New Highfields pitch opens with rugby Headliner
The University of Nottingham opened a brand new pitch and surround at Highfields Sports Complex, along with an official floodlight switch on to open the 2025/26 BUCS (British Universities & Colleges Sport) season. Both our women's and men's rugby union teams took on Loughborough University in front of a sell-out crowd during Freshers week, with the Headliner event encompassing specially brewed beer and a VIP event.
Published 25 Sep 2025
We're really proud of our new pitch and floodlights - this is an incredible transformation of the facilities on our campus. These upgrades are going to allow our students to perform at their very best and create a new fortress for our rugby teams to compete from.
Sam Kingman, University of Nottingham Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor
University of Nottingham Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sam Kingman officially opened our new feature pitch and surround at Highfields Sports Complex, with this summers upgrades also including new floodlights, enabling the University of Nottingham Men's Rugby Union team to begin their new BUCS Super Rugby season under the lights in front of a capacity crowd.
The afternoon also saw recognition for a number of companies who continue to support the university's sporting ambitions. These include CGI as the new headline sponsor of our BUCS Super Rugby team, Datagum as the new headline sponsor of our women's rugby team, Catapult as the sponsor of our Headliner event and men's hockey team, and G F Tomlinson's who continue to drive growth in our para and inclusive sport programmes. Representatives from each company were hosted at Highfields for both of the days fixtures and presented with a shirt at a dedicated VIP event where they took in the action from Vaughan Parry Williams Pavilion.
Upon cutting the ribbon to officially open the pitch, Professor Sam Kingman reflected; "We're really proud of our new pitch and floodlights - this is an incredible transformation of the facilities on our campus. These upgrades are going to allow our students to perform at their very best and create a new fortress for our rugby teams to compete from."
Over 1,400 students attended the Headliner event, watching the women's and men's rugby union teams taking on visitors Loughborough on the pitch, whilst enjoying refreshments from Hockley Brew Co. and Shipstones in the form of specially brewed beer for the event. Both the 'Headliner' and 'Green and Gold' beers on offer throughout the day were brewed at the University of Nottingham's Sutton Bonington campus.
The University of Nottingham now looks forward to another season of BUCS competition for our green and gold teams, as they look to maintain the university's position as the best university in the UK for team sport.
You can find out more about BUCS Super Rugby at the University of Nottingham here, with all of our teams regular BUCS fixtures and results updated throughout the season here.
Notes for editors
University of Nottingham are the top UK University for team sport, placing 2nd in the overall British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) rankings in the 2024/25 season. For more information on our performance sport offer, including scholarships and support for student athletes, please click here.