A Gonville & Caius College student living a long defensive clearance from Parker’s Piece, where the rules of Association Football were formalised, is relishing the opportunity of playing in her second Varsity match next month.

Alexia Dengler (Law 2022) is a central defender for Cambridge University, who are hosting Oxford at Cambridge United’s Abbey Stadium on Friday 15 March in a double header. In the 175th year since the creation of the rules of football on Parker’s Piece, the women’s match takes place before the men's match in the 150th anniversary year since the first Varsity contest.

Alexia began playing football aged four in her native Austria and progressed to play in Switzerland for the FC Zurich academy team, winning the national title in the under-19s team. While some of her team-mates pursued professional careers, Alexia focused on her academic work and is enjoying both her Law degree and a high standard of sport at Cambridge.

She says: “It’s a really good standard. I was coming from an academy system which was training and playing at a high level. I was impressed by the level here and it’s really enjoyable. It’s a great atmosphere and it’s nice to have something outside your degree.”

Alexia used to be a midfielder, so is something of a ball-playing centre-back who enjoys a sliding tackle. It is a second year on the Blues team for Alexia, who is of Austrian and Greek descent.

She followed her elder sister and brother into football, a sport which runs in the family. She attended the Euro 2022 final when England’s Lionesses ended the nation’s long wait for an international trophy, boosting participation in the women’s game. Alexia has noticed an increase at all levels.

“There’s more and more involvement and participation and people see role models they can look up to,” she adds.

One of the co-presidents of the team, Alexia is playing a role in the organisation of the Varsity match, hoping to follow-up last season’s 4-0 win against an Oxford team whose results suggest an improvement.

“Oxford are in the league below us so it’s hard to know what to expect,” she says.

“Last year we beat them 4-0 and this year they seem to be scoring a lot of goals. It’s motivating to want to beat them.”

The Varsity matches take place on Friday 15 March – for more information and tickets click on this sentence.