The 2021/22 Student Union League season came to it’s conclusion this weekend with the return of the ‘UCLan SU World Cup’
Nine teams, representing the likes of Nigeria, the Middle East, Jamaica and the People’s Republic of Preston- amongst others, battled it out in a 7-a-side football format. The Final came down to Djibouti (Supporters Club) and previous winners Nepal FC, with the Djiboutian representatives taking home the trophy thanks to a 2-0 win.
The tournament wraps up what has been a great season of social sport for UCLan Students' Union:
11-a-side Football – North End Galacticos, celebrating their 10th Year as team, won the first tournament of the season by being named ‘Presidents Cup’ Winners in a pre-season tournament to determine how the divisions would be aligned. Based on ability, the teams were split into ‘Premier’ & ‘Championship’ Divisions with Macclesfield FC International Academy and UCLan FC 6th XI added to the top division.
Macclesfield FC Int. Academy is made up of UCLan students from the Football Studies Course and they had great success, winning both their Division and the SUL Cup where they beat North End Galacticos in the final.
In the Championship Division it came down to the final games between the top two, Headstrong MHFC Pinks and UCLan Rangers and it was the Pinks who won it to claim their first ever trophy.
In the Spring Tournaments, UCLan FC Blues won the SUL ‘Champions League’ and Ath. de UCLan took home the ‘Europa League’.
7-a-side Football – Representing our Medics Football Club ‘Unknown FC’ made it third time lucky by winning the 7-a-side playoffs. They beat small-sided specialists ‘UCLan Strikers’ in the final.
Medics FC also hosted the first ‘Coupe De Medicines’ tournament for students from the School of Medicine, which was awarded ‘Best Event’ at the Union Awards.
5-a-side Football – Despite defeat in the 7s, UCLan Strikers dominated the 5-a-side leagues. They were Champions in both the Semester One and Semester Two Leagues.
Basketball 5v5 – In our inaugural tournament it was the recently formed Medics Basketball Club who came out victorious. They overcame development teams from the UCLan Basketball Club and UCLan Chinese Basketball to win.
Table Tennis – In another first, Abdulrahman Alsanea became the SUL Table Tennis Champion for 2021/22.
Futsal – In partnership with the University we held a tournament as part of their Mental Health week initiative. The eventual winners were the ‘F&SS Blues’.
Pool - Stuart Campbell was the dominant winner of our inaugural Pool tournament, which was held at Roper Hall. Stuart and other strong performers from the tournament formed a team to play an established Edge Hill team at Varsity... and WON! As a result, they were awarded with 'Event Performance of the Year' at the Sports Awards."
Varsity – Entrenadores FC were selected as our representatives for the ‘Recreational Football’ 11-a-side Varsity game vs Edge Hill. They drew 3-3, earning a point. Players from our Monday night league were selected to take part in the 5-a-side fixture.
It's safe to say it has been our best SUL season yet. Keep an eye out for the 2022/23 program as we continue to grow!