The Northumberland Senior Plate is an annual

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

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 The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...

for the Northumberland Rugby Union, which includes

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

North Tyneside North Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It forms part of the greater Tyneside conurbation. North Tyneside Council is headquartered at Cobalt Park, Wallsend. North Tyneside is bordered b ...

, and

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

. The plate was originally introduced in 2001-2002 for the first round losers in the

Northumberland Senior Cup The Northumberland Senior Cup, officially named the Techflow Marine Senior Cup, is an annual football competition held between the clubs of the Northumberland Football Association which was first played in 1884. It is the senior county cup for ...

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

and

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newcastl ...

typically competing at tier 7 (

Durham/Northumberland 1 Durham/Northumberland 1 is an English amateur rugby union competition. The league consists of fourteen clubs, and is the seventh tier of the English rugby union system, as one of the 16 regional leagues, though is the highest level of local rug ...

), tier 8 (

Durham/Northumberland 2 Counties 2 Durham & Northumberland, formerly known as Durham/Northumberland 2, is an English rugby union league at the eighth tier of the domestic competition for teams from North East England. The champions and runner-up are promoted to Coun ...

) and tier 9 (

Durham/Northumberland 3 Counties 3 Durham & Northumberland, previously known as Durham/Northumberland 3, is an English rugby union league at the ninth tier of the domestic competition and is currently the basement league of club rugby in North East England. Any club ...

) of the

English rugby union system Men's Rugby union in England consists of 106 leagues, which includes professional leagues at the highest level, down to amateur regional leagues. Promotion and relegation are in place throughout the system. Women's Rugby union in England cons ...

. The format is a

knock-out A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking ...

cup with a quarter-final, semi-final and final, which is to be played at a neutral ground in April.

Northumberland Senior Plate Winners

By number of wins (clubs)

Notes

References

{{Rugby union in England Rugby union cup competitions in England Rugby union in Northumberland Recurring sporting events established in 2002