Northumberland Senior Plate (rugby union)

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

Northumberland Senior Cup
SportRugby Union
Instituted2002; 22 years ago (2002)
Number of teams8
Country England
HoldersPonteland (4th title) (2023-24)
Most titlesPonteland (4 titles)
WebsiteNorthumberland RFU

The plate was originally introduced in 2001-2002 for the first round losers in the Northumberland Senior Cup, as it became clear that some clubs would not reach the latter stages of the Cup. Since then, the competition has undergone various changes. It is now open to the 9th to 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 held 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 played at a neutral ground in April.[1]

Northumberland Senior Plate Winners

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Year Winners Score Runners Up
2002 Ashington 37-23 North Shields
2003 Berwick 36-19 Ashington
2004 Ponteland[2] 22-8 Wallsend
2005 Gosforth[3] 18-7 North Shields
2006 Ashington 23-18 Wallsend
2007 Wallsend 18-17 Gosforth
2008 Ashington 28-27 Northumbria University
2009 Northumbria University 46-5 Ponteland
2010-2011 No Competition played
2012 Medicals[4] 27-19 Rockcliff
2013 Northumbria University 78-17 Novocastrians
2014 Blyth[5] 37-31 Berwick
2015 Ponteland 32-23 Novocastrians
2016 Novocastrians 41-3 Ponteland
2017 Ponteland[6] 21-18 Rockcliff
2018 Novocastrians 33-30 North Shields
2019 North Shields 24-23 Ponteland
2020-2021 No Competition due to COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
2022 Medicals 32-26 Alnwick II
2023 Rockcliff 28-18 Novocastrians
2024 Ponteland W/O* Novocastrians

By number of wins (clubs)

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Team Wins Years
Ponteland 4 2004, 2015, 2017, 2024
Ashington 3 2002, 2006, 2008
Medicals 2 2012, 2022
Northumbria University 2 2009, 2013
Novocastrians 2 2016, 2018
Berwick 1 2003
Blyth 1 2014
Gosforth 1 2005
North Shields 1 2019
Rockcliff 1 2023
Wallsend 1 2007

Notes

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  • The 2024 cup final was not played and both clubs could not agree a date. After much debate Northumberland RFU awarded the title to Ponteland.

References

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  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.