Stan Calvert 2018: what you need to know

Stan what?

Actually it's more like Stan who? Stan Calvert was Newcastle University's director of sport and ran the Sports Centre for over 30 years until his death in 1993. Since then Newcastle and Northumbria Universities have contested the Stan Calvert Memorial Cup, where sports teams from each university compete and all the points get added up to determine the overall winner. Newcastle have won 13 times, Northumbria 9 times and there's been two draws, but Northumbria have dominated in recent years and won each of the last four competitions.

Sounds cute. So who's involved?

The format's changed a bit over the years and the number of fixtures has decreased recently, but a good chunk of Team Newcastle's top BUCS teams will be taking part. This year there's also a new event, the Stan Calvert Memorial Fun Run, taking place alongside the main competition. While this won't count towards the overall points tally, it does allow any student from either university the chance to get active and go for a 5k run round the Town Moor.

I guess that could be fun...

The fun run opens up Stan Calvert to let more people participate, but there's also a lot of fun to be had supporting the Team Newcastle sides taking part. Most of the fixtures are held on the 24 and 25 February in locations around Tyne and Wear, which creates a real buzz amongst the spectators. It's also a great opportunity to watch sports you might not know much about, or even have heard of before. Last year's men's futsal match achieved the second-highest attendance at a futsal match in the country.

Ok that does sound pretty cool. Do Newcastle stand much chance of winning?

Well, we haven't won the overall cup since 2013, and opinion on the ground is mixed, but both teams are fairly level in terms of BUCS points this season and a lot of Newcastle sides feel that momentum is on their side. Most of the fixtures take place on the final Sunday, so unless it's a complete whitewash the final result won't be known until fairly late in the day.

I guess I'll have to head along and watch some matches then.

Exactly. And if you can't make it there in person, the Courier Sport, together with NSR and NUTV, will be bringing you as much coverage as we possibly can.

NSR's commentary is certainly something to behold. Anything else I need to know?

To get you even more in the mood, why not buy an official Stan Calvert t-shirt to really feel part of the crowd. They're just £3.50 and will even get you a place in the fun run, if you so choose.

I'll think about it.

That's the spirit. In the meantime, check out the full list of fixtures - and those all important results - right here.