While the Varsity rugby match has the glorious surroundings of Twickenham as a home, the football equivalent has led a more nomadic existence in recent years. However this week Fulham FC’s new owner, Shahid Khan, has expressed a strong desire to see the match return to its sometime-home of the West London side’s Craven Cottage for its 130th edition.
OUAFC’s Treasurer and goalkeeper Ben Szreter told Cherwell that “we are hopeful of securing a return of the varsity match to Craven cottage – a fantastic venue.” In an allusion to the match’s scheduling he went on to comment “I think the match on the day of the boat race will make the day very special for all fans. However discussions are very preliminary at the moment.”
In light of that, and a Fulham spokesman’s cautious remark that “we are in discussions to bring it back”, it’s probably best to not get carried away at the news. Even if, after a few years which has seen the fixture played in the pleasant but slightly dingier surroundings of Oxford’s very own Kassam Stadium, and the Cambridge United’s Abbey Stadium we could be forgiven for salivating at the prospect of a Premiership-standard home. Despite this though, the concept of Sunday April the 6th becoming a veritable festival of Oxbridge sport has left some excited – with an Exeter 2nd year lawyer marvelling at the poetry of the fact that, should these discussions prove fruitful, the Spring evening will see the rowers directly pass the venue of the day’s earlier Varsity tussle.
It’s worth taking a moment to consider the appropriateness of Craven Cottage too, as the throw-back style ground, complete with the cottage of its name, its pleasant riverside setting, and its turnstiles – prized as some of the few old-fashioned stadium entrances left in the upper echelons of English football – all combine to give the venue a traditional atmosphere and a sense of charm which go hand in hand with one of the oldest sporting rivalries of all.
Shahid Khan has now both removed the bizarre Michael Jackson statue from Craven Cottage’s façade and potentially provided a prestigious home for the University football match – not a bad beginning to his ownership, all told.
