In 1994, student sport in Newcastle changed forever as a new varsity competition was introduced to the city, the Stan Calvert Memorial Cup.
The cup was introduced to pay homage to the Newcastle University’s first Director of Sport and former Chairman of the Northern Sports Council, John Stanley Calvert. Calvert had established the undergraduate Sports Studies and Physical education programmes at Newcastle University and had gone on to receive the Wilkinson Sword for service to sport in Newcastle in 1988.
The competition took place over 26 sports, 70 teams and involved over 1,200 competitors. Performances were equally matched over the years with Newcastle University holding a slight advantage. Newcastle claimed the trophy on 13 occasions with Northumbria taking 10. There were also two draws in 1998 and 2003.
The final 11 years of the competition were marked by two long stretches of dominance. Newcastle won six in row between 2008 and 2013, with Northumbria returning fire over the next five years.
Sadly, ahead of the 2019 edition, after 25 years, Newcastle University withdrew from the Stan Calvert Memorial Trophy citing “Northumbria University’s decision to reduce their participation in BUCS” as well as their reduction in the number of teams competing.
“I’d like to see a Varsity return in some way to Newcastle”
The, then, Athletic Union Officer, Maggie Elstob alluded to a lack of enthusiasm from Newcastle students regarding the competition. She told The Courier at the time, “I’m not going to make students do something they don’t want to do”.
Elstob did later go on to say however, “I’d like to see a Varsity return in some way to Newcastle” but added, "it’s got to be right and we’ve got to research it”. This is exactly what happened in 2022 as Varsity returned to Newcastle. The first new iteration of the competition ended with a win for Newcastle, who ended with 60.75 points, beating Northumbria’s 50.25.
This marked Newcastle’s first varsity win since 2013, as the hiatus combined with a five year-streak of defeats at the end of the Stan Calvert Memorial Cup formed a nine-year drought. This was followed up in 2023 with another Newcastle win, as the competition ended 99.5-33.
Last year saw Newcastle complete a hattrick, winning 106-38. Newcastle secured high profile wins in Rugby, Basketball, Badminton, and Climbing, just to name a few.
Now, students prepare for the upcoming season, but will Newcastle be able to make it four in a row?
