The Merger Cup is a series of annual sporting fixtures played between Queen Mary, University of London

Queen Mary, University of London

Queen Mary, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London...

 and its medical school Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry. The event has taken place since the merger of the two institutions in 1995.

The results of a number of matches, normally played on the same day, are combined to determine the overall winner. Among the sports played are rugby

Rugby football

Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...

, football, hockey

Hockey

Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...

, rowing

Rowing (sport)

Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...

, tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

, badminton

Badminton

Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...

, netball

Netball

Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...

, squash

Squash (sport)

Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...

, and basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

.

Results

Despite the difference in student numbers between the two establishments (Queen Mary has almost 25,000 students while Barts and The London has 1,600), the medical school has tended to dominate the cup in the past. However, more recently Queen Mary have won the cup in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. 2009 saw the cup return to the medical school with a 9-7 victory over Queen Mary, but a close 10-9 win brought it back to Queen Mary in 2010. In 2011, Barts & The London were Merger Cup winners.

Contributions to society

After the Barts and the London win of 2011, the phrase "Where's the merger cup, where's the merger cup?" came in to popular use amongst most of Europe, Asia, and Texas. This adds on to all previous contributions Barts and the London have made to society so far. E.g. The game "cock or ball."

See also

• Queen Mary, University of London Boat Club
  Queen Mary, University of London Boat Club
  Queen Mary, University of London Boat Club is the rowing club of Queen Mary, University of London. The club was founded in 1910. Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, although a part of QMUL, have their own boat club: St Bartholomew's and the London Hospitals' Boat Club...
  
  
• St Bartholomew's and the London Hospitals' Boat Club