Frank Morton Sports Day

The Frank Morton Sports Day (abbreviated to FM) is an annual sporting competition between the students of chemical engineering departments from UK and Irish universities. The event is held on one of the campuses of one of the competing universities, normally in the second week of February, when there is less academic pressure on students. In 2009, for the first time, the event was held in Singapore as well as the UK.[1]

History

The event is named after Frank Morton, a prominent professor of Chemical Engineering, who taught at Birmingham University until 1956, when he switched to teaching at UMIST (now University of Manchester). His love for sport and connections at both universities led him to organise the first of these sports days. The competition began in 1961 as a football match between the two departments,[2] but by the 1980s, the event had grown to include many more universities and sports. In 2015, 29 Universities competed in 19 events,[3]

Previous Winners:

Year Winner Host Reference
2015 University of Birmingham University of Birmingham [4]
2014 University of Strathclyde University of Strathclyde [5]
2013 Imperial College London Newcastle University [6]
2012 University of Birmingham Swansea University [3]
2011 University of Birmingham University of Nottingham [2]
2010 University of Birmingham University of Birmingham [7]
2009 University of Manchester University of Newcastle [1]
2008 Imperial College London University of Leeds [8]
2007 Imperial College London University of Manchester [9]
2006 University of Manchester University of Birmingham [10]
2005 Imperial College London University of Newcastle [11]
2004 Loughborough University Loughborough University [12]
2003 University of Sheffield University of Sheffield
2002 Imperial College London UMIST [13]
2001 Imperial College London University of Leeds [14]
2000 Imperial College London University of Bath
1999 Loughborough University University of Nottingham
1998 Loughborough University University of Sheffield
1997 University of Newcastle University of Newcastle
1996 University of Birmingham University of Birmingham
1995 Loughborough University Loughborough University
1994 Loughborough University University of Surrey
1993 University of Birmingham Bradford University
1992 Loughborough University Loughborough University
1991 University of Birmingham UMIST
1990 University of Birmingham University of Birmingham/Aston University
1989 University of Birmingham University of Nottingham
1988 Loughborough University Teesside Polytechnic
1987 University of Birmingham University of Newcastle
1986 Nottingham University Southbank Polytechnic
1985 Birmingham/Nottingham Newcastle University
Wins University Last Won
11 Birmingham 2015
7 Loughborough 2004
7 Imperial College London 2013
2 Manchester 2009
2 Nottingham University 1986
1 University of Strathclyde 2014
1 University of Bath 2000
1 Sheffield 2003
1 Newcastle 1997

Current Format

The modern version of the sports day shows significant development from the original concept, though the ideals of friendly competition and rivalry remain. The day can begin for many students as early as midnight the night before, when they travel from their university to where the competition is held; some universities even opting to stay the night before in a host city hostel.

An opening ceremony at around 9am sees all students register, collect bags full of sponsor goodies and visit an organised careers fair. Sports competitions are held throughout the day, typically from around 10am to 4pm, with participants often travelling by bus to the sporting venue. Tournaments of a less athletic nature also run in this time frame, such as pool or bowling, but teams' performances in them still count towards the final points total for the universities.

After the conclusion of the sporting events all participants return to a single venue for the awards ceremony where the overall winner is revealed. After the ceremony, the universities are let loose around the city to find food and then take part in a traditional pub crawl. The event ends at a large nightclub which has to hold over 2500 students.

Frank Morton Manchester 2016

Frank Morton is coming home to Manchester on 16 February 2016, with 30 sports planned.[15]

Frank Morton Birmingham 2015

The event was hosted by the University of Birmingham on Tuesday 17th February 2015. Birmingham was announced as the host in March 2014 after winning the bidding process against Manchester University.

The 2015 event was attended by around 2700 chemical engineering students from 29 UK and Irish universities. The event took take place at the Barclaycard Arena, with students and companies to participating in 19 different sporting events located in venues around Birmingham.[4]

The event secured a range of high-level sponsors, including ABB, National Nuclear Laboratory, BP, CB&I, GSK, Mondelēz International, PepsiCo and Teach First. The event was supported by, Phillips 66, Syngenta, University of Birmingham, Valero, Johnson Matthey, Johnson Matthey Davy Technologies, Bechtel and BOC. As a charity event, money was raised for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Frank Morton Strathclyde 2014

The event was hosted for the first time in Scotland by Strathclyde University in Glasgow on 11 February 2014. Strathclyde was announced as the host in March 2013 after winning the bidding process against Birmingham University.

Over 2000 chemical engineering students from 22 UK and Irish universities attended attracting sponsorship from several companies. The event was based at Braehead Arena where opening speeches were heard before students and teams from 11 companies competed in 13 different sports at venues across Glasgow. Some notable venues included Scotstoun Leisure Centre, home of the Glasgow Warriors rugby team, and the Glasgow National Hockey Centre, the hockey venue for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. A closing ceremony was hosted by comedian Ray Bradshaw, and involved a performance by the Red Hot Chilli Pipers. Strathclyde were announced as the overall winners of the competition, beating Birmingham University by one point.

The night consisted of a split group bar crawl through Glasgow, involving 11 different bars. Arta, in Glasgow's Merchant City, was the final venue of the day.

Frank Morton Newcastle 2013

The event was hosted by Newcastle University on Tuesday 12 February and saw the scale of the event increase dramatically. The event took place in the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, and was the first time the event has ever been held in a commercial venue. Over 2000 chemical engineering students from 24 UK and Irish universities participated in 15 different tournaments across the city.[6]

The day featured the voice of Big Brother UK, Marcus Bentley, and the awards ceremony was hosted by Chris Ramsey. The ceremonies featured pyrotechnics and a Heineken Perfect Pour bar. The night saw the biggest ever Frank Morton club crawl ever attempted starting at The Gate Newcastle for food with 6 clubs on the route ending at Newcastle University Students Union.

With 22 organisations financially supporting the event, £60000 was raised. The event was partnered with ABB with sponsorship from GSK, Royal Navy, Phillips 66, Exxon Mobil and support from Bechtel, Johnson Matthey, Croda, KBR, Davy Process Technology, Gradcracker, Valero and Ineos.[16]

Previous Events

In 2012, the event took place at Swansea University, 21 February 2012 and included a number of new events such as Laser Tag and Bowling. The 2012 event was won by Birmingham[17]

In 2011, the event took place on 22 February at the University of Nottingham and was won by the University of Birmingham.[18]

In 2010, the event was hosted, and won, by the University of Birmingham on 18 February.[19] It involved 1547 students from 20 universities.[7] The Asia-Pacific Frank Morton Sports Day in October 2010 was hosted by the Universiti Technologi Mara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[7] The Event was sponsored by ConocoPhillips, British Sugar, PepsiCo, Exxon Mobil, Croda, Unilever, M W Kellogg, BP and DBD Nuclear.

In 2009, Frank Morton Sports Day was held in Singapore as well as the UK for the first time.[1] In the UK, Newcastle University hosted the event.[20] Overall winners were the University of Manchester, with Strathclyde second and Birmingham Third.[1][21] The National University of Singapore hosted the Singapore event on 21 February 2009. Overall winners were Universiti Teknologi MARA with University of Nottingham (Malaysia) second and National University of Singapore third.[1]

In 2008 the event took place on 19 February at the University of Leeds. 1300 students from 17 universities and several company teams took part. Imperial College London successfully defended their title as overall winners, with Birmingham University second and Strathclyde University third. The champion company team was that from Bechtel.[8] The event was sponsored by ConocoPhillips, GSK, Royal Dutch Shell, Siemens, British Sugar, Petrofac, Lafarge, CB&I, Jacobs Engineering, Bechtel, SABIC, Exxon Mobil, M W Kellogg, Atkins plc.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 The Chemical Engineer April 2009 page 53 Frank Morton Sports in Newcastle and Singapore
  2. 1 2 The Chemical Engineer issue 838 (April) page 59
  3. 1 2 The Chemical Engineer issue 850 (April 2012) page 70
  4. 1 2 The Chemical Engineer March 2015 p50 "Morton in the Midlands"
  5. ↑ The Chemical Engineer issue 873 (March 2014) pages 48-9
  6. 1 2 The Chemical Engineer issue 861 (March 2013) pages 52-3
  7. 1 2 3 The Chemical Engineer issue 825 (March 2010) page 60
  8. 1 2 The Chemical Engineer issue 802 (April 2008) page 60
  9. ↑ The Chemical Engineer issue 790 (April 2007) page 68
  10. ↑ The Chemical Engineer issue 777 (March 2006) page 52
  11. ↑ The Chemical Engineer issue 765 (March 2005) page 56
  12. ↑ The Chemical Engineer issue 754 (April 2004) page 21
  13. ↑ The Chemical Engineer issue 729 (March 2002) page 24
  14. ↑ The Chemical Engineer issue 718 (April 2001) page 19
  15. ↑ The Chemical Engineer 12 May 2015 "Frank Morton returns to Manchester in 2016"
  16. ↑ "Frank Morton Sports Day Newcastle 2013". Frank Morton Newcastle. Retrieved 2012-11-29.
  17. ↑ The Waterfront 28 November 2011 "Engineering Society to host Frank Morton Sports Day"
  18. ↑ www.icheme.org Events: Frank Morton Sports Day 2011.
  19. ↑ The Chemical Engineer (December 2009-January 2010) page 52
  20. ↑ Newcastle University Frank Morton 2009
  21. ↑ www.youtube.com Frank Morton 2009 awards ceremony
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