Lancaster students celebrated a record-breaking victory in the annual Roses varsity tournament against rivals York University.
Lancaster’s triumph by 184 points to 160 means they have won the last four Roses tournaments – the longest winning streak in the history of the competition, which has been running between the two universities since 1965.
Roses is Europe’s largest inter-university sporting tournament and at this year’s event – held at York University – there were 144 competition fixtures between students representing the two sides.
Professor Andy Schofield, Vice Chancellor of Lancaster University, said: "I was again privileged to be there for another brilliant and winning Roses competition.
‘’The Roses Tournament is intrinsic to the Lancaster University experience and is always a high point of the academic year for me. There is a palpable build up to it as teams train hard and then the weekend itself is one of fierce competition, good-natured banter and intense rivalry.
"For our students to win four times in a row - including two away wins - is a unique accomplishment and it means when I leave Lancaster as VC in the summer I will have never known anything other than the winning declaration that 'Roses are red!'"
Jack Watson, Activities Officer at Lancaster University Students' Union, which supports the huge array of sports societies at Lancaster that compete at Roses said: “I am so unbelievably proud of everyone who was involved in making this year’s Roses red.
‘’The pressure was high going into this year’s competition off the back of a three-year winning streak, and it was a fantastic weekend of sportsmanship and competition, coming down to the wire on Sunday afternoon.
“Lancaster’s success all comes down to our incredible athletes and captains who put an unbelievable amount of time into running and supporting their clubs, their dedicated coaches, the student volunteers that helped over the weekend, including our incredible student media teams and the Roses Committee, and of course, the staff at the Students’ Union who support them.
‘’I’d also like to say thanks to colleagues at Lancaster University for their support and commitment to sport, particularly our Vice-Chancellor, Andy Schofield, and the Sport Lancaster and facilities teams.”
Chair of Lancaster University Students' Union Board of Trustees, Richard Soper, said: "Roses is Lancaster's greatest tradition and generations of students carry with them wonderful memories of the competition and comradeship it fosters. The Students' Union is very proud to be one of the organisers and sponsors of this amazing tournament, and sends its congratulations to everyone involved in making this year's event such an incredible success."
Roses began as a friendly suggestion by the vice chancellor of York University for a rowing race between their two institutions. Students seized upon this and added in table tennis, a relay race and a tug-of-war to that first event. Since then the event has grown beyond recognition with hundreds of competitors involved in a huge array of challenges.
The competition paused for two years during Covid and since then Lancaster have dominated, culminating in victory on Sunday afternoon when a win in the Men’s Futsal fixture meant they had passed the 172.5 points needed to claim the trophy.
The weekend is also a huge charitable effort, with both sides raising money for branches of the mental health charity, Mind, in their respective cities.
The two sides have been closely matched over the years, with York claiming victory 28 times and Lancaster 30. However, this latest win is the longest winning run in Roses history. Lancaster did manage an unbeaten run from 1972-77, but there was one draw in the middle of it, so the longest series of wins by both sides has been three – up until this weekend.
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