University of Surrey FC
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The University of Surrey Football Club is a Football Club made up of students from the University of Surrey, based in Guildford, Surrey. The Club currently has five sides and one Futsal team who play across a variety of leagues on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The Club picks its players from the undergraduate and post graduate students at the University of Surrey, so a player will normally only play for the Club for three or four years. To be eligible to sit on the Club's committee you must be enrolled on a course at the University. The Committee is comprised of a Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, Assistant Secretary and Treasurer. There are also a number of non-committee positions such as Tour Secretary, Social Secretary, Web Administrator and Fundraising Official. The Committee is appointed at the AGM in March and the Committee then appoint the team captains for the next season over the summer.
History
Football has been played at the University of Surrey since its days as a Polytechnic back in the 1950s. However, records of the Club from this time are not available. As well as playing football on a Saturday the Club also takes part in in the British Universities and Colleges Sports Championships (BUCS) on a Wednesday afternoon.
1995-2008: Success in the Guildford and Woking Alliance League
Since 1995 the Club has entered teams in the Guildford and Woking Alliance League (GWAFL). The Club has had a successful time in GWAFL and since 1995 the First Team has won the Premier Division on three occasions, first in 1997/1998 and then twice in a row in the 2005/2007 and 2007/2008 seasons. The First Team have also finished as runners up on three occasions in 1995/1996, 2004/2005, 2005/2006. The Reserve Team has also had success in GWAFL and finished runner up in Division One twice in 1995/1996 and 1997/1998.
The Club also performed well in the GWAFL Cup Competitions and the First Team has won the GWAFL Premier Cup on four occasions, in 1990/2000, 2002/2003, 2004/2005 and 2006/2007. The 1's have also been runners up in the competition on three occasions in 1995/1996, 1996/1997 and in 2003/2004. The Reserve Team has won the GWAFL Intermediate Cup on one occasion in the 2007/2008 season, beating Oatlands on penalties in the final.
The Club's sportsmanship was also rewarded in this period, with the First Team winning the Premier Division Sportsmanship Award on no less than seven occasions. The Second Team won their respective leagues sportsmanship competition on two occasions in the late nineties, and the Third Team once in 1995/1996. When the Club ran four teams on a Saturday that side won their Divisional Sportsmanship Award on five occasions. Therefore the Club has won a total of fifteen Sportsmanship Awards since 1995.
2008/2009: Promotion to the Surrey County Intermediate League (Western)
After two straight GWAFL Premier Division wins it was clear that on the pitch the Club was ready to move two sides from GWAFL into the higher Surrey Intermediate League, which sits just outside the National Game Pyramid, one step below the ((Combined Counties League)). Off the pitch the Club needed to make changes to meet the strict criteria of the Surrey Intermediate League. The Club was elected to the League at the end of the 2007/2008 season after meeting the criteria and satisfying the Surrey Intermediate League that the Club was ready for promotion.
The First Team play in Division One and have had a good start to the season and are pushing for promotion to the Premier Division at the first attempt and currently sit in third position in the table. The Reserve side play in the Division One Reserve Division and sit second in the table, they have also reached the Reserve League Cup Finalm which will be played at Godalming Town FC in April.
On a Wednesday the Club's Fourth Team picked up the Club's fist BUCS League title in many years as they won Division 6D, winning The Title on the 18th of March despite defeat against SOAS. The Third Team have also had a good BUCS season and finished in 2nd place. The Club's Reserve side however have struggled in BUCS this season and they finished bottom of Division 5A and have been relegated.
This season has also seen more growth for the Club with the introduction of a fifth team into the UniSport Social League and a Futsal Team who won the UniSport Futsal Cup in December.