The Galleon - Portsmouth's Official Student Newspaper

The annual Royal Navy vs University of Portsmouth Varsity event will not take place this year.

Complications over suitable dates for both the Students’ Union and the local navy has resulted in the popular and successful end of year event being struck from the calendar.

A source has said that the process of arranging the event, which had been held successfully at HMS Temeraire sports ground for the past two years, hasn’t been taken urgently enough.

Whilst Wayne Gardiner, the sports co-ordinator for the Union, claims that the event isn’t a priority for the Navy and that the only dates that the Navy would agree to fell in the University’s exam period.

Last year the event was hugely successful, with University of Portsmouth sportspersons trouncing the Navy, claiming victory in every sport.

Pure FM, Pugwash News and UPSU TV were on hand to cover the event and a video of the day’s highlights was shown the same evening in Highlight nightclub.

This year however, there will be no repeat of the morale boosting success and capping-off-the-year fun.

The sports staff at the Students’ Union, headed by VP Sports Lauren Ryan, are charged with organising the event.

Ryan said: “We spoke to them in January, and organised a meeting which [the event] never really materialised properly, they always rang before and said ‘oh, we can’t do it anymore’.

“We arranged a provisional date, and then when we checked up on it they said they couldn’t play that date, and basically there were no dates that suited them or us so it didn’t happen in the end.”

On the question of whether she is disappointed about this, Ryan said: “Oh yeah. I mean it’s quite a prestigious cup and we’ve got the shield upstairs ready to engrave.

“But you know sometimes such dates aren’t going to suit everyone, and it is quite an awkward time, and next year we would perhaps look at doing a September Varsity and maybe a March time Varsity rather than doing one in the summer term when it’s too late for anyone to play anymore.”

Ryan refused to direct blame at either party. She said: “I wouldn’t say it was anyone’s fault, it’s more about who is available when and unfortunately, leaving it so late this year it became really difficult.”

Although Ryan did allude to one possible further reason for the breakdown in communications: “The problem is that Temeraire they turn over all their staff [Directorate of Naval Physical Training and Sport], so you never deal with the same person two years in a row. But, you know, we tried.

“I really wanted it, we really wanted it, and it was no fault of ours that it didn’t happen, it’s just one of those things.”

The Navy were unavailable at the time of going to press.