The 2015 Varsity Football challenge is the third season of a South African university
association football competition. It involves some of the top football playing universities in the country, which belong to the University Sports Company. The tournament is run by
Varsity Sports SA, and is endorsed by the
South African Football Association and University Sport South Africa.[1]
History
The
Varsity Cup tournament was founded in
2008, featuring the rugby teams of eight universities.
Varsity Sports was expanded in 2012 to include other sporting codes.[2] University Sport South Africa discussed the Varsity Football proposal at its 2012 annual general meeting. The idea was initially rejected, as it was seen to split the member institutions.[3] However, it was later accepted, and 2013 was the inaugural season of Varsity Football, with an 8 team men's tournament.[4] A four team women's tournament is also being played.[5]
Source: [citation needed] Rules for classification: 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw. The top 4 teams qualified for the Semi-Finals.
Format
The tournament begins with a round robin stage, in which all teams play each other once. After the round robin stage, the top 4 teams will advance to the knock-out stage. The teams ranked 1 and 2 will host the semi-finals, against the teams ranked 4 and 3 respectively. The winners will advance to the final, to be hosted by the highest ranking finalist. All matches are played on Mondays. The league scoring system follows a
standard scoring system and awards 3 points are awarded for a win, and 1 point for a draw. Teams are separated first on points, and then on goal difference.
Round robin stage
The 2015 season began with the round robin stages on 20 July, which will end on 3 September.
The top four placed men's teams progressed to the knockout stage, as did all four women's teams. The semi-finals for both men and women were played on 10 September and the finals on 24 September.
Blue: Men's teams only;
Red: Women's teams only;
Green: Men's and Women's teams.