The British University Ladies' Gaelic Football Championships are a group of an annual Gaelic football tournaments held for universities in Great Britain. They are organised by the British Universities Gaelic Atheltic Association (BUGAA); a branch of the Higher Education GAA committee overseeing Gaelic Games in universities across England, Wales, and Scotland; in tandem with the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association. Unlike the men's competition, it is not affiliated with British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS).
History
The first organised ladies' Gaelic football tournament was held in Dundee in 1997, with St Mary's winning the inaugural competition. St Mary's would go on to win the first 8 championship titles up until 2005, with Liverpool Hope University breaking their monopoly with a hat-trick of titles in 2006, 2007, and 2008.
Between 2001 and 2009, the British Division 1 championship winners entered the Lynch Cup - then the Division 2 championship for universities in Ireland - at the semi-final stage. While no British team won the competition during these years, St Mary's University, Twickenham made the Lynch Cup final twice in 2002 and 2005 (losing to Mary Immaculate College, Limerick and Trinity College, Dublin), while Liverpool Hope University made the Lynch Cup final 3 years in a row from 2006 to 2008, losing to Dublin City University, Dundalk Institute of Technology and University College Cork.
A reorganisation of HEC competitions in the 2009/10 season saw the Lynch Cup become the Division 3 championship in Ireland, and British teams represented in different Irish HEC competitions each year. In 2015, Liverpool Hope reached the final of the Moynihan Cup - then the Division 4 championship for universities in Ireland - losing to St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, and in 2026, Coventry University became the first British winners of an Irish HEC competition with victory over a team from DCU Dóchas Éireann in the Lagan Cup, the Division 6 championship.
Format Gaelic games in Britain are run by the Gaelic Games Council of Britain with university competitions organised by the British Universities Gaelic Atheltic Association (BUGAA) in association with the Higher Education Committee of the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association.
Teams compete from September to February in regional leagues, split into Scotland, North-West England, and Midlands & Southern England. The top 5 teams across the leagues qualifying for the Division 1 Championship tournament in March. The qualifying teams play in a round-robin to decide the champion.
Teams that did not qualify for Division 1 drop into the Division 2 Championship. The teams compete in 3 groups of 4. The top 8 teams across the 3 groups compete in knockouts (via quarter finals, semi finals, and a final) for the Division 2 title, with the other 4 teams forming the Division 3 Championship.
Teams
The teams competing in the BUGAA divisions of ladies' Gaelic football, as of the 2025/26 season, are as follows: Scottish LeagueNorthern LeagueMidlands & Southern League Glasgow Caledonian University Liverpool Hope University Cardiff University Heriot-Watt University Liverpool John Moores University Coventry University Queen Margaret University Northumbria University Harper Adams University Robert Gordon University University of Liverpool Loughborough University University of Dundee University of Manchester Nottingham Trent University University of Edinburgh St Mary's University, Twickenham University of Glasgow University of Birmingham University of StirlingUniversity of Nottingham
BUGAA Championships rolls of honour BUGAA Division 1 Championship
1998 St Mary's University, Twickenham 1999 St Mary's University, Twickenham 2000 St Mary's University, Twickenham 2001 St Mary's University, Twickenham 2002 St Mary's University, Twickenham 2003 St Mary's University, Twickenham 2004 St Mary's University, Twickenham 2005 St Mary's University, Twickenham 2006 Liverpool Hope University 2007 Liverpool Hope University 2008 Liverpool Hope University 2009 Queen Margaret University 2010 Robert Gordon University 2011 St Mary's University, Twickenham 2012 St Mary's University, Twickenham 2013 Robert Gordon University 2014 Robert Gordon University 2015 Liverpool Hope University 2016 Queen Margaret University 2017 St Mary's University, Twickenham 2018 Liverpool Hope University 2019 Liverpool John Moores University 2020 not played 2021 not played 2022 University of Liverpool 2023 University of Liverpool 2024 Coventry University 2025 Coventry University 2026 University of Liverpool BUGAA Division 2 Championship
2004 University of Chester 2005 University of Chester 2006 University of Chester 2007 University of Glasgow 2008 University of Glasgow 2009 2010 Northumbria University 2011 Northumbria University 2012 University of Liverpool 2013 Glasgow Caledonian University 2014 University of Dundee 2015 Coventry University 2016 Glasgow Caledonian University 2017 University of Glasgow 2018 Coventry University 2019 University of Manchester 2020 not played 2021 not played 2022 Glasgow Caledonian University 2023 Glasgow Caledonian University 2024 Glasgow Caledonian University 2025 University of Glasgow 2026 Liverpool Hope University
BUGAA Division 3 Championship
2011 Manchester Metropolitan University 2012 2013 University of Glasgow 2014 University of Birmingham 2015 Teesside University 2016 University of Glasgow 2017 University of Manchester 2018 University of Manchester 2019 University of Stirling 2020 not played 2021 not played 2022 not played 2023 not played 2024 not played 2025 University of Edinburgh 2026 Glasgow Caledonian University
Winners by university RankUniversityDivision 1 winsDivision 2 winsDivision 3 winsSt Mary's University, TwickenhamFormerly known as St Mary's University College.1100Liverpool Hope University510University of Liverpool3104Robert Gordon University3005Coventry University2206Queen Margaret University2007Liverpool John Moores University1008Glasgow Caledonian University0519University of Glasgow04210University of Chester03011Northumbria University02012University of Manchester01213University of Dundee010=14Manchester Metropolitan University001Teesside University001University of Birmingham001University of Edinburgh001University of Stirling001
BUGAA Championship finals
BUGAA Division 1 Championship YearWinnerScoreRunner-upSource2025-26Liverpool1-160-08Coventry2024-25Coventry3-122-11Liverpool2023-24Coventry4-151-09Liverpool2022-23Liverpool9-145-04Liverpool John Moores2021-22Liverpool4-103-11Liverpool John Moores2020-21cancelled due to COVID-192019-202018-19Liverpool John Moores2-09Robert Gordon2017-18Liverpool Hope5-080-10Liverpool John Moores2016-17St Mary's8-122-02Liverpool Hope2015-16Queen Margaret2-132-05St Mary's2014-15Liverpool Hope6-091-07Queen Margaret2013-14Robert Gordon1-031-02Liverpool John Moores2012-13Robert Gordon2-165-05Queen Margaret2011-12St Mary's4-063-04Robert Gordon2010-11St Mary's4-110-07Liverpool Hope2009-10Robert Gordon0-040-02St Mary's2008-09Queen Margaret2007-08Liverpool Hope3-080-02Robert Gordon2006-07Liverpool Hope3-071-12St Mary's2005-06Liverpool Hope1-061-03St Mary's2004-05St Mary's2-060-05Liverpool Hope2003-04St Mary's2-041-06Liverpool Hope2002-03St Mary's2001-02St Mary's2000-01St Mary's1999-00St Mary's1998-99St Mary's1997-98St Mary's BUGAA Division 2 Championship YearWinnerScoreRunner-upSource2025-26Liverpool Hope2-010-05Manchester2024-25Glasgow0-08aet+25m kicks1-04Dundee2023-24Glasgow Caledonian2-143-01Glasgow2022-23Glasgow Caledonian7-125-04Manchester2021-22Glasgow Caledonian3-051-01Manchester2020-21cancelled due to COVID-192019-202018-19ManchesterGlasgow Caledonian2017-18Coventry4-100-10Glasgow2016-17Glasgow6-093-08Birmingham2015-16Glasgow Caledonian4-051-02Northumbria2014-15Coventry3-071-06Birmingham2013-14Dundee1-042-00Glasgow2012-13Glasgow Caledonian6-090-04Dundee2011-12Liverpool3-121-08Manchester Metropolitan2010-11Northumbria3-060-04Liverpool2009-10Northumbria2008-092007-08Glasgow2-042-03Chester2006-07Glasgow3-062-07Chester2005-06Chester1-061-03Leeds2004-05ChesterBangor2003-04Chester3-090-00Teesside
BUGAA Division 3 Championship YearWinnerScoreRunner-upSource2025-26Glasgow Caledonian1-041-03Edinburgh2024-25Edinburgh1-041-00Nottingham / Nottingham Trent2023-24not played2022-232021-222020-212019-202018-19Stirling2017-18Manchester4-071-01Stirling2016-17Manchester4-090-06Stirling2015-16Glasgow2014-15TeessideHeriot-Watt2013-14Birmingham0-071-02 (AET)Manchester Metropolitan2012-13Glasgow1-031-02Birmingham2011-122010-11Manchester Metropolitan1-030-02UCLAN References
External links Website https://web.archive.org/web/20071119043738/http://www.ladiesgaelic.ie/colleges/News/News5.htm