It’s official, Roses are Red (again): Lancaster wins Roses 2025

After three days of fierce competition, Lancaster University has been crowned the winners of Roses 2025.

The tournament, hosted this year by York, took place from Friday 2nd May to Sunday 4th, with a wide range of sports teams from both universities competing.

After a tense day of competition on Sunday, Lancaster won 184-160, becoming the first team to win four consecutive competitions.

If you’re out of the loop, Roses (named after the 15th century War of the Roses between Lancaster and York) is the largest inter-university sports tournament in Europe. It’s truly a massive event for student sports, and this year was especially significant – it was both the 60th anniversary and followed a three year winning streak for Lancaster.

Roses was covered extensively by student media from both York and Lancaster, with press, radio and TV coverage of most fixtures. The Lancaster Tab also came over to watch on Saturday, upholding the decades-long rivalry with York (we love them really).

If you somehow missed all the action, here is a wrap up of each day of the competition.

Friday

Lancaster were leading on Friday from the pre-Roses events (cross country, rowing, canoe whitewater, canoe polo and snow sports),  although York did put up a good fight with victories in several fixtures.

On Friday, York won points in the following events: Indoor Hockey Women’s 1s and 2s, Golf Open, Equestrian 2s, Football Women’s 2s and Men’s 2s, Swimming Open 1s, College Netball League A, Lacrosse Men’s 1s, Table Tennis Open 2s, Men’s Waterpolo, College Football B, and achieved a clean sweep in Cheerleading. They also won Exhibition Fixtures for Hockey Dev Team, Lacrosse Women’s 2s, and Football Women’s 3s.

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Lancaster achieved victories in Table Tennis Open 1s and Women’s 1s, College Netball League B, Equestrian 1s, Football Men’s 1s, 2s and 3s, Indoor Hockey Open 2nd, Swimming Open 2nd, Cricket Women’s 1s, Octopush, Trampolining, Tennis 2s, American Football, Women’s Waterpolo, Basketball Men’s 1s, Climbing Women’s Individual, Climbing Open Individual, and Open A Team.

York and Lancaster drew on Climbing Women’s A Team, Swimming Women’s 1s and 2s, Indoor Hockey Open 1s, and College Football A.

The first day of competition left Lancaster in the lead with a score of 84.5 to York’s 45.5.

Saturday

Saturday saw another busy day of tense competition, with York teams hoping to close the gap in points. York sports teams achieved victories in Ultimate Frisbee Women’s and Mixed, Hockey Women’s 1s, 3s, Open 2s and 3s, Women’s Handball, Archery Novice Team Open and Senior Female, Tennis Women’s 1s and Open 1s, Sailing Open 1s, Debating, Mixed Badminton, Netball 1s, 2s and 3s, Cycling, Volleyball Open 1s, Lacrosse Women’s 1s, Darts Open 2s, Fencing Women’s 1s, Climbing (Bouldering) Open A, Women’s A and Women’s Individual, as well as drawing with Lancaster in Hockey Open 1s.

They also won Exhibition Fixtures in E-Sports, Martial Arts, Rugby Men’s 3s, Squash Women’s 2s, and Kickboxing/Muay Thai. Lancaster won Exhibition Fixtures in Pokemon, Ballroom Dancing Beginners, Beginners, Non-Beginners Latin and Team Knockout, Motorsport

Vice-chancellor Charlie Jeffery also pulled through, winning the Vice Chancellor Darts Fixture (although unfortunately not giving us any points towards the total).

Lancaster won points for winning Basketball Women’s 1s and Men’s 2s, Climbing (Bouldering) Open Individual, Archery Novice Female, Novice Open, Senior Open, and Senior Team Open, Cricket Men’s 2s and 3s, Darts Women’s 1s and Open 1s, Ballroom Dancing Non-Beginners, Ultimate Frisbee Open, Football Women’s 1s, Powerlifting, Men’s Handball, Hockey Women’s 2s, Rugby Men’s 2s and  Women’s 2s and 3s, Squash Women’s 1s, Open 1s and Open 2s, Fencing Open 1s and 2s.

Lancaster remained firmly in the lead by the end of the day, with 156 points to York’s 121.

Sunday

Though York were still behind by the start of Sunday, at this point we had already improved from the 2024 tournament (when we lost by the end of day two). The nerves were palpable, and all eyes were on the remaining fixtures, with students still holding out hope for a York victory.

York teams performed exceptionally well on Sunday, with victories in Badminton Women’s 1s, Open 1s and 2s, Ultimate Frisbee Outdoor Open, Mixed Tennis, Dance, Mountain Biking, Volleyball Women’s 2s and Rugby Men’s 1s. York Rugby Women’s 1s won their fixture in the closing ceremony, a great way to round off the tournament.

York teams also won Exhibition Fixtures in Table Top Gaming, Weightlifting, Mixed Lacrosse and Ultimate Frisbee Outdoor Mixed. Lancaster won Exhibition Fixtures in Korfball Mixed 1s, Quiz Bowl and Futsal Women’s 1s.

While York teams secured more victories than Lancaster on Sunday, they still managed to maintain their lead and cinch the title with wins in Volleyball Open 2s, Snooker Open 1s, Cricket Men’s 1s, Pole Exercise and Badminton Women’s 2s. The win came in one of the final fixtures of the weekend, with the Futsal Men’s 1s team securing the four points needed to confirm Lancaster’s fourth consecutive victory.

Though not the result York had hoped for, everyone who participated should be proud of a fantastic weekend of competition. Roses is one of the highlights of the academic year, with the whole university community coming together to show their support. The 2025 tournament also saw the smallest margin since 2008, with Lancaster winning by just 24 points (as opposed to last year’s 91).

Maybe this is a sign Roses will be white next year? We can only hope.