Ice Hockey Varsity Match

The Ice Hockey Varsity Match is a longstanding competition between the Cambridge and Oxford University Ice Hockey Clubs.

Tradition places the origin of the match in 1885, when a game is said to have been played in St Moritz. This date is recognised by the Hockey Hall of Fame, and prior to the 1985 Varsity Match, the International Ice Hockey Federation formally recognised the game played a century earlier as having been the first ice hockey match played in Europe. However, there is no contemporary evidence that the 1885 match took place, and Oxford now claim that it was a bandy match. If the 1885 date is accepted, this is the oldest rivalry in ice hockey.

The oldest surviving evidence of the competition is a team photo and roster from 1895, for a game played on Blenheim Lake in Oxford, although this was definitely a bandy match. The first match usually counted as an ice hockey contest is that of 16 March 1900 at Princes Skating Club, although at Oxford's insistence, it was played using bandy sticks and a lacrosse ball.

The following year, another Varsity Match was played at Princes, this time with hockey skates and a puck. However, a 1902 match at Blenheim Lake was again a bandy match.

The competition became established in 1909; the two universities then met each other on a European rink each year until World War I. From 1927, the match has been played for the Patton Cup, named for Peter Patton, the first President of the British Ice Hockey Association. It was then played most years until 1932, when it returned to England, being played at Richmond Ice Rink. The annual matches of the 1930s may no longer have been of professional standard, but they were able to attract crowds up to 10,000 strong.

Other than a gap during World War II, the matches have continued annually ever since, and since 1996 have alternated between Oxford Ice Rink and a rink nominated by Cambridge (who do not have a home rink). Oxford, often strengthened by Rhodes Scholars have won more than two-thirds of the encounters.

Varsity Match Results

Year	Team 1	Score	Team 2	Location	Series
1885	Cambridge	0-6	Oxford	St. Moritz	-
1895	Cambridge	1-6	Oxford	Blenheim Lake	-
1900	Cambridge	6-7	Oxford	Princes Ice Rink	0-1-0
1901	Cambridge	6-5	Oxford	Princes Ice Rink	1-1-0
1902	Cambridge	2-2	Oxford	Blenheim Lake	-
1909	Cambridge	3-5	Oxford	Wengen	1-2-0
1910	Cambridge	3-5	Oxford	Murren	1-3-0
1911	Cambridge	2-0	Oxford	Murren	2-3-0
1912	Cambridge	1-0	Oxford	Murren	3-3-0
1913	Cambridge	10-0	Oxford	Murren	4-3-0
1920	Cambridge	0-0	Oxford	Murren	4-3-1
1921	Cambridge	0-27	Oxford	Murren	4-4-1
1922	Cambridge	1-7	Oxford	Murren	4-5-1
1923	Cambridge	0-3	Oxford	St. Moritz	4-6-1
1926	Cambridge	0-11	Oxford	St. Moritz	4-7-1
1927	Cambridge	3-0	Oxford	St. Moritz	5-7-1
1928	Cambridge	1-0	Oxford	St. Moritz	6-7-1
1929	Cambridge	0-1	Oxford	St. Moritz	6-8-1
1930	Cambridge	2-1	Oxford	St. Moritz	7-8-1
1931	Cambridge	1-5	Oxford	St. Moritz	7-9-1
1932	Cambridge	0-7	Oxford	Richmond	7-10-1
1933	Cambridge	0-1	Oxford	Oxford	7-11-1
1934	Cambridge	2-4	Oxford	Oxford	7-12-1
1935	Cambridge	2-3	Oxford	Richmond	7-13-1
1936	Cambridge	2-0	Oxford	Earls Court	8-13-1
1937	Cambridge	5-1	Oxford	Harringay	9-13-1
1938	Cambridge	0-1	Oxford	Wembley	9-14-1
1939	Cambridge	2-0	Oxford	Earls Court	10-14-1
1940	Cambridge	2-4	Oxford	Harringay	10-15-1
1947	Cambridge	4-15	Oxford	Brighton	10-16-1
1948	Cambridge	2-5	Oxford	Brighton	10-17-1
1949	Cambridge	3-4	Oxford	Richmond	10-18-1
1950	Cambridge	0-3	Oxford	Richmond	10-19-1
1951	Cambridge	3-6	Oxford	Richmond	10-20-1
1952	Cambridge	8-2	Oxford	unknown location	11-20-1
1953	Cambridge	3-5	Oxford	Richmond	11-21-1
1954	Cambridge	4-7	Oxford	Richmond	11-22-1
1955	Cambridge	0-29	Oxford	Richmond	11-23-1
1956	Cambridge	1-11	Oxford	Richmond	11-24-1
1957	Cambridge	2-5	Oxford	Richmond	11-25-1
1958	Cambridge	6-1	Oxford	Richmond	12-25-1
1959	Cambridge	13-1	Oxford	Richmond	13-25-1
1960	Cambridge	6-5	Oxford	Richmond	14-25-1
1961	Cambridge	5-7	Oxford	Richmond	14-26-1
1962	Cambridge	11-1	Oxford	Richmond	15-26-1
1963	Cambridge	6-4	Oxford	Richmond	16-26-1
1964	Cambridge	4-6	Oxford	Richmond	16-27-1
1965	Cambridge	1-3	Oxford	Richmond	16-28-1
1966	Cambridge	2-16	Oxford	Richmond	16-29-1
1967	Cambridge	2-18	Oxford	Blackpool	16-30-1
1968	Cambridge	3-14	Oxford	Blackpool	16-31-1
1969	Cambridge	2-3	Oxford	Solihull	16-32-1
1970	Cambridge	1-6	Oxford	Solihull	16-33-1
1971	Cambridge	5-13	Oxford	Blackpool	16-34-1
1972	Cambridge	0-10	Oxford	Blackpool	16-35-1
1973	Cambridge	2-8	Oxford	Billingham	16-36-1
1974	Cambridge	1-5	Oxford	Wembley Arena	16-37-1
1975	Cambridge	2-4	Oxford	Billingham	16-38-1
1976	Cambridge	1-3	Oxford	Solihull	16-39-1
1977	Cambridge	7-4	Oxford	Solihull	17-39-1
1978	Cambridge	1-11	Oxford	Solihull	17-40-1
1979	Cambridge	1-5	Oxford	Southampton	17-41-1
1980	Cambridge	5-1	Oxford	Solihull	18-41-1
1981	Cambridge	6-5	Oxford	Streatham	19-41-1
1982	Cambridge	5-7	Oxford	Streatham	19-42-1
1983	Cambridge	3-3	Oxford	Peterborough	19-42-2
1984	Cambridge	6-3	Oxford	Streatham	20-42-2
1985	Cambridge	1-5	Oxford	Peterborough	20-43-2
1986	Cambridge	8-5	Oxford	Oxford	21-43-2
1987	Cambridge	1-9	Oxford	Oxford	21-44-2
1988	Cambridge	3-11	Oxford	Oxford	21-45-2
1989	Cambridge	4-15	Oxford	Oxford	21-46-2
1990	Cambridge	1-18	Oxford	Oxford	21-47-2
1991	Cambridge	2-9	Oxford	Oxford	21-48-2
1992	Cambridge	3-1	Oxford	Oxford	22-48-2
1993	Cambridge	0-19	Oxford	Oxford	22-49-2
1994	Cambridge	3-13	Oxford	Oxford	22-50-2
1995	Cambridge	4-8	Oxford	Oxford	22-51-2
1996	Cambridge	5-8	Oxford	Oxford	22-52-2
1997	Cambridge	2-5	Oxford	Stevenage	22-53-2
1998	Cambridge	8-1	Oxford	Oxford	23-53-2
1999	Cambridge	2-1	Oxford	Peterborough	24-53-2
2000	Cambridge	2-4	Oxford	Oxford	24-54-2
2001	Cambridge	12-5	Oxford	Peterborough	25-54-2
2002	Cambridge	8-1	Oxford	Oxford	26-54-2
2003	Cambridge	3-4 OT	Oxford	Peterborough	26-55-2
2004	Cambridge	5-1	Oxford	Oxford	27-55-2
2005	Cambridge	1-6	Oxford	Milton Keynes	27-56-2
2006	Cambridge	1-6	Oxford	Oxford	27-57-2
2007	Cambridge	1-11	Oxford	Peterborough	27-58-2
2008	Cambridge	2-8	Oxford	Oxford	27-59-2
2009	Cambridge	2-4	Oxford	Milton Keynes	27-60-2
2010	Cambridge	6-7 OT	Oxford	Oxford	27-61-2
2011	Cambridge	5-1	Oxford	Peterborough	28-61-2
2012	Cambridge	1-17	Oxford	Oxford	28-62-2
2013	Cambridge	8-2	Oxford	Peterborough	29-62-2
2014	Cambridge	7-13	Oxford	Oxford	29-63-2
2015	Cambridge	10-0	Oxford	Peterborough	30-63-2
2016	Cambridge	3-1	Oxford	Oxford	31-63-2
2017	Cambridge	8-3	Oxford	Peterborough	32-63-2
2018	Cambridge	3-4 OT	Oxford	St. Moritz	32-64-2
2019	Cambridge	8-1	Oxford	Oxford	33-64-2
2020	Cambridge	8-0	Oxford	Cambridge	34-64-2
2021	Cambridge	4-3 SO	Oxford	Oxford	35-64-2
2022	Cambridge	4-2	Oxford	Cambridge	36-64-2
2023	Cambridge	4-0	Oxford	Oxford	37-64-2
2024	Cambridge	6-2	Oxford	Cambridge	38-64-2

Notes

The 1924 Varsity Match was not played. The following reason was given in Peter Patton's 1936 Ice Hockey publication: "The Oxford committee was in favor of its being played again at Murren, but for some reason arrangements for it to be so could not be made. Both the Oxford and Cambridge teams during their respective tours were at St. Moritz at the same time in January. The writer was asked to negotiate with them for the Varsity match to be played there. Cambridge were willing to play on the terms offered to them by the hotels, but Oxford would not agree to them and so the match fell through."

References

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