Oxford University Australian Rules Football Club (often referred to as OUARFC, O.U.A.R.F.C.) is an Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

 club representing the University of Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

. The Club operates under the auspices of Oxford University Sport. The Club's team is reigning Varsity Australian rules football champions, having won the most recent Varsity Match at the ground of St John's College, Cambridge

St John's College, Cambridge

St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....

 on 19 March 2011.

History

The Oxford University Australian Rules Football Club has been playing Australian rules football in Oxford since the early 1920s. The Club's principal match is against Cambridge University Australian Rules Football Club but it has also played against teams from such exotic locales as Putney

Putney

Putney is a district in south-west London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....

, Reading

Reading, Berkshire

Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....

, and Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

.

Inaugurated by a group of expatriates studying at the universities after World War I, the Oxford v Cambridge game is one of the oldest varsity matches, and an early example of the spread of Australian rules football around the world

Australian rules football around the world

Australian Rules football is a sport played in various countries around the world. In 2006, about 16,000 people played in structured competitions outside of Australia and at least 20 leagues that are recognised by the game's governing body, exist outside Australia. This figure had grown to a...

.

Team Composition and Notable Players

Players have included important and notable Australians such as Supreme Court of Victoria

Supreme Court of Victoria

The Supreme Court of Victoria is the superior court for the State of Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1852, and is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited jurisdiction within the state...

 judge Chris Maxwell

Chris Maxwell

Chris Maxwell BA , LLB , BPhil , QC is an Australian jurist.Maxwell has been President of the Victorian Court of Appeal since 16 July 2005, succeeding Justice John Winneke....

, Joe Santamaria QC, the prominent businessman Sir Rod Eddington

Rod Eddington

Sir Roderick Ian Eddington is an Australian businessman. He is currently chair of the government body Infrastructure Australia, a director of News Corporation, continuing his long association with that company, and has served in other senior positions including as former CEO of British...

, mining executive Andrew Michelmore, and AFL

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 Commission chairman and former Carlton Football Club

Carlton Football Club

The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...

 captain Mike Fitzpatrick

Mike Fitzpatrick (footballer)

Michael "Mike" Fitzpatrick is an Australian businessman, sporting administrator and former Australian rules footballer....

.

The team has usually included multiple Rhodes Scholars, while both teams also often attract an influx of rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 and rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

players of Australian heritage.

In recent years, players from Ireland and Canada have become common as the sport's reach extends internationally.