Union Cup
Encyclopedia
The Union Cup is a biennial European, non-professional, gay 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...

 tournament, bringing together teams and joint teams from all over Europe.

Montpellier 2005

The first edition was held in May 2005 in Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. The participating teams were Les Artichauds, Les Artichauds, Manchester Village Spartans, London Steelers, Emerald Warriors RFC, Cardiff Lions
Cardiff Lions
The Cardiff Lions RFC is a gay and gay friendly rugby union football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club was founded in 2004 and remains the only gay rugby club in Wales...

, Los Valents Montpellier, Les Gaillard Parisiens, and the competition was won by Les Artichauds over the Manchester Village Spartans.

Copenhagen 2007

The second edition was held in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 in May 2007; the XVs competition was won by the Kings Cross Steelers
Kings Cross Steelers
The Kings Cross Steelers are an English rugby union team, the first open membership gay and bisexual rugby club in the world.The Kings Cross Steelers are currently playing in the .-History:...

 London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, while the 7s tournament was won by the Emerald Warriors RFC Dublin over the Cardiff Lions
Cardiff Lions
The Cardiff Lions RFC is a gay and gay friendly rugby union football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club was founded in 2004 and remains the only gay rugby club in Wales...

 with a 10-5 final score.

London 2009

The third edition was held in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 in 2009, with visiting teams from Amsterdam, Bristol, Cardiff, Copenhagen, Dublin, Edinburgh, Manchester, Montpellier, Newcastle, Paris and a Barbarians side; the XVs competition was won by the Kings Cross Steelers
Kings Cross Steelers
The Kings Cross Steelers are an English rugby union team, the first open membership gay and bisexual rugby club in the world.The Kings Cross Steelers are currently playing in the .-History:...

 London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 in a hardly fought 3-0 match against the Manchester Village Spartans, the Xs tournament was won by the Cardiff Lions
Cardiff Lions
The Cardiff Lions RFC is a gay and gay friendly rugby union football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club was founded in 2004 and remains the only gay rugby club in Wales...

 who beat the Kings Cross Steelers
Kings Cross Steelers
The Kings Cross Steelers are an English rugby union team, the first open membership gay and bisexual rugby club in the world.The Kings Cross Steelers are currently playing in the .-History:...

 Xs team 29-7 in the final, and the 7s tournament was won by the Bristol Bisons RFC
Bristol Bisons RFC
Bristol Bisons RFC is an English rugby union club and claims to be an inclusive gay friendly team.- Club History :The Bristol Bisons RFC were established in 2005....

 in a 12-7 final against Les Coqs Festifs Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

.

Amsterdam 2011

The fourth edition was held in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, hosted by the Amsterdam Lowlanders in June 2011 with visiting teams from Amsterdam, Bristol, Brussels, Dublin, Edinburgh, London, Lisbon, Lyon, Manchester, Montpellier and Paris. The XVs competition was won by the Kings Cross Steelers
Kings Cross Steelers
The Kings Cross Steelers are an English rugby union team, the first open membership gay and bisexual rugby club in the world.The Kings Cross Steelers are currently playing in the .-History:...

 I London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, over the Manchester Village Spartans and the Emerald Warriors RFC Dublin, while the Xs competition was won by the Los Valents Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....

, over the Bristol Bisons RFC
Bristol Bisons RFC
Bristol Bisons RFC is an English rugby union club and claims to be an inclusive gay friendly team.- Club History :The Bristol Bisons RFC were established in 2005....

 and the Kings Cross Steelers
Kings Cross Steelers
The Kings Cross Steelers are an English rugby union team, the first open membership gay and bisexual rugby club in the world.The Kings Cross Steelers are currently playing in the .-History:...

 II.

A video was created by the students of a local art university, and generally the competition found good coverage on the media, both on TV and on newspapers.

Bristol 2013

In July 2011, Bristol Bisons RFC
Bristol Bisons RFC
Bristol Bisons RFC is an English rugby union club and claims to be an inclusive gay friendly team.- Club History :The Bristol Bisons RFC were established in 2005....

 were successful in their bid for the 2013 Union Cup over the Emerald Warriors RFC from Dublin, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

External links

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