United Hospitals Cup


The United Hospitals Challenge Cup is contested by the six medical schools in London and is most notable for being the oldest rugby cup competition in the world.

History

In 1874 the United Hospitals RFC instituted a cup competition, the United Hospitals Challenge Cup, also known as the Inter-Hospital Challenge Cup. The first final was played on Wednesday 3 March 1875 at The Oval, which had also been the site of England's first home rugby international three years earlier. The match predated by four years the first Calcutta Cup match and is the oldest cup competition in the game of rugby. The first final was contested by at 3.30pm by Guy's Hospital and St George's Hospital in front of 400 spectators. Guy's, wore an orange and blue kit, and kicked the game off, whilst their opponents wore green jersey, green shorts with brown socks. Guy's won but St George's got their revenge the next season. When this game was played matches were won by goals rather than points. A goal was a converted try, and tries themselves only value in the case of a draw in which case they would be counted up as the deciding factor. Guy's Hospital won the game by 1 Goal and 1 try to 2 tries. The records say that the three additional 'tries' were all defensive touch downs. The game was also notable for fielding 15 players per side at a time when all international matches, the Varsity Match, County matches and all other top level games were being played with 20 players per side and would continue to do so until 1877. In this regard, the United Hospitals RFC was a pioneer. With the exception of breaks for the two world wars of the twentieth century, the United Hospitals Challenge Cup has been played for without interruption since that first final.
The Royal Veterinary College was invited to join the competition for the first time after a vote was taken during the AGM on 13 May 2008.
The current holders are St George's who beat RUMS 21-12 at The Rock, Rosslyn Park F.C.’s ground in Barnes in February 2020.

United Hospital Challenge Cup wins

Hospital TeamFirst CompetedLast CompetedCurrent StatusWinsTotal Wins including constituent elements
G.K.T.1999presentActive351
Imperial Medicals1997presentActive1351
Royal Hospitals1996presentActive323
St George's1874presentActive55
RUMS RFC1998presentActive23
The Royal Veterinary College2009presentActive00
Guy's and St. Thomas' RFC19901998Part of G.K.T.148
King's College Hospital18741998Open club so no longer eligible. Medics represented by G.K.T.00
Middlesex18741997Part of RUMS RFC11
Royal Free?1997Part of RUMS RFC00
University College Hospital RFC?1997Part of RUMS RFC00
St Mary's18741996Part of Imperial Medics3232
Charing X/ Westminster19841996Part of Imperial Medics36
London18741995Part of Royal Hospitals RFC1111
St Bart's18751995Part of Royal Hospitals RFC99
Guy's18741990Part of G.K.T.3131
St Thomas's18741990Part of G.K.T.1616
Westminster18741983Part of Imperial Medics33
Charing Cross18741983Part of Imperial Medics00

Winners