The football teams of Oxford and Cambridge Universities have sparked controversy after a disagreement over the venue for this year’s women’s Varsity match.

Both the men’s and women’s Varsity football matches are set to take place on the same day this year at Barnet FC’s Hive Stadium, in the first ever Varsity double-header, but the decision has left the Cambridge women’s side feeling short changed.

However, contrary to reports that the match was under threat, on Wednesday this week it was announced to the public that the double-header is going ahead on 19th March at The Hive Stadium.

The men's and women's teams of the Cambridge University Association Football Club (CUAFC) and Oxford University Associated Football Club (OUAFC) seem to have all had the objective of greater equality for the women’s Varsity match, but the teams disagreed on how this could best be achieved.

Oxford’s view was that a double-header would give the women’s match a share of the great attention that the men’s match draws. Cambridge felt that hosting the women’s match separately at the Cambridge United stadium would be best.

May Martin, Women's President of OUAFC told Varsity,“OUWAFC thought that a double header would be the best way to achieve the joint aim that we share with Cambridge, which was to promote equality in the sport.”

Speaking exclusively to Varsity, the women’s captain, Gerda Bachrati said: “We felt that playing at Barnet would be riding on the coattails of the men.”

“We felt it would be really important to take that opportunity to play at a big stadium [Cambridge United] for the first time, get people interested in the women’s game.”

CUWAFC recognises that a double-header will bring more media attention, but saw a game on a separate occasion on a big stage as an essential precursor to a double-header: “Once you start making people realise that women’s football is actually good, people are more likely to be interested in a double-header in the future.”

The location of the matches is the most important concern for the Cambridge Women’s team as Bachrati argued that Cambridge United’s Abbey Stadium would be more accessible to students, meaning more spectators and attention for the game.

“If Cambridge United had said okay for a double-header it would have been a completely different situation, I think for Oxford too, as both universities would have been more sure and secure of the fan base.”

This year it was Oxford’s turn to organise the men’s match and Cambridge’s turn to organise the women’s.

At the start of Michaelmas 2016, Cambridge United approached CUWAFC to invite them to play their Varsity match at their stadium, an offer the Cambridge women accepted.

Around the same time, in September 2016, the Oxford men’s football team applied to Barnet FC to see if they would host the men’s Varsity match, which they agreed to do.

The idea of a double-header has been raised before but it has previously not been followed through. Laurence Wroe, captain of the Men’s Blue team at OUAFC explained to Varsity that “both OUAFC and OUWAFC have viewed the double header as the future of the football Varsity for the past couple of years, but this is easier said than done due to difficulties in getting a prestigious ground to host two fixtures on the same day.”

Given this long-term aim, the Oxford committees contacted Barnet to ask if there was a possibility of hosting a double-header, which Barnet FC also agreed to.

The Cambridge women’s committee did not attend the meetings discussing with Barnet FC the opportunity of a double-header at The Hive Stadium. Bachrati explained that this was because they were so we were “firmly” settled with Cambridge United at this point, and stressed that they did not discourage the men from these talks as they had every right to hold them.

Once Barnet had confirmed that a double-header was possible, CUWAFC tried to convince OUWAFC to stick to the original plan of playing at Cambridge United.

However, Cambridge United then backed out of their agreement with CUWAFC, saying that a double-header at their stadium is impossible and instead encouraged CUWAFC to take up the offer of the double-header at Barnet FC.

Speaking to Varsity, Wroe explained the financial background to Cambridge United’s decision: “The women’s deal, that Cambridge United would host the women’s Varsity for free, was predicated on the men playing at Craven Cottage. Cambridge United reversed their decision to host the game when they heard that OUAFC and OUWAFC had found a financial alternative to a double-header.”

Cambridge United have been contacted for comment.

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With the option of playing at Cambridge United no longer available, it was agreed on by all committees that Varsity would be hosted as a double-header at Barnet. 

CUWAFC confessed to being not fully content with this final decision, “We are still upset that there’s still that loss - potentially a situation where fewer people come to watch our game at Barnet. That’s still very difficult for us to digest and consider.”

Both committees have agreed to make a concerted effort to address this key concern of the Cambridge women, to ensure that there are fans there, despite the more distant location. CUAFC men and women are keen to provide transport to Cambridge fans to arrive before the first game and leave after the last game.

Despite her disappointment, Bachrati did stress that this was a mutual decision: “Towards the end it was a decision between us and the Oxford women’s team. It’s Cambridge’s turn to host, but it’s important to develop a meaningful relationship with them to make women’s football bigger.”

May Martin, the Women’s President of OUAFC, confirmed this to Varsity: “As CUWAFC and OUWAFC started from different positions, there was a lot of discussion and reasoning to put across the pros and cons of both options. Eventually, we felt that we all came to the same decision.

Wroe reiterated: “The issue has now been resolved amicably between all the clubs involved.”