On Friday 7th November 2025, The Mumford Pitch was officially unveiled, marking the completion of the first phase of an ambitious redevelopment of the historic Grange Road sports ground in central Cambridge. The day began with an official launch event, which brought together University leaders, civic guests and university sporting stars, including:
- Bhaskar Vira, Chair of Sports Committee and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education
- Lord Lieutenant Julie Spence OBE
- Jess Tayenjam, Chair, CURUFC
- Anna Hipkiss, Women’s President, CUAFC
- Josh Taylor, Men’s Co-President, CUAFC
- Mark Brian, Director of Sport
Guests also got to enjoy witnessing the pitch in action, with student sports demonstrations.
The newly transformed, floodlit, 3G artificial pitch – named in recognition of principal donor Hugh Mumford – will, for the first time, enable year-round access to high-quality sporting facilities for both students and the wider Cambridge community.
The Mumford Pitch has been delivered in collaboration with Cambridge University Football Club, who will share ownership of the ground with CURUFC.
The opening marks a major step forward in delivering the University’s Strategy for Sport and Physical Activity, strengthening links between the University and local residents, and promoting health, wellbeing and community connection through sport. It also feeds into the University’s new civic approach to help create a more connected city.
Bhaskar Vira, the Chair of Sports Committee and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education, University of Cambridge, commented that
“The Mumford Pitch represents a transformation in our sporting facilities at Cambridge. It responds to a long standing need for a high quality all-weather pitch for rugby and football. It also represents a genuine opening-up of University sport to the wider community. It’s a space where students, schools and local residents can play, train and connect and we hope will become a symbol of partnership between the University and the city.”
Mumford Pitch Construction Footage
Over the summer, we were lucky enough to have regular visits from sports media producer Nordin Ćatić at Grange Road. He used a drone to photograph the progress of the Mumford Pitch’s construction, collecting images which show its assembly in many layers from early July to the end of October.
Men’s Blues vs Trinity College, Dublin
Following the morning’s sporting action, it was time for the official inaugural match to be played on the Mumford Pitch: the Men’s Blues faced a talented squad from Trinity College Dublin in front of a packed-out crowd at Grange Road.
Though the atmosphere was undeniably electric, and the support for the Blues high – headed by History MPhil student and Men’s Squad player Rory McIvor – TCD got off to a roaring start and the Blues were unfortunately unable to suppress their force. The final score was 64-21 to TCD.
As challenging as the match was, it will spur on the Men’s Blues as look towards their two next fixtures – the annual invitational match for the Eddie Butler Trophy on Wednesday 12th November, and, of course, the Steele Bodger Match on the 26th.
We at CURUFC look forward to seeing Grange Road full again as it was last Friday, as well as for the Old Girls Match, kicking off at 18:00 on Saturday the 15th November!