Tuesday 06-05-2025 - 14:50

LANCASTER STUDENTS CELEBRATE HISTORIC ROSES VICTORY!

 

 
Students at Lancaster were jubilant this past Sunday, after they scored a record-breaking victory in the annual Roses varsity tournament against rivals York University, winning 184-160.
 
Lancaster’s triumph means they have won the last four Roses tournaments – the longest winning spree in the history of the competition, which has been running between the two universities since 1965.
 

Jack Watson, Activities Officer at Lancaster University Students' Union, which supports the huge array of sports societies at Lancaster that compete at Roses said:

'I am so unbelievably proud of everyone who was involved in making this year’s Roses red. The pressure was high going into this year’s competition off the back of a three-year winning streak, and it was a fantastic weekend of sportsmanship and competition, coming down to the wire on Sunday afternoon. Lancaster’s success all comes down to our incredible athletes and captains that put an unbelievable amount of time into running and supporting their clubs, their dedicated coaches, the student volunteers that helped over the weekend, including our incredible student media teams and the Roses Committee, and of course, the staff at the Students’ Union who support them. I’d also like to say thanks to colleagues at Lancaster University for their support and commitment to sport, particularly our Vice-Chancellor, Andy, and the Sport Lancaster and facilities teams.'
 

Roses is Europe’s largest inter-university sporting tournament and at this year’s event – held at York University – there were 144 competition fixtures between students representing the two sides.

 

Vice-Chair of Lancaster University Students' Union Board of Trustees, Richard Soper, said: 

'Roses is Lancaster’s greatest tradition, and generations of students carry with them wonderful memories of the competition and the comradeship it fosters.  The Students Union is very proud to be one of the organisers and sponsors of this amazing tournament, and sends its congratulations to everyone involved in making this year’s event such an incredible success.'

 

The win for Lancaster is all the more significant because this is the 60th anniversary of the competition. Roses began as a friendly suggestion by the vice chancellor of York University for a rowing race between their two institutions. Students seized upon this and added in table tennis, a relay race and a tug-of-war to that first event.
 
The competition paused for two years during Covid and since then Lancaster have dominated, culminating in victory on Sunday when a win in the Men’s Futsal fixture meant they had notched up the 172.5 points needed to claim the trophy.
 
The weekend is also a huge charitable effort, with both sides raising money for branches of the mental health charity, Mind, in their respective cities.
 
The two sides have been closely matched over the years, with York claiming victory 28 times and Lancaster 30. However, this latest win is the longest winning run in Roses history. Lancaster did manage an unbeaten run from 1972-77, but there was one draw in the middle of it, so the longest series of wins by both sides has been three – up until this weekend.

 

York	Lancaster
16	29	pre-weekend
35	58	Friday
76	77	Saturday
33	20	Sunday
160	184

 

Commemorative merchandise is available to order from the 2025 Lancaster Roses web shop.
 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Lancaster University SU (@lancastersu)