Yesterday (Saturday) was a big day for the "student team", the Archers, who are playing Bangor City (a team run by Gary Taylor-Fletcher with Daniel Nardiello in tow) in the Dafabet Welsh Premier League play off, a team that has already represented its country in European competitions 15 times. Bangor sits 16 points above the students in the division.
At present, the student team sits 4th in the BUCS (British University and Colleges' Sport) 2016-17 league, though this is unlikely to be the premier squad.
The students have had three promotions from the Welsh Division Three and coming seventh in the Premier they beat Carmarthen Town in the play off semi-final. The team is made up from students of various ages, some of whom stay on for Masters degrees and therefore extend their career with the club. Staff member, Dr Christian Edwards, who played for Swansea City, Nottingham Forest and Wales as a defender runs the side. His last football league game was for Bristol Rovers in 2006 and his swan song was for Aberystwyth Town, and later he gained a degree, a Master's and a PhD. It is no coincidence that he has been responsible for the rapid progress of the student team.
The students pay £150 a season to play and of course have academic work to do, but they represent their university and this latest sequence of success has led them to the brink of Europe.
Other university teams may wish to pursue a "career" outside BUCS, but Team Bath tried it in 2009 and things did not work out in their favour. So watch it.
Cardiff runs 5th mens' and two women's teams in BUCS leagues. Despite a valiant effort by the Archers, THEY LOST 0-1. SEE LINK BELOW
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/cardiff-met-university-miss-out-13031529
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