Varsity as we know it returned to Southampton for the first time since 2018 over the weekend and saw a fantastic response from students, staff, alumni and families.
Following the success of Varsity 2022, we took over 1,500 students to compete in our annual competition against the University of Southampton for the Varsity Cup. The last Varsity event that was due to be held in Southampton in 2020 was sadly cancelled before the COVID pandemic struck, and we took a small number of teams over to Southampton in 2021 for a limited fixture-based Varsity, but what is Varsity without spectators?
Portsmouth last won Varsity in 2013, with several fixtures played in advance of the main day, the score heading into Sunday was 16-8 in Southampton's favour. After many narrowly fought fixtures, Portsmouth missed out by 48 points with the Varsity Cup staying in Southampton. The final score was 138-90.
Outside of the main Varsity Cup, our development teams competed for the Intra-Mural Varsity Cup. These scores don't count towards the main Cup, but are a great way for some of our development and IM teams to compete against other University teams.
The Intra-Mural Varsity Cup finished 22-10 to Southampton, with the IM Cup leaving Portsmouth for the first time
"I'm delighted that our performance on the pitches, courts, and on the water gave a strong representation of us as a student body, but of course, I'd like to congratulate the University of Southampton for the victory. We'll have to wait another year to bring that trophy back to Portsmouth.'"
Paul Tilley, Director of Sport and Recreation.
Congratulations to all of our teams and players that took part in Varsity 2023. Full lists of results can be found here.
