- County Championship (rugby union)
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County Championship (rugby union) Sport Rugby union Founded 1889 Country(ies) England Most recent champion(s) Lancashire The County Championship is an annual rugby union competition in England between teams representing English counties. After restructuring in 2007 the top tier of the Championship has been known as the Bill Beaumont Cup, after the trophy awarded to the competition winners was named in honour of Bill Beaumont, a former England and [British & Irish Lions] captain.[1] Teams also compete for the County Championship Shield and County Championship Plate.
The English County Championship has a long history, being first officially recognised by the Rugby Football Union in 1889. The 2011 Championship was the 111th competition. The most successful county, Lancashire, has won the competition 21 times, followed by Gloucestershire (17) and Yorkshire (15). Gloucestershire (33) and Lancashire (30) have made the most appearances in contested finals.
On four occasions the tournament final has been tied at full time and a second leg rematch has been played. Two of these rematches were also tied and on these occasions (1907 and 1967) the finalists were declared joint winners. In 1991 the final match between Cornwall and Yorkshire was tied at full time and extra time was played, with Cornwall winning 29-20.
Contents
Structure
There was little formal structure to the first official years of the competition, with teams playing different numbers of matches and different opposition from across England. The winners were determined by a panel of judges from the RFU Committee. From 1892-1895, the four winners of four regional Championships (North East, North West, South East and South West) played a round robin to determine the overall winner of the County Championship.
A restructure in 1896, led to the creation of North and South regions only, the winners of these regional competitions playing a final for the County Championship. Another restructure in 1921 saw the formation of 5 regions and the knock-out stage of the championship extend to semi-finals and a final. The winners of the North East, North West and South East regions were entered into a semi-final draw along with the winners of a playoff between the winners of the South and South West regions.
Since 2007, the top 8 counties have been split into two regions of 4 teams, North and South, who play a round robin tournament, the winners of which compete for the English County Championship in the final. This format is repeated for the 8 counties that compete for the County Championship Shield. The 11 counties which compete for the County Championship Plate are split into 3 pools from which the winners and runner-up with the best record meet in semi-final matches.
Past winners
Year Winner Regional Winners 1889 Yorkshire 1890 Yorkshire 1891 Lancashire 1892 Yorkshire Kent, Lancashire, Midlands 1893 Yorkshire Cumberland, Devon, Middlesex 1894 Yorkshire Lancashire, Midlands, Somerset 1895 Yorkshire Cumberland, Devon, Midlands Year Winners Home Team Score Away Team Venue Notes 1896 Yorkshire Surrey 4-16 Yorkshire Richmond 1897 Kent Cumberland 3-9 Kent Carlisle 1898 Northumberland Midlands 3-24 Northumberland Coventry 1899 Devon Northumberland 0-5 Devon Newcastle 1900 Durham County Devon 3-11 Durham County Exeter 1901 Devon Durham County 3-14 Devon West Hartlepool 1902 Durham County Gloucestershire 3-9 Durham County Gloucester 1903 Durham County Durham County 4-3 Kent West Hartlepool 1904 Kent Kent 8-6 Durham County Blackheath 1905 Durham County Durham County 9-8 Middlesex West Hartlepool 1906 Devon Devon 16-3 Durham County Exeter 1907 Title shared after replay drawn Durham County 3-3 Devon West Hartlepool Devon 0-0 Durham County Exeter 1908 Cornwall Cornwall 17-3 Durham County Redruth 1909 Durham County Durham County 12-0 Cornwall West Hartlepool 1910 Gloucestershire Gloucestershire 23-0 Yorkshire Gloucester 1911 Devon Yorkshire 3-12 Devon Kirkstall, Leeds 1912 Devon Devon 29-0 Northumberland Devonport 1913 Gloucestershire Cumberland 3-14 Gloucestershire Carlisle 1914 Midlands Midlands 22-5 Durham County Leicester 1915-19 Competition suspended for WWI 1920 Gloucestershire Yorkshire 3-27 Gloucestershire Bradford 1921 Gloucestershire Gloucestershire 31-4 Leicestershire Kingsholm 1922 Gloucestershire North Midlands 0-19 Gloucestershire Aston Villa 1923 Somerset Somerset 8-6 Leicestershire Bridgwater 1924 Cumberland Cumberland 14-3 Kent Carlisle 1925 Leicestershire Gloucestershire 6-14 Leicestershire Bristol 1926 Yorkshire Yorkshire 15-14 Hampshire Bradford 1927 Kent Kent 22-12 Leicestershire Blackheath 1928 Yorkshire Yorkshire 12-8 Cornwall Bradford 1929 Middlesex Middlesex 8-8 Lancashire Twickenham Lancashire 8-9 Middlesex Blundellsands Replay match 1930 Gloucestershire Lancashire 7-13 Gloucestershire Blundellsands 1931 Gloucestershire Gloucestershire 10-9 Warwickshire Gloucester 1932 Gloucestershire Durham County 3-9 Gloucestershire Blaydon-on-Tyne 1933 Hampshire Hampshire 18-7 Lancashire Boscombe 1934 East Midlands East Midlands 10-0 Gloucestershire Northampton 1935 Lancashire Somerset 0-14 Lancashire Bath 1936 Hampshire Northumberland 6-13 Hampshire Gosforth 1937 Gloucestershire Gloucestershire 5-0 East Midlands Bristol 1938 Lancashire Lancashire 24-12 Surrey Blundellsands 1939 Warwickshire Somerset 3-8 Warwickshire Weston-Super-Mare 1940-46 Competition suspended for WWII 1947 Lancashire Lancashire 8-8 Gloucestershire Blundellsands Gloucestershire 3-14 Lancashire Kingsholm Replay match 1948 Lancashire Eastern Counties 0-5 Lancashire Cambridge 1949 Lancashire Lancashire 9-3 Gloucestershire Blundellsands 1950 Cheshire Cheshire 5-0 East Midlands Birkenhead Park 1951 East Midlands East Midlands 10-0 Middlesex Northampton 1952 Middlesex Middlesex 9-6 Lancashire Twickenham 1953 Yorkshire Yorkshire 11-3 East Midlands Bradford 1954 Middlesex Lancashire 6-24 Middlesex Blundellsands 1955 Lancashire Middlesex 8-14 Lancashire Twickenham 1956 Middlesex Middlesex 13-9 Devon Twickenham 1957 Devon Devon 12-3 Yorkshire Home Park, Plymouth 1958 Warwickshire Warwickshire 16-8 Cornwall Coundon Road, Coventry 1959 Warwickshire Gloucestershire 9-14 Warwickshire Memorial Ground Bristol 1960 Warwickshire Warwickshire 9-6 Surrey Coundon Road, Coventry 1961 Cheshire Devon 0-0 Cheshire Home Park, Plymouth Cheshire 5-3 Devon Birkenhead Park Replay match 1962 Warwickshire Hampshire 6-11 Warwickshire Twickenham 1963 Warwickshire Warwickshire 13-10 Yorkshire Coundon Road, Coventry 1964 Warwickshire Warwickshire 8-6 Lancashire Coundon Road, Coventry 1965 Warwickshire Durham County 9-15 Warwickshire Hartlepool 1966 Middlesex Lancashire 0-6 Middlesex Blundellsands 1967 Title shared after replay drawn Surrey 14-14 Durham County Twickenham Durham County 0-0 Surrey Hartlepool 1968 Middlesex Middlesex 9-6 Warwickshire Twickenham 1969 Lancashire Cornwall 9-11 Lancashire Redruth 1970 Staffordshire Staffordshire 11-9 Gloucestershire Burton on Trent 1971 Surrey Gloucestershire 3-14 Surrey Kingsholm 1972 Gloucestershire Warwickshire 6-11 Gloucestershire Coundon Road, Coventry 1973 Lancashire Gloucestershire 12-17 Lancashire Memorial Ground Bristol 1974 Gloucestershire Lancashire 12-22 Gloucestershire Blundellsands 1975 Gloucestershire Gloucestershire 13-9 East Counties Kingsholm 1976 Gloucestershire Middlesex 9-24 Gloucestershire Richmond Athletic Ground 1977 Lancashire Lancashire 17-6 Middlesex Blundellsands 1978 North Midlands North Midlands 10-7 Gloucestershire The Reddings, Moseley 1979 Middlesex Middlesex 19-6 Northumberland Twickenham 1980 Lancashire Lancashire 21-15 Gloucestershire Vale of Lune 1981 Lancashire North Midlands 3-7 Lancashire The Reddings, Moseley 1982 Northumberland Gloucestershire 6-15 Northumberland Kingsholm 1983 Gloucestershire Gloucestershire 19-7 Yorkshire Memorial Ground Bristol
From 1984 all Championship finals were played at Twickenham.Year Winners Score Runner's Up Venue Notes 1984 Gloucestershire 36-18 Somerset Twickenham 1985 Middlesex 12-9 Notts, Lincs & Derby Twickenham 1986 Warwickshire 16-6 Kent Twickenham 1987 Yorkshire 22-11 Middlesex Twickenham 1988 Lancashire 23-18 Warwickshire Twickenham 1989 Durham County 13-9 Cornwall Twickenham 1990 Lancashire 32-9 Middlesex Twickenham 1991 Cornwall 29-20 Yorkshire Twickenham AET 1992 Lancashire 9-6 Cornwall Twickenham 1993 Lancashire 9-6 Yorkshire Twickenham 1994 Yorkshire 26-3 Durham County Twickenham 1995 Warwickshire 15-9 Northumberland Twickenham 1996 Gloucestershire 17-13 Warwickshire Twickenham 1997 Cumbria 21-13 Somerset Twickenham 1998 Cheshire 21-14 Cornwall Twickenham 1999 Cornwall 25-15 Gloucestershire Twickenham 2000 Yorkshire 16-9 Devon Twickenham 2001 Yorkshire 47-19 Cornwall Twickenham 2002 Gloucestershire 26-23 Cheshire Twickenham 2003 Lancashire 24-18 Gloucestershire Twickenham 2004 Devon 43-14 Gloucestershire Twickenham 2005 Devon 22-16 Lancashire Twickenham 2006 Lancashire 32-26 Devon Twickenham 2007 Devon 27-6 Lancashire Twickenham 2008 Yorkshire 33-13 Devon Twickenham 2009 Lancashire 32-18 Gloucestershire Twickenham 2010 Lancashire 36-6 Gloucestershire Twickenham 2011 Lancashire 32-23 Hertfordshire Twickenham Championships by county
County Outright Shared Total Runners-up Last won Cheshire 3 3 1 1998 Cornwall 3 3 8 1999 Cumberland 1 1 2 1924 Cumbria 1 1 0 1997 Devon 9 1 10 6 2007 Durham 6 2 8 8 1989 East Midlands 2 2 3 1951 Eastern Counties 2 Gloucestershire 17 17 16 2002 Hampshire 2 2 2 1936 Hertfordshire 1 Kent 3 3 3 1927 Lancashire 21 21 10 2011 Leicestershire 1 1 3 1925 Middlesex 8 8 7 1985 Midlands 1 1 1 1914 North Midlands 1 1 2 1978 Northumberland 2 2 5 1982 Notts, Lincs & Derby 1 Somerset 1 1 4 1923 Staffordshire 1 1 0 1970 Surrey 1 1 2 3 1971 Warwickshire 10 10 5 1995 Yorkshire 15 15 8 2008 Cumbria, a 1974 almagamation of the former counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland, is shown separately from Cumberland.
Eastern Counties, Hertfordshire and Notts, Lincs & Derby have reached the final but have never won the championship.
External links
- http://countyrugby.com/index.html
- http://www.rfu.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/RFUHome.Community_Detail/StoryID/19903
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