Tolstoy Cup

The Tolstoy Cup is an annual football match played between the students of the Department of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford and the Department of War Studies at King's College London since 2007, though the fixture was first played in 1992. The complete list of fixtures and results up to June 2024 appears in the Results table below. The competition is named after War and Peace, the 1869 novel written by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy.

Following a six year hiatus, largely due to the covid-19 virus, the fixture was replayed on 9 June 2024 as part of the Peace Studies Golden Jubilee Conference at the University of Bradford.

Rivalry
The rivalry between "Peace Studies" and "War Studies" is one of the great sporting rivalries, being featured at number four on the Financial Times list of "Great college sports rivalries". Although it does not match the history or tradition of university rivalries such as the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, the competition is still often covered by the national media including the BBC, The Independent and Bradford's Telegraph and Argus. The second leg of the 2007 match played at Bradford City's Valley Parade attracted over 200 spectators. King's College London itself has a longer standing rivalry with UCL, particularly involving rugby union.

Symbolism
Symbolically, War Studies adopt a red and black stripe, while Peace Studies typically play in light blue colours. Rather than their own, both sides have at times played with the names of notable figures related to their studied disciplines on their shirts: 'D. Lama', 'M. L. King' and 'Gandhi' for Peace and 'Nelson', 'Caesar' and 'Clausewitz' for War.

Trophy History
The "trophy" for the Tolstoy Cup has in prior years constituted a framed copy of Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace. The trophy first came into use in 2007. It is traditionally kept by the department of the current winners. Bradford's Department of Peace Studies and International Development currently holds the Trophy following their 3-2 victory at the University of Bradford Sports Park in June 2024. The original Tolstoy Cup was replaced by a new version, still based on a copy of War and Peace enclosed in a framed box. After the game played on 9 June, closing the Bradford 50th Conference, this new Tolstoy Cup (shown on right) was presented to Peace FC team captain Dr Alex Waterman by Andy Richardson, a former Bradford student, credited with the organsisation of the games between Peace Studies and War Studies in the early 1990s. Peace FC President, Emeritus Professor Tom Woodhouse, presented a football depicting the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, to War Studies captain Ben Wallace.

The original trophy has been retained at Bradford, with the intention to exhibit it in the National Peace Museum due to open in Salts Mill Bradford in August 2024.

The football, and the idea of the game itself, is that Peace Studies and War Studies share a common interest in limiting and preventing war. Professor PB Anand closed the conference and the presentation ceremony with a speech thanking all invovled for the positive spirit in which the game was played. The match was also used as a charity fund raiser to support two charities, War Child and PeaceJam. The Department of Peace Studies and International Development intends to continue to use the symbolism of the game to promote education for peacebuilding through sport in general and football in particular.