Joy in the Football Field—Impression of the First “Alumni Cup” Football Friendly
Date:2014-10-24
Young or not, as the spring spreads its colors under the April sun, we have our joy in the football field; behind the passion, we saw the spirit of endeavor and teamwork of generations of students from Peking University Law School.
At the 101st anniversary of the Law School, the first “Alumni Cup” football friendly was unveiled as a unique and major part of the
101st Anniversary Celebration on Apr. 23.
In the morning of Apr. 23, the alumni’s gathering was held in the Moot Court. The host Ms. Li Yuanyuan said in her speech: Peking
University Law School has always been a lively group, whose members are equally vigorous in courts and in fields, and this football
friendly at the 101st anniversary of our school is a promising start of another time-honored celebrating tradition. Deputy Head Gong
Wendong welcomed the alumni and thanked the teachers and students who worked hard for this activity. He wished that the match can
enhance the communication between the alumni and students on campus, and hoped that the alumni can feel the concern and expectation
from the Alma Mater.
Next, Prof. Gong mentioned, that many members of the team were backbone players in their years in school and have won the champion of
“Peking University Cup” for many times on behalf of the Law School, that they are “formidable opponents”. Prof. Gong also encouraged
the students on campus and hoped “they can wear the other side out”.
Though most of the alumni and students on campus have never met before, there was no a shred of strangeness in the Moot Court., on the
contrary, everyone has the feeling of the “old friend”. The “pledging" of both parties were quite interesting, too. The captain of
Alumni Team A stepped up first—Wang Hui from Harden & Wells, a 80’ class alumnus. He said that football was a part of his life as he
still played at least twice a week. While the Football Club of Harden & Wells established in 1999 also has a line-up mainly consisting
of alumni of Peking University Law School, which encompassed the main members of the previous varsity of the past years. Last year, the
team participated in the 12th World Lawyer’s Cup on behalf of China. Mr. Wang said they went with the goal of “win a match, score a
goal”. “Although we only made to No. 40, we still managed to sweep away the “giants of North Africa”—Tunisian team by a 7:0 score." His humorous description made the audients burst into laughter time and time again.
Li Qiang, the representative of students on campus, used to be the "bench player” to his predecessors, he expressed his respect towards
the “heroes in legend”. He said that they were going to show that members of the Peking University Law School are not only tough in
courts, but also resilient in field. He also set the team’s target of “win a match and score a goal” and determined to learn from the
"seniors", which also won him a laughing crowd.
Although opponents are like brothers off the field, but when the whistle was blown in 1:30 p.m., the Alumni Team A and Students Team A
spared no effort in winning the match. The Alumni Team which has a line-up mostly coming from Harden & Wells clearly had a better team
work, while the Students Team lacked that consonance. In the first 20min, Alumni Team completely controlled the midfield, pressing the
opponents into their own half, and leading the match with two goals in the 10th and 15th minute. But the Students Team got themselves
together pretty quickly with several effective counterattacks. In the 22nd minute, a player sent a long cross from the right into a
flick-on header, as another one dashing from the middle and scored a beautiful goal.
In the next 40min, the match was locked in a stalemate with Alumni Team A gaining a slight upper hand. Both team had another goal under
their dab. At that moment, the Alumni Team A had basically secured a win. However, determined to thwart their opponents, the team’s entire
line pressed in the rest half hour, raining shots upon the goal, and was rewarded with three more goals, setting the final score at 7:2.
Next was the match between teams B, in which the Students Team got a close win over the Alumni Team at 4:3, finally, honoring their target
of “win a match".
In the break between the matches,Wang Hui, the founder of the alumni football team accepted an interview. It is understood that Wang Hui,
who loved football to the bone, established the team in 1999 with his alumni as main member. “Today, the students playing on field are so
young they can easily be our nephews—some of their teachers were fellow students of mine—so I joked to them that they should call me ‘uncle'".
With so many alumni sharing the same passion for football, Wang Hui realized that they need an organization to get everyone together. Then a
football team came into being. It is the center of their friendship. “All of us look forward to the match all week long” , the match has
become an excellent way of communication, and the football has become the binding among the alumni. In June 2004, the team went to Hungary for
the World Lawyer’s Cup tournament which being held once during two years. Wang admitted that the organization and preparation was quite poor
considering their lacking of experience, and he number of players participating was also limited. According to sources, the match in 2006 will
be held in Turkey, and the team has received invitation from the organization committee again.