Clash of the Minsters 2026: All you need to know

Varsity returns to York St. John, with Team Sunderland set to play their rivals across 27+ events, the largest In Its history.

After Sunderland’s blow-out win on Wearside last year, YSJ will be determined to capitalise on their home advantage, something that – according to recent history, has proved vital for both universities in the last few years.

This years event will see long-awaited returns and debuts of half a dozen events to York, with the standout being the return of Men’s Rugby, who have been without their varsity event for more than three years.

Examples of new sports to be played are the newly established Team Sunderland Darts and Padel sides, expanding the already packed roster.

Clash of the Minsters will be spread across six different venues, with one or two expected to be added, Haxby Road Sports Village – YSJ’s main sports facility, will host the majority of events.

Half a mile up from Haxby is New Easwick Sports Club, the second busiest venue with Women/Men’s Rugby Union and Women’s football competing there.

On the Rugby front, YSJ’s women were handed a 57-7 dismantling by Team Sunderland at Ashbrooke in 2025, and with the men off the back of their third trophy in as many years – they’ll provide quite the challenge for the hosts.

Starting proceedings Is Men’s Cricket, with first bowl set for 8:30, half an hour later they’ll be joined by American Football and football Men’s 5’s.

Those events kickstart over 12 hours of sport on the day, with the evening finishing off with Futsal the same as the year prior.

The lions share of sports will be played between 11 and 3 in the afternoon, including all of football sides, netball, rugby, tennis and badminton before Basketball Women’s fixture at the York Sports Centre proceeds the closing leg of the day at Haxby’s Sports Barn.

The Trophy celebration will be hosted in YSJ’s students’ union bar at 10:15, with festivities set to end at 2am for all Teams.