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County Championship (rugby union)

Annual rugby union competition in England

Field	Value
current_season	2023 Bill Beaumont Championship Division 1
current_season2
last_season	2023 Bill Beaumont Cup
upcoming_season	2024 Bill Beaumont Cup
pixels
sport	Rugby union
founded
fame
teams	12
country	England
champion	Kent (2024) (5th title)
most_champs	Lancashire (25)
owner	Rugby Football Union

Note

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. In 2017 the competition was officially known as Bill Beaumont Division 1, with teams also competing in Division 2 and Division 3, which prior to 2017 were known as the Plate and Shield competitions.

The Championship has a long history, being first officially recognised by the Rugby Football Union in 1889. The 2018 Championship was the 118th competition. The most successful county, Lancashire, has won the competition 25 times, followed by Gloucestershire (17) and Yorkshire (15). Lancashire (34) & Gloucestershire (33) 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. In 2001 the Championship did not take place due to the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak; instead Yorkshire and Cornwall were invited to play at Twickenham.

The 2015 final was contested by Lancashire and Cornwall, with the teams meeting in the final for the third consecutive year. Cornwall won the championship with an 18-13 victory, their fourth title overall and their first since 1999. Cornwall retained their title in 2016, this time beating Cheshire, 35–13. In 2017 Cornwall and Lancashire met in the final for the fourth time in five seasons. Lancashire won 19-8 and prevented Cornwall from completing a hat-trick of county titles.

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 1891–1895, the four winners of four regional Championships (North East, North West, South East and South West) played a round-robin tournament 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 five 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 play-off between the winners of the South and South West regions.

From 2007 to 2016, the top eight counties were split into two regions of four teams, North and South, who played a round-robin tournament. The winners of each region competed for the English County Championship in the final. This format was repeated for the eight counties that competed for the County Championship Plate. The eleven counties which competed for the County Championship Shield were split into three pools from which the winners and the runner-up with the best record met in semi-final matches.

In 2017 the competition was given a new structure, with the top tier comprising twelve teams and the second and third tiers having eight teams each. Each tier has a final each year, but promotion and relegation between tiers is decided on a two-year basis.

Past winners

1889-1895

Year	Winner	Regional Winners
1889	Yorkshire
1890	Yorkshire
1891	Lancashire	Gloucestershire, Surrey, Yorkshire
1892	Yorkshire	Kent, Lancashire, Midland Counties
1893	Yorkshire	Cumberland, Devon, Middlesex
1894	Yorkshire	Lancashire, Midland Counties, Somerset
1895	Yorkshire	Cumberland, Devon, Midland Counties

1896-1983

Year	Winners	Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Attendance/Notes
1896	Yorkshire	Surrey	4-16	Yorkshire	Athletic Ground, Richmond
1897	Kent	Cumberland	3-9	Kent	Carlisle
1898	Northumberland	Midland Counties	3-24	Northumberland	Coventry
1899	Devon	Northumberland	0-5	Devon	Jesmond, Newcastle	6,000
1900	Durham County	Devon	3–11	Durham County	Exeter	10,000-13,000
1901	Devon	Durham County	3-14	Devon	Victoria Park (Hartlepool)
1902	Durham County	Gloucestershire	3-9	Durham County	Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester	6,000
1903	Durham County	Durham County	4-3	Kent	Victoria Park (Hartlepool)
1904	Kent	Kent	8-6	Durham County	Blackheath
1905	Durham County	Durham County	9-8	Middlesex	Victoria Park (Hartlepool)
1906	Devon	Devon	16-3	Durham County	Exeter	12,000
1907	Title shared after replay drawn	Durham County	3-3	Devon	Victoria Park (Hartlepool)
Devon	0-0	Durham County	Exeter	Replay
1908	Cornwall	Cornwall	17-3	Durham County	Redruth
1909	Durham County	Durham County	12-0	Cornwall	Old Friarage, Hartlepool
1910	Gloucestershire	Gloucestershire	23-0	Yorkshire	Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester	10,000
1911	Devon	Yorkshire	3-12	Devon	Clarence Cricket and Football Ground, Kirkstall	8,000
1912	Devon	Devon	29-0	Northumberland	Rectory Ground, Devonport	12,000
1913	Gloucestershire	Cumberland	3-14	Gloucestershire	Carlisle	10,000
1914	Midland Counties	Midland Counties	22-5	Durham County	Welford Road Stadium, Leicester
1915-19	Competition suspended for WWI
1920	Gloucestershire	Yorkshire	3-27	Gloucestershire	Lidget Green, Bradford	8,000
1921	Gloucestershire	Gloucestershire	31-4	Leicestershire	Kingsholm, Gloucester	10,701
1922	Gloucestershire	North Midlands	0-19	Gloucestershire	Villa Park, Birmingham
1923	Somerset	Somerset	8-6	Leicestershire	Bridgwater Albion ground	10,000
1924	Cumberland	Cumberland	14-3	Kent	Carlisle
1925	Leicestershire	Gloucestershire	6-14	Leicestershire	Memorial Ground, Bristol
1926	Yorkshire	Yorkshire	15-14	Hampshire	Bradford
1927	Kent	Kent	22-12	Leicestershire	Rectory Field, Blackheath
1928	Yorkshire	Yorkshire	12–8	Cornwall	Lidget Green, Bradford
1929	Middlesex	Middlesex	8-8	Lancashire	Twickenham	12,000
Lancashire	8-9	Middlesex	St Anthony's Road, Blundellsands	8,000 Replay match
1930	Gloucestershire	Lancashire	7-13	Gloucestershire	St Anthony's Road, Blundellsands	10,000+
1931	Gloucestershire	Gloucestershire	10-9	Warwickshire	Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester
1932	Gloucestershire	Durham County	3-9	Gloucestershire	Blaydon-on-Tyne	12,000
1933	Hampshire	Hampshire	18-7	Lancashire	Dean Court, Boscombe
1934	East Midlands	East Midlands	10-0	Gloucestershire	Franklin's Gardens, Northampton
1935	Lancashire	Somerset	0-14	Lancashire	Recreation Ground (Bath)
1936	Hampshire	Northumberland	6-13	Hampshire	Gosforth
1937	Gloucestershire	Gloucestershire	5-0	East Midlands	Bristol
1938	Lancashire	Lancashire	24-12	Surrey	St Anthony's Road, Blundellsands
1939	Warwickshire	Somerset	3-8	Warwickshire	Weston-super-Mare
1940-46	Competition suspended for World War II
1947	Lancashire	Lancashire	8-8	Gloucestershire	St Anthony's Road, Blundellsands	5,000
Gloucestershire	3-14	Lancashire	Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester	20,000 Replay match
1948	Lancashire	Eastern Counties	0-5	Lancashire	University Ground, Cambridge
1949	Lancashire	Lancashire	9-3	Gloucestershire	St Anthony's Road, Blundellsands
1950	Cheshire	Cheshire	5-0	East Midlands	Upper Park, Birkenhead Park
1951	East Midlands	East Midlands	10-0	Middlesex	Franklin's Gardens, Northampton
1952	Middlesex	Middlesex	9-6	Lancashire	Twickenham
1953	Yorkshire	Yorkshire	11-3	East Midlands	Bradford
1954	Middlesex	Lancashire	6-24	Middlesex	St Anthony's Road, Blundellsands	12,000
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	Upper Park, 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	New Friarage, Hartlepool
1966	Middlesex	Lancashire	0-6	Middlesex	St Anthony's Road, 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	Recreation Ground, Redruth	23-25,000 (estimated)
1970	Staffordshire	Staffordshire	11-9	Gloucestershire	Peel Croft, Burton-on-Trent
1971	Surrey	Gloucestershire	3-14	Surrey	Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester
1972	Gloucestershire	Warwickshire	6-11	Gloucestershire	Coundon Road, Coventry
1973	Lancashire	Gloucestershire	12-17	Lancashire	Memorial Ground, Bristol
1974	Gloucestershire	Lancashire	12-22	Gloucestershire	St Anthony's Road, Blundellsands
1975	Gloucestershire	Gloucestershire	13-9	Eastern Counties	Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester
1976	Gloucestershire	Middlesex	9-24	Gloucestershire	Richmond Athletic Ground
1977	Lancashire	Lancashire	17-6	Middlesex	St Anthony's Road, 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	Powderhouse Lane, Vale of Lune	10,000 (estimated)
1981	Northumberland	Gloucestershire	6-15	Northumberland	Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester
1982	Lancashire	North Midlands	3-7	Lancashire	The Reddings, Moseley
1983	Gloucestershire	Gloucestershire	19-7	Yorkshire	Memorial Ground, Bristol

1984-present

Since 1984 all Championship finals have been played at Twickenham .

Year	Winners	Score	Runners up	Attendance/Notes
1984	Gloucestershire	36-18	Somerset
1985	Middlesex	12-9	Notts, Lincs & Derby
1986	Warwickshire	16-6	Kent
1987	Yorkshire	22-11	Middlesex	10,000
1988	Lancashire	23-18	Warwickshire	2,000
1989	Durham County	13-9	Cornwall	27,500
1990	Lancashire	32-9	Middlesex	7,000
1991	Cornwall	29-20	Yorkshire	AET, 56,000
1992	Lancashire	9-6	Cornwall	50,000
1993	Lancashire	9-6	Yorkshire	18,700
1994	Yorkshire	26-3	Durham County	16,000
1995	Warwickshire	15-9	Northumberland	6,000
1996	Gloucestershire	17-13	Warwickshire	7,750
1997	Cumbria	21-13	Somerset	8,150
1998	Cheshire	21-14	Cornwall	35,250
1999	Cornwall	25-15	Gloucestershire	25,000
2000	Yorkshire	16-9	Devon	4,000
2001	Yorkshire	47-19	Cornwall	Challenge match, 4,000
2002	Gloucestershire	26-23	Cheshire
2003	Lancashire	24-18	Gloucestershire	1,000
2004	Devon	43-14	Gloucestershire
2005	Devon	22-16	Lancashire
2006	Lancashire	32-26	Devon
2007	Devon	27-6	Lancashire
2008	Yorkshire	33-13	Devon
2009	Lancashire	32-18	Gloucestershire
2010	Lancashire	36-6	Gloucestershire
2011	Lancashire	32-23	Hertfordshire
2012	Hertfordshire	38-20	Lancashire
2013	Lancashire	35-26	Cornwall	20,000
2014	Lancashire	36-26	Cornwall	4,000
2015	Cornwall	18-13	Lancashire	1,500
2016	Cornwall	35-13	Cheshire	3,000
2017	Lancashire	19-8	Cornwall	7,000
2018	Lancashire	31-16	Hertfordshire
2019	Cornwall	14-12	Cheshire	3,500
2020-2021	No Competition due to COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
2022	Cornwall	37-24	Cheshire
2023	Kent	39-37	Lancashire
2024	Kent	31-30	Yorkshire
2025	Kent	39-32	Yorkshire

Championships by county

Correct as of 2024

County	Outright	Shared	Total	Runners-up	Last won
Cheshire	3		3	3	1998
Cornwall	7		7	9	2022
Cumberland	1		1	2	1924
Cumbria	1		1	0	1997
Devon	9	1	10	6	2007
Durham County	6	2	8	8	1989
East Midlands	2		2	3	1951
Eastern Counties	0		0	2
Gloucestershire	17		17	16	2002
Hampshire	2		2	2	1936
Hertfordshire	1		1	1	2012
Kent	6		6	3	2025
Lancashire	25		25	10	2018
Leicestershire	1		1	3	1925
Middlesex	8		8	7	1985
Midland Counties	1		1	1	1914
North Midlands	1		1	2	1978
Northumberland	2		2	5	1981
Notts, Lincs & Derby	0		0	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	10	2008

Cumbria, a 1974 amalgamation of the former counties of Cumberland, Westmorland and the Furness part of Lancashire, is shown separately from Cumberland and Lancashire.

Eastern Counties and Notts, Lincs & Derby have reached the final, but have never won the championship.

Gloucestershire are the only county to have completed a "hat-trick of hat-trick" of county titles: this was achieved in 1920–1922, 1930-1932 and 1974-1976.

John Fidler, former Gloucester, Gloucestershire and England lock forward, holds the record for the most County Championship Final appearances, nine in all, from 1971 to 1984.

References

"2007 County Championship Renamed In Honour Of Bill Beaumont".
(27 March 2017). "County Championships renamed to honour rugby legends". England Rugby.
"County Championship: Cornwall 25–18 Hertfordshire". BBC Sport.
"County Championship final: Cornwall 18–13 Lancashire". BBC Sport.
(29 May 2016). "County Championship final 2016: Cornwall beat Cheshire to retain title at Twickenham".
"Lancashire win Bill Beaumont County Champs final".
"Fixtures confirmed for restructured 2017 County Championships".
(10 April 1899). ""FOOTBALL NOTES." York Herald, 10 Apr. 1899, p. 8". British Library Newspaper Archives.
(12 April 1900). "Rugby County Championship". The Cornishman.
(7 April 1900). """TO-DAY'S FOOTBALL." Trewman's Exeter Flying Post, 7 Apr. 1900". British Library Newspaper Archives.
(7 April 1902). ""The Rugby County Championship." Times, 7 Apr. 1902, p. 9". Times Digital Archives.
"1906 - Durham County v Devon". Hartlepool History.
(11 April 1910). ""Football." Times, 11 Apr. 1910, p. 20". Times Digital Archives.
"OS Town Plan, Leeds 1911". Old Maps.
(1912). "Football, 24 February". Western Times - Exeter.
(1960). "Rugby In the Duchy (Rugby Heritage) 1884–1959: An Official History of the Game In Cornwall". Cornwall Rugby Football Union.
(December 2023). "100 CLUB OF THE DAY: VALE OF LUNE RUFC". Sale Sharks}}{{Dead link.
(13 April 1987). "Hands, David. "Harrison is on song in Yorkshire's timely march to title success." Times, 13 Apr. 1987, p. 29". Times Digital Archives.
(11 April 1988). "Stiles, Bryan. "Lancashire defence stands firm after." Times, 11 Apr. 1988, p. 31". Times Digital Archives.
(3 April 1989). "Hands, David. "Cornwall lose by looking a gift horse in the mouth." Times, 3 Apr. 1989, p. 34". Times Digital Archives.
Jones, Stephen. (1990–91). "Rothmans Rugby Yearbook". Rothmans Publications Ltd.
(18 April 1998). "Cheshire v Cornwall (1998 County Championship Final Programme)". Cheshire RFU.
"England ... the 'utterly inept April Fools'". ESPN.
(19 April 1993). "Rugby Union: End of era for wild bunch of Roses". The Independent.
(18 April 1994). "Rugby Union: Evergreen Harrison steals the final show". The Independent.
(24 April 1995). "Quantrill wins kicking duel". The Independent.
(21 April 1996). "Rugby Union: Warr effort not enough". The Independent.
(21 April 1997). "Rugby Union: Cumbria capitalise on the Twickenham experience". The Independent.
(23 April 1998). "Cheshire set Twickenham alight!". Wirral Globe.
(23 May 1999). "Rugby Union: Saumi savours grand occasion". The Independent.
(5 June 2000). "Yorkshire bloom on the big stage". The Guardian.
(28 May 2001). "Kirkby puts the fizz into seven-up Yorkshire". The Guardian.
(26 May 2003). "Hitchmough's glittering show". The Telegraph.
"No Championship until 2022. "County Championship: Rugby Football Union cancels competition until 2022."". BBC Sport.
"RFU".
"RFU".

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