Northumberland Senior Plate (rugby union)

Last updated

Northumberland Senior Cup
SportRugby Union
Instituted2002;22 years ago (2002)
Number of teams8
CountryFlag of England.svg  England
Holders Rockcliff (1st title) (2022-23)
Most titles Ponteland & Ashington (3 titles)
Website Northumberland RFU

The Northumberland Senior Plate is an annual rugby union competition held between the clubs of the Northumberland RFU which was first played for during the 2001-2002 season. It is the second tier county cup for the Northumberland Rugby Union, which includes Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, and Northumberland.

Contents

The plate was originally introduced in 2001-2002 for the first round losers in the Northumberland Senior Cup when it was clear some clubs would not reach the latter rounds of the Cup. Since then the competition has undergone various changes. The competition is now open to the 9th-16th best placed clubs in the league pyramid. The current holders are Rockcliff who defeated Novocastrians 28-18, in the 2023 cup final. All Senior Plate Finals have been played at various venues in the county and takes place on Easter Saturday.

The Senior Plate is currently the second most important county cup competition for club sides based in Northumberland and Tyne and Wear typically competing at tier 7 (Durham/Northumberland 1), tier 8 (Durham/Northumberland 2) and tier 9 (Durham/Northumberland 3) of the English rugby union system. The format is a knock-out cup with a quarter-final, semi-final and final, which is to be played at a neutral ground in April. [1]

Northumberland Senior Plate Winners

YearWinnersScoreRunners Up
2002Ashington37-23North Shields
2003 Berwick 36-19Ashington
2004 Ponteland [2] 22-8 Wallsend
2005 Gosforth [3] 18-7North Shields
2006Ashington23-18 Wallsend
2007 Wallsend 18-17 Gosforth
2008Ashington28-27 Northumbria University
2009 Northumbria University Ponteland
2010-2011No Competition played
2012 Medicals [4] 27-19 Rockcliff
2013 Northumbria University 78-17 Novocastrians
2014Blyth [5] 37-31 Berwick
2015 Ponteland 32-23 Novocastrians
2016 Novocastrians 41-3 Ponteland
2017 Ponteland [6] 21-18 Rockcliff
2018 Novocastrians 33-30North Shields
2019North Shields24-23 Ponteland
2020-2021No Competition due to COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
2022 Medicals 32-26 Alnwick II
2023 Rockcliff 28-18 Novocastrians

By number of wins (clubs)

TeamWinsYears
Ashington32002, 2006, 2008
Ponteland 32004, 2015, 2017
Medicals 22012, 2022
Northumbria University 22009, 2013
Novocastrians 22016, 2018
Berwick 12003
Blyth12014
Gosforth 12005
North Shields12019
Rockcliff 12023
Wallsend 12007

Notes

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    References

    1. "CUP DRAWS FOR SEASON 2016-17 (Word doc)". Northumberland RFU. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
    2. "Rugby - Ponteland Champions". Evening Chronicle . Retrieved 7 April 2021.
    3. "Rugby - Plate Final Gosforth North Shields". Evening Chronicle . Retrieved 7 April 2021.
    4. "Rugby - Medicals Champions". Medicals RFC. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
    5. "Rugby - Blyth Champions". Blyth RFC. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
    6. "Rugby - Ponteland Champions". Ponteland RFC. Retrieved 30 March 2021.