Irish Universities Football Union
# Irish Universities Football Union

The Irish Universities Football Union is the governing body for university association football in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is responsible for organizing the Collingwood Cup, the major cup competition for Irish universities. It also manages the only two all Ireland association football leagues – the College & Universities Football League and the Women's Soccer Colleges Association of Ireland League. It is affiliated to the Dublin–based Football Association of Ireland and works closely with both the College Football Association of Ireland (CFAI) and the Belfast–based Irish Football Association. The IUFU also selects the teams that represent Ireland at the Summer Universiade.

## History

### Early years

The IUFU was originally formed in 1970–71 as the Universities and Colleges Football Union under the leadership of Dr. Tony O'Neill, the club secretary/manager of University College Dublin A.F.C. and an FAI general secretary. In 1972 a separate association, the CFAI, was established for college teams. The IUFU initially took over the organization of the Collingwood Cup before introducing new competitions such as the Collingwood Plate, the North–South University League, the Harding Cup for freshman and first year students and the Crowley Cup for reserve team players. In 2006–07 the IUFU, in conjunction with the CFAI, established the Umbro sponsored Colleges and Universities Football League.

### Ulster University dispute

In 2015 the IUFU became involved in an internal dispute involving Ulster University and their campus football teams. On Sunday, 22 February 2015, UU Jordanstown were due to play UCD in the first round of the Collingwood Cup. However, on Friday, 19 February, just two days earlier, the IUFU barred them from the competition. UUJ were banned because they planned to field players from Magee College in the team. Ulster University wanted to enter a single team featuring players from three campuses – Coleraine, Jordanstown and Magee. However football officials at Coleraine opposed this idea and entered the Collingwood Cup under their own name. Meanwhile, UU decided to enter the tournament as Jordanstown, while Magee opted not to enter the competition. With the Magee club not involved, UU decided to enter a joint team that included players from both Jordanstown and Magee. However, they were informed by IUFU that it was against Collingwood Cup rules to select players from more than one campus. As UU refused to comply with the IUFU requests and enter a team that only consisted of players from the Jordanstown campus, the IUFU opted to expel them from the competition. Meanwhile, the team representing Coleraine competed in the tournament, however according to club officials, they did not receive any funding from their Ulster University, who do not recognise them as an official university team.

## Representative Games

The IUFU selects teams to play against teams representing the CFAI and Irish Defence Forces. The IUFU also chooses a team to represent Ireland at the Summer Universiade.

## Cup competitions

* Collingwood Cup – senior first team competition
   * Farquhar Cup – defeated Collingwood Cup quarter finalists
   * Spillane Cup – teams knocked out in Collingwood Cup first round
   * Duggan Cup – teams knocked out in Collingwood Cup first round
* Crowley Cup – features the reserve university teams
* Harding Cup – teams are made up first year students

## Affiliated Leagues

* College & Universities Football League
* Women's Soccer Colleges Association of Ireland League

## Affiliated universities/clubs

Several clubs affiliated to the IUFU play in leagues and divisions within the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland football league systems.

| Team | League |
| - | - |
| University College Dublin A.F.C. | League of Ireland First Division |
| Queen's University Belfast A.F.C. | NIFL Championship 2 |
| University College Cork A.F.C. | Munster Senior League Senior Premier Division |
| NUI Galway | Galway & District League |
| Ulster University at Jordanstown Football Club | Northern Amateur Football League |
| Dublin University A.F.C. | Leinster Senior League |
| Ulster University at Coleraine | College & Universities Football League |
| Dublin City University | College & Universities Football League |
| Dublin Institute of Technology | College & Universities Football League |
| University of Limerick | College & Universities Football League |
| Magee College | College & Universities Football League |
| Mary Immaculate College, Limerick | College & Universities Football League |
| Maynooth University | College & Universities Football League |
| Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland | College & Universities Football League |
| Stranmillis University College | College & Universities Football League |
| St Mary's University College, Belfast | College & Universities Football League |
| St Patrick's College, Dublin | College & Universities Football League |
