Trial Dates: 2nd October, 5th October, 9th October, 12th October.
Trial Sign-Up Link:
Here at Red Star F.C. we aim to provide every UCL student with the opportunity to play football whilst studying. We believe that football is a universal language and a great way to keep fit, make new friends and let off some steam during the academic year. As such, we provide both competitive and social matches all year round and welcome players of all abilities to join our footballing community. We also pride ourselves on our social offerings of all kinds.
11-a-side Football:
We comprise 4 teams which compete in the London University Sports Leagues (LUSL), Cups and Plates on Wednesdays and Saturdays and in the UCL Leagues on Sundays. Each team plays on average 2 matches and a 7-a-side session every week. We also do not train and understand that students have varying commitments beyond football.
Our 1s play in the same division as UCL 2s and various London Uni 1s and compete in the LUSL Cup annually alongside all UCL Football teams and the best University teams in London, so we offer a very high level of football for competitive but social players.
Please do come by to our trials on the above dates - but if you can't make it just drop us a message on Instagram!
Social Football:
We offer twice weekly casual 7-a-side sessions, no commitment, on a 4G astro pitch next to UCL. We avoid training, promote several socials to create a tight-knit community, and completely understand that everyone has their own schedule and timetable. In terms of performance, we always exceed expectations: this year our 1s and 2s competed in title races in both the wednesday and saturday leagues while our 3s won the Sunday UCL league and our two 8-a-side teams finished first and second in their Team UCL League in a more casual setting.
8-a-side and 5-a-side Matches:
This year, Red Star will continue to have 2 8-a-side teams, and 1 5-a-side team. If you’re short on time, this is a great option – as they’ll be played at Coram’s Fields or Somers Town (both by campus).
To hear more, sign up for taster/standard membership.
Why Red Star?
We differentiate ourselves from UCL football for the following reasons:
- We only play matches within London and do not travel outside of Greater London
- We offer regular, low-commitment 7-a-side football matches
- We do not train nor do we put any pressure on constant attendance
- We welcome players of absolutely any footballing ability
- We put a lot of focus on the social aspect of football and aim to create events which involve the whole club to avoid team segregation
- We really care about our members, winning the Louis Carr Memorial Award in 2023.
What you need to know:
- Fixtures for all 4 teams are played on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons at 2 pm.
- Fixtures start 12th October.
- Home matches are played at Hackney Marshes - UCL's sports ground.
- The 1s and 2s play in the Competitive divisions of the LUSL league on Wednesdays and Saturdays and are part of the LUSL Cups/Plates. The 3s play on Wednesdays in the Intermediate leagues and on Sundays in the UCL leagues. The 4s only play on Sunday in the UCL league
- 7-a-side football is played regularly around classes throughout the week in the late afternoon/evening at Coram's Field Pitches.
- Social events take place every Wednesday night and on other certain days throughout the year.
Welcome Events and Trials:
- TeamUCL Takeover Fair - 25th of September: we are attending this fair this year and you will be able to find our stand in the main quad. Please feel free to come up to us and ask any questions! See you there :)
- Welcome Fair - 28/29th of September: You will be able to find us here only TBC. You will find us with the societies starting with the letter F. Feel free to ask us anything and we'll be happy to explain everything.
-
Trials will be at Hackney Marshes at 2pm on the above dates!
E9 5PF (Hackney Marshes Pavillion) details will be posted on our insta page closer to the time.
Our Socials
Some of our club's favourite socials are:
- Wednesday night socials: what better way to wind down after a thrilling midweek game than with a couple of drinks at one of the University Bars. Afterwards, for those interested, Red Star F.C. also organises a weekly pilgrimage to the University Club, Scala, where members show off their dancing moves and try to make a name for themselves on these hallowed grounds.
- Our famous Curry Nights: every term Red Star F.C. invites all of its members for a massive curry night (BYOB) where members can discuss who's scored the best banger of the year.
- Champions League Match Screening: the whole club usually reunites to watch the most exhilarating Champion's League football matches of the year on a massive screen with some snacks and pizzas.
- Summer Tour: every year we organise a summer tour to a hot destination to show off our footballing skills to the locals - this year's destination was Lisbon. We made sure to create some banging tour kits as well.
- "Ou est le poulet": this has become a Red Star F.C. tradition in recent years. We meet at a University Bar, split into teams and put some money into a common pot. One team is then randomly chosen to be "the chicken" (costume included) and given the pot of money. The chicken has then ten minutes to go "hide" in a pub where they can start spending the money. The other teams must find the chicken teams as fast as possible to join in on the fun and share the pot of money.
- Joint Socials: This year we are going to be hosting a number of joint socials with other societies at UCL, and are already in the planning stage with the likes of UCLWFC, and many more! Stay tuned...
Plenty of more socials throughout the year as well, so be sure to join up and get involved!
Charity and Mental Health Awareness
From our annual Movember endeavour to our 2.4 Million Metre Challenge for Student Minds, Charity has always been important to us here at Red Star. Recently, we have been focusing on raising awareness for mental health and have been working closely with the brilliant mental health charity, Olly's Future (https://ollysfuture.org.uk/), who will deliver some brilliant seminars at the beginning of term 2. This term Red Star will be heavily involved in the UCL Men's Health Active Group, a new initiative designed to encourage young men to engage with and look after their own mental health through non-competitive sport; In term 3, we hold a memorial tournament at Coram's Field in honour of Matt Quigley, who passed away two years ago. This year's tournament was a phenomenal day of football and a perfect way to pay tribute to such a dearly missed member of the Red Star community. It was for amazing work like this that our previous president, Shiv Patel, was awarded the Oliver Hare Altruism Award.
Membership, Costs and Contacts
Our membership fee is £50 for the Annual Team Membership. This includes everything: 7-a-side and 11-a-side football, and all socials. The Participation Form (https://studentsunionucl.org/forms/participation-fund-contact-form) can be used to help students to cover the cost of membership or other society-related expenses. We also ensure that all our members get refunded for their travel beyond Zone 2.
If you have any questions then do not hesitate to get in touch by visiting our insta page (@ucl_redstarFC), Facebook page or email (details to the right).