The North Midlands Vase 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 ...

knock-out club competition organized by the

North Midlands Rugby Football Union The North Midlands Rugby Football Union is a governing body for rugby union in part of The Midlands, England. The union is the constituent body of the Rugby Football Union for the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire and the Gre ...

and was first contested during the 2005-06 season when

Kings Norton Kings Norton, alternatively King's Norton, is an area of Birmingham, England. Historically in Worcestershire, it was also a Birmingham City Council ward within the Government of Birmingham, England. The district lies 6.5 miles south-southwes ...

became the first winners when they defeated

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads. The town was the administrative headquarters of the Borough of ...

in the final at

Stourton Park Stourton (pronunciation: ) may refer to: Places *Stourton, Staffordshire *Stourton, Warwickshire *Stourton, West Yorkshire, area of Leeds * Stourton, Wiltshire *Stourton Caundle, Dorset * Stourton Park, home of Stourbridge R.F.C. *Stourton, fiction ...

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The 20 ...

. The vase is currently open for clubs ranked in tiers 9-10 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 ...

that fall under the North Midlands RFU umbrella, including sides based in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

and the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

and

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

, although one club, Dudley Wasps plays in the Midlands Reserve League, and two others, Bredon Star and Ross Wye, are both based in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

and play in

Gloucester 1 Gloucester 1 is an English rugby union league which sits at the ninth level of league rugby union in England for teams based primarily in the county of Gloucestershire but also on occasion teams from Bristol. Promoted clubs move into Gloucester ...

and

Gloucester 2 Gloucester 2 North and Gloucester 2 South are English rugby union leagues which sits at the tenth level of league rugby union in England for teams primarily based in Gloucestershire as well as some teams from Bristol. Promoted clubs move into G ...

respectively (tiers 9-10). In 2014 the North Midlands RFU introduced a 'Plate' competition for sides eliminated in the early stages of the vase. It is one of three men's club competitions in the region along with the

North Midlands Cup The North Midlands Cup is an annual rugby union knock-out cup club competition organised by the North Midlands Rugby Football Union and was first contested during the 1971-72 season with the inaugural cup being won by the now defunct Birmingham P ...

(for tier 5-6 sides) and the

North Midlands Shield The North Midlands Shield is an annual rugby union knock-out cup club competition organized by the North Midlands Rugby Football Union and was first contested during the 2001–02 season with Ledbury being the first ever winners, defeating Old Sal ...

(for tier 7-8 sides). The current format is as a knock-out cup with a preliminary round, first round, quarter-final, semi-final and final which is held at a neutral venue in May (currently Heathbrook, home of Dudley Kingswinford RFC) along with the cup and shield finals. Due to the disjointed numbers of teams several teams have play in the preliminary round. Teams that lose in either the preliminary or first round stage then contest the plate while winners go on to contest the cup proper.

North Midlands Vase winners

Number of wins

Vase

Ross on Wye Ross-on-Wye (Welsh: ''Rhosan ar Wy'') is a market town in England, near the border with Wales. It had a population of 10,582 according to the 2011 census, estimated at 11,309 in 2019. It lies in south-eastern Herefordshire, on the River Wye and ...

(4) * Bredon Star (2) *

Evesham Evesham () is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Evesha ...

(2) *

(2) * Dudley Wasps (1) *

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

(1) * Old Yardleians (1)

Plate

Aldridge Aldridge is an industrial town in the Walsall borough, West Midlands, England. It is historically a village that was part of Staffordshire until 1974. The town is from Brownhills, from Walsall, from Sutton Coldfield and from Lichfield. T ...

(1) * Church Streeton (1) *

Redditch Redditch is a town, and local government district, in north-east Worcestershire, England, approximately south of Birmingham. The district has a population of 85,000 as of 2019. In the 19th century, it became the international centre for the ...

(1) * Yardley & District (1)

Notes

References

External links

North Midlands RFU
{{Rugby union in England Recurring sporting events established in 1972 Rugby union cup competitions in England