From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cambridge University A.F.C.
Full name	Cambridge University Association Football Club
Founded	1856/7 or 1866 (disputed)
Ground	Grange Road Stadium/Fenners Pitches, Cambridge, UK (Capacity 1000)
Chairman	Club President Dr Little
Captain	Alex Coleman
League	BUSA Midlands Division 2A
2006-07	BUSA Midlands Division 2A, 3rd
Home colours 　 Away colours

Cambridge University Association Football Club is an English football club representing the University of Cambridge. Some sources — most notably an official university publication and the BBC — have claimed that the club was formed in 1856 or 1857, however other sources state its foundation date as 1866.^[1]

The club claims to be the oldest club to play Association football, however their claim is not recognised by the FA, FIFA or UEFA who instead hold Sheffield Football Club as the oldest.

Varieties of football have been played for many centuries, but until the mid-19th century, none of the modern codes of football existed. Many different games were played at English Public schools and all of these were known simply as "football". Naturally, children who had learnt these games at school now sought to play them at university, but this was problematic because they were used to so many different sets of rules.

Eton, Harrow and Winchester, in particular, developed codes which revolved around a roughly spherical ball being kicked along the ground (Weir, 2004). In 1846, H.C. Malden of Trinity combined these and other football games in the Cambridge Rules, one of the first codes of football, posting them on the trees around Parker's Piece. Debate on the rules continued, and in 1863, a revised set of Cambridge Rules were created.

Colin Weir asserted in his history of CUAFC that: "it would be hard to exaggerate the influence that the University footballers of Cambridge have had on the game in England and subsequently all over the world". This is borne out by the fact that the Cambridge Rules were the main reference point for the initial rules of the The Football Association (FA) in October 1863, the first code for Association football.

Cambridge graduates set up many early football clubs, such as Hallam FC in the north and the Forest Club in Essex.

Meanwhile, within the University the 1860's witnessed the foundation of a formalised Cambridge University Association Football Club (CUAFC); the university club had previously been a somewhat ad hoc mix of students from Trinity and Jesus. Once Oxford had followed suit, there was immediate talk of a Varsity match, and on March 30, 1874 the two Universities first met. Although the Light Blues succumbed 1-0, they were to dominate their Oxford counterparts until the end of the century.

In 1882, and CUAFC were still playing on Parker's Piece. A meeting of the Club concluded that it would be advisable to buy a ground, for Parker's Piece was not appropriate "owing to the fact that anyone can walk across and about the ground during the game". But it was not until 1895, however, that they were able to acquire Grange Road, in tandem with the Rugby Club, for £4,300. They were still paying it off until just before the First World War. Grange Road remains the university ground, although it was joined by Fenners in 1975.

Nationally, with the new social legislation of the early 20th century that distributed more money to the working classes and increased leisure time (particularly on Saturday afternoons) and with new technological advances, such as the expanse of railways, which facilitated the nationalisation of leagues, the game of football was truly blooming. All the great clubs of today were formed at this time. The munitions workers at Woolwich Arsenal put down their tools and started picking up their boots in 1886. Members of the cricket club at Everton widened their sporting interests in 1878. However, a disgruntled manager would later decide to form a rival club that played in red. With the support of the Three Crowns, Newton Heath was founded in 1878, soon joining with another side to become Manchester United, while Aston Villa grew out of the Bible Class at a Wesleyan Chapel in 1874. Fair to say that CUAFC’s creation had truly captured the imagination of people from all walks of life.

Cambridge University embraced this football explosion. It provided almost fifty England internationals in the early years. It was given a seat on the FA Council, which it maintains to this day. It has played against a plethora of league sides from within Britain and abroad; the first overseas tour took place in Hungary in 1902. Varsity matches were contested at Wembley until 1989.

The pride in this history and tradition within the club is epitomised by the celebrations of its 150th anniversary: there will be a lunch at the new Wembley Stadium, attended by officials of the FA, Uefa and Fifa, there was a match against an FA XI on May 1, 2006, and a German TV documentary in which current players helped re-created that first game on Parker’s Piece a 150 years ago.

Whilst the club is immensely proud of its great tradition, equally, Cambridge University football continues to go from strength to strength. A website has been launched in 2004 (www.cuafc.org).

A professional coaching set-up is being maintained. Both the Blues and Falcons are now competing in National BUSA leagues, and the Blues won their most recent Varsity match on penalties, after the game finished 1-1, making it two in a row. The Blues’ game was hosted by Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road. An end of season (2005/2006) tour to the US was successfully undertaken, where the Blues competed with several of America’s Ivy League Universities. More recently, a mid season (2006/2007) tour to a training camp in La Manga was completed where amongst others the Blues played Ciudad de Murcia.

1. ^ Cambridge University Newsletter July/August 2006 (p. 4) & BBC Cambridgeshire, "Cambridge... the birthplace of football?!" (June 13, 2006) Access date: July 11, 2007.

Colin Weir, 2004, History of Cambridge University Association Football Club. (Yore Publications: Harefield) ISBN 1-874-427860

• Cambridge University Association Football Club official site