The Cheshire Cup is an annual rugby union knock-out club competition organized by the Cheshire Rugby Football Union. It was first introduced in the 1877–78 season as the Cheshire Challenge County Cup and the inaugural competition was won by Birkenhead Park, who along with eight other local sides including New Brighton and Sale, made up the club members of the Cheshire RFU at that time. Four years later the cup was discontinued due to arguments over whether cup ties were beneficial to the county game. The Cheshire RFU reintroduced the cup during the 1969–70 season, with Sale the first winners of the competition in over 80 years.
The Cheshire Cup is currently the premier county cup competition for club sides in tier 4 (National League 2 North) and tier 5 (National League 3 North or National League 3 Midlands) of the English rugby union system that are based in either Cheshire, Merseyside or the Isle of Man. Originally it was the only men's county cup competition but plate, shield and bowl competitions have been introduced over the years for lower ranked clubs. The current format is as a knock-out cup with a quarter-final, semi-final and final which is held at a neutral venue during the latter stages of the season (March–May). At present Cheshire Cup finals are held on the same date and at the same venue as Cheshire Plate finals.
Cheshire Cup winners Cheshire Cup Finals Season Winner Score Runners–up Venue 1877-78 Birkenhead Park Bowdon & Lymm Manchester 1878-79 Birkenhead Park New Brighton St Anthony's Road, Blundellsands 1879-80 New Brighton Birkenhead Rock Ferry 1880-81 Birkenhead Park New Brighton Liverpool 1881-1968 No competition for 88 years 1969-70 Sale Old Salians Heywood Road, Sale 1970-71 Caldy Lymm Hare Lane, Chester 1971-72 Wilmslow Birkenhead Park Hare Lane, Chester 1972-73 Sale Wilmslow 1973-74 Sale Wilmslow 1974-75 Sale Wilmslow 1975-76 Sale Birkenhead Park 1976-77 Sale Wilmslow 1977-78 Sale Birkenhead Park 1978-79 Sale New Brighton Heywood Road, Sale 1979-80 Sale Lymm 1980-81 Sale Birkenhead Park 1981-82 Sale 32-9 Lymm Memorial Ground, Wilmslow 1982-83 Sale 29-13 Alsager College Memorial Ground, Wilmslow 1983-84 Sale 40-3 Birkenhead Park Heywood Road, Sale 1984-85 Sale 31-0 Lymm Heywood Road, Sale 1985-86 Sale Birkenhead Park 1986-87 Sale Birkenhead Park Heywood Road, Sale 1987-88 Winnington Park Birkenhead Park Hare Lane, Chester 1988-89 Lymm Mid Cheshire College Memorial Ground, Wilmslow 1989-90 Winnington Park 10-6 Lymm Memorial Ground, Wilmslow 1990-91 Winnington Park Chester Heywood Road, Sale 1991-92 Macclesfield 21-4 Sale Memorial Ground, Wilmslow 1992-93 Winnington Park New Brighton Hare Lane, Chester 1993-94 Winnington Park New Brighton Hare Lane, Chester 1994-95 Macclesfield Winnington Park Hare Lane, Chester 1995-96 New Brighton 19-16 Winnington Park Hare Lane, Chester 1996-97 Sale 48-10 Chester Crouchley Lane, Lymm 1997-98 New Brighton Winnington Park Hare Lane, Chester 1998-99 New Brighton Chester Upper Park, Birkenhead 1999-00 New Brighton 24-20 Chester Crouchley Lane, Lymm 2000-01 New Brighton 27-11 Winnington Park Hare Lane, Chester 2001-02 Macclesfield 33-27 Birkenhead Hare Lane, Chester 2002-03 Macclesfield 28-25 Chester The Memorial Ground, Stockport 2003-04 Chester 20-13 Wirral Paton Field, Thurstaston 2004-05 New Brighton 25-18 Macclesfield Memorial Ground, Clatterbridge 2005-06 Macclesfield 36-26 Chester Heywood Road, Sale 2006-07 Macclesfield 35-23 New Brighton Heywood Road, Sale 2007-08 Birkenhead Park 22-20 Macclesfield Hare Lane, Chester 2008-09 Macclesfield 18-14 Birkenhead Park Burrows Hill, Winnington 2009-10 Sale Jets 34-13 Lymm Crouchley Lane, Lymm 2010-11 Final was cancelled due to fixture congestion caused by league games – the finalists, Caldy and Sale Jets, shared the title. 2011-12 Caldy 28-0 Northwich Crouchley Lane, Lymm 2012-13 Caldy 40-24 Birkenhead Park Hartsfield, Moreton 2013-14 Sale FC 26-21 Caldy Crouchley Lane, Lymm 2014-15 Caldy 28-18 Sale FC Upper Park, Birkenhead 2015-16 Macclesfield 49-26 Caldy Bradwell Road, Sandbach 2016-17 Caldy 35-19 Sandbach Memorial Ground, Clatterbridge 2017-18 Final was cancelled as the finalists, Caldy and Sale FC could not meet due to league fixture congestion caused by bad weather. 2018-19 Sale FC 34-24 Chester Burrows Hill, Winnington
Number of wins Sale (17) Macclesfield (8) New Brighton (7) Caldy (6) Winnington Park (5) Birkenhead Park (4) Sale FC (2) Chester (1) Lymm (1) Sale Jets (1) Wilmslow (1)
Notes
See also Cheshire RFU Cheshire Vase Cheshire Bowl Cheshire Plate English rugby union system Rugby union in England
References
External links Cheshire RFU