scott Cup: The Women's XVs team is notable in the Jack Scott Cup, winning 5 of the last 6 titles. In 2020, the Students picked up both Major and Minor Premierships after going through the regular season undefeated for the third year. The Women's team defeated Randwick 22–17 in the Grand Final.
*2021 SEASON CANCELLED In response to COVID-19 Sydney University was leading the competition without a loss when NSW Rugby Union (NSWRU) and its affiliate unions jointly made the tough decision to cancel all winter rugby competitions in the Sydney region (and Illawarra). Seven rounds were contested by the Shute Shield teams.
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.
*N.B. Not necessarily played for the Wallabies
Wallabies Squad Training Camp – January 2025 Angus Bell, Jake Gordon and Harry Potter
U20 Squad Training Camp – 2025 Eamon Doyle, Joey Fowler, Liam Grover, Joe Mangelsdorf and Hwi Sharples
Rugby World Cup Winners
Bob Egerton – 1991
Nick Farr-Jones (Captain) – 1991
Richard Harry – 1999
Women's Rugby "Lionesses"
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).
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