The Cumbria Shield is an annual

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

knock-out club competition organized by the

Cumbria Rugby Union The Cumbria Rugby Union is the sports governing body, governing body for the sport of rugby union in the county of Cumbria in England. The union is the constituent body of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) for Cumbria, and administers and organise ...

. It was introduced during the 1888–89 season, when it was known as the Cumberland Challenge Shield, and the inaugural winners were

Millom Millom is a town and civil parish on the north shore of the estuary of the River Duddon in southernmost Cumberland, Cumbria, England. It is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, about north of Barrow-in-Furness ( by road) and ...

. Initially it was open only to junior club sides in

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

(senior sides played in the

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

) but in 1974, as a result of the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, Cumberland,

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland''R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref>) is an area of North West England which was Historic counties of England, historically a county. People of the area ...

and

Furness Furness ( ) is a peninsula and region of Cumbria, England. Together with the Cartmel Peninsula it forms North Lonsdale, Historic counties of England, historically an exclave of Lancashire. On 1 April 2023 it became part of the new unitary author ...

merged to form what we now know as

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, and the competition would ultimately be renamed as the Cumbria Shield. It is the third most important cup competition in Cumbria, behind the Cumbria Cup and Cumbria League Cup. Originally the Shield was a knock-out cup played by the 1st teams of junior clubs, along with the 2nd teams of senior clubs, before becoming mostly a 2nd team competition. In later years the format switched back and forth between a knock-out cup and league cup-hybrid, but has most recently switched to being awarded to the winners of the Cumbria Shield League – a regional league for 2nd and 3rd teams in Cumbria. A secondary competition known as the Cumbria Vase was introduced in 2007 initially for sides knocked out of the early rounds of the Shield competition, although in recent years it seems to have become a stand-alone cup competition for 2nd teams in the region.

Cumbria Shield winners

Cumbria Vase winners

Number of wins

Shield

* Workington II (19) * Aspatria II (16) * Wigton II (10) * Netherhall II (9) * St Benedict's (9) *

(6) *

Silloth Silloth, or Silloth-on-Solway, is a port town and civil parish in the Cumberland (district), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town stands on the coast of the Solway Firth, west of Carlisle. It was developed from the 1850s onwards a ...

(6) * Cockermouth II (5) * Egremont II (5) * Penrith (5) * Whitehaven II (4) * Moresby (3) * Blennerhasset II (1) *

Border Regiment The Border Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot and the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot. After service in ...

(1) * Carlisle 'A' (1) * Clifton (1) * Cumberland & Westmorland Police (1) * High Moor Rovers Dearham (1) * Kendal II (1) * Kirkby Lonsdale II (1) * Maryport II (1) * United Steels S.O (1) * Wath Brow (1) * Whitehaven Recreation (1) * Wigton Hornets (1) * Workington Trades (1)

Vase

* Kendal 'A' (3) * Carlisle 'A' (2) * Creighton (1) * Penrith III (1)

Notes

References

External links

Cumbria RU
{{Rugby union in England Recurring sporting events established in 1888 1888 establishments in England Rugby union cup competitions in England Rugby union in Cumbria