Frank Morton Sports Day
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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] In 2021 the event was held online for the first time, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]
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,[3] but by the 1980s, the event had grown to include many more universities and sports. In 2015, 29 Universities competed in 19 events.[4]
Previous Winners:
| Wins | University | Last Won |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | Birmingham | 2023 |
| 7 | Imperial | 2013 |
| 7 | Loughborough | 2004 |
| 4 | Nottingham | 2025 |
| 2 | Bath | 2021 |
| 2 | Manchester | 2009 |
| 1 | Cambridge | 2026 |
| 1 | Strathclyde | 2014 |
| 1 | Sheffield | 2003 |
| 1 | Newcastle | 1997 |
Virtual Frank Morton Bradford 2021
On February 13, 2021, the University of Bradford hosted the event online for the first time, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite many physical sports not being possible, the winner was decided based on various challenges and games, including most kick-ups, a trivia quiz, and a FIFA21 tournament. Despite the unconventional circumstances, the event was attended by 24 UK universities and was sponsored by 2 leading chemical engineering companies: Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline.[17] The main event was moderated via livestream, which reached over 100 real-time viewers at its peak. The winner of the 2021 Frank Morton Trophy was the University of Bath.[2]
Frank Morton Leeds 2018
In 2018 Frank Morton was attended by around 2100 chemical engineers from 28 universities. 18 sporting events took place in various venues around Leeds. The careers fair and opening and closing ceremony were hosted in Leeds University Union. The evening entertainment saw carnival rides come to the union as well as the headline act- MistaJam. [8]
Frank Morton Birmingham 2015
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.[18]