Varsity Football (South Africa)

Last updated

Varsity Football
Varsity Football Logo (South Africa).png
Founded2013;12 years ago (2013)
RegionSouth Africa
Teams8
Current champions UFS (1st title) (men)
UWC (4th title) (women)
Most championships TUT (4 titles) (men)
TUT (6 titles) (women)
Website varsitysportssa.com/football

Varsity Football is a South African university 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] All matches are televised live on SuperSport, elevating the visibility of the competition and serving as a vital development platform for student-athletes, many of whom transition to the professional Hollywoodbets Super League (Women) or the South African Premiership (Men).

Contents

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 was also played. [5] Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) women's won six (6) times while Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) men's won four (times) and current champions for 2025 is University of Western Cape both (Women) and the University of the Free State (Men)

Participating teams

As of 2025, 8 different teams have competed in the men's Varsity Football tournament:

Team NameUniversityStadium
UJ Men's Football University of Johannesburg UJ Stadium
NWU Men's Football North-West University Mafikeng Sports Fields
UFS Men's Football University of the Free State Shimla Park
TUT Men's Football Tshwane University of Technology TUT Stadium
UP-Tuks Men's Football University of Pretoria Tuks Stadium
Wits Men's Football University of the Witwatersrand Bidvest Stadium
CUT Men's Football Central University of Technology CUT Stadium
DUT Men's Football Durban University of Technology Harry Gwala Stadium

Varsity Football Women's Teams

Eight different teams have competed in the women's Varsity Football tournament as of 2025:

Team NameUniversity
UJ Women's Football University of Johannesburg
UP-Tuks Women's Football University of Pretoria
UWC Women's Football University of the Western Cape
Wits Women's Football University of the Witwatersrand
TUT Women's Football Tshwane University of Technology
CPUT Women's Football Cape Peninsula University of Technology
NWU Women's Football North-West University
UNIVEN Women's Football University of Venda

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 Varsity Football Women's tournament features 8 top university teams, qualifying primarily through the previous year's USSA National Club Championships. The competition is typically shorter and more condensed than the men's event, often held over two weeks or at a single venue. The format involves an initial Group Stage, where teams are split into two pools and play a round-robin format. The top two teams from each group then advance to the knockout Semi-Finals, with the winners proceeding to the final match to be crowned the tournament champion. [6]

All matches are played on Monday evenings.

Varsity Football Men's Winners

YearWinner
2013 UP-Tuks
2014 UP-Tuks
2015 UWC
2016 TUT
2017 UP-Tuks
2018 TUT
2019 NWU
2020Suspended due to COVID-19
2021 UJ
2022 TUT
2023 TUT
2024 UWC
2025 UFS
UniversityTitles won
TUT 4
UP-Tuks 3
UWC 2
UJ 1
NWU 1
UFS 1

Varsity Football Women's Winners

YearWinner
2013 UJ
2014 TUT
2015 TUT
2016 TUT
2017 TUT
2018 TUT
2019 TUT
2020Suspended due to COVID-19
2021 UWC
2022 UJ
2023 UWC
2024 UWC
2025 UWC
UniversityTitles won
TUT 6
UWC 4
UJ 2

Notable players

Players who have since represented Bafana Bafana.

Sponsors

The tournament is sponsored by: [7]

Preferred Suppliers:

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. Archived from the original on 6 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. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 December 2013. 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.
  6. ↑ "Football Women Fixtures & Logs | Varsity Cup". Varsity Sports. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  7. ↑ "Sponsors". Varsity Sports. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
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