Northumberland Senior Plate (rugby union)

The Northumberland Senior Plate is an annual rugby union 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 for the Northumberland Rugby Union, which includes Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, and Northumberland.

Northumberland Senior Cup

Sport	Rugby Union
Instituted	2002 (2002)
Number of teams	8
Country	England
Holders	Rockcliff (1st title) (2022-23)
Most titles	Ponteland & Ashington (3 titles)
Website	Northumberland RFU

The plate was originally introduced in 2001-2002 for the first round losers in the Northumberland Senior Cup 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 Northumberland and Tyne and Wear typically competing at tier 7 (Durham/Northumberland 1), tier 8 (Durham/Northumberland 2) and tier 9 (Durham/Northumberland 3) of the English rugby union system. The format is a knock-out cup with a quarter-final, semi-final and final, which is to be played at a neutral ground in April.[1]