Macadam Cup
The Macadam Cup is a varsity match played between the sports teams of King's College London proper (KCL) and Guy's, King's and St. Thomas' School of Medicine (GKT). The championship is named in honour of Sir Ivison Macadam, an alumnus of King's. Macadam also gave his name to a building at the King's Strand Campus, the location of the students' union (King's College London Students' Union).
History
The cup was first instituted in 2004 after an election pledge by the incoming President of the Students' Union, Michael Champion. The motivation behind the competition was not entirely focused on sports; Champion enjoyed large backing from the Health schools, and in a time where the political will of the college was to rebrand Guy's, King's and St. Thomas' (GKT) to KCLMS, Champion saw the event as an opportunity to enshrine GKT identity through the vehicle of a sporting event. The ulterior motive of the Macadam Cup was designed to make it increasingly difficult for Champion's successors to merge the GKT sports teams with the KCL ones.
Sports
Since its conception, the Macadam Cup has grown in the number of sports contested. At present these include: Swimming gala, Water polo, Badminton, Squash, Hockey (men and women), Mixed fencing, Mixed tennis, Ultimate frisbee, Rugby (men and women), Netball, Lacrosse, Football (men and women) and Cricket.
Sports and presentations are held at Honor Oak Park Sports Ground with the day ending a Results night in KCLSU's Guys Bar and The Vault night clubs.
Results
From its inauguration in 2004 to 2010, King's College London had yet to win the Macadam Cup, leading to chants of "You'll never win Macadam". In 2011, 2014 and 2016, and 2018 KCL won the Macadam Cup.
In the event of a tie, the Macadam Cup is ordinarily determined by a 'Tug of War'. In 2017, the winner of the cup was decided on football penalties, carried out by members of 5 different sports, which GKT won 4–1.
In 2025 the event was tied, decided by a tug of war, with 2 men and 3 women from each GKT and KCL sports taking part, which GKT won to secure the macadam cup again.