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 Greater Birmingham area.

History

The North Midlands RFU was founded at a meeting in Birmingham on 14 January 1920. The area had previously been part of the Midland Counties Rugby Union, from which Warwickshire split in 1914, with further changes in 1919 leading to Leicestershire Rugby Union becoming a county on its own and North Midlands being created for the Birmingham, Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire areas. The majority of the clubs in the union's initial membership came from the Birmingham area. Staffordshire separated from North Midlands in 1964 to become a county on its own.

County team

The North Midlands men's county team play in the County Championship, competing in Division 2 as of the 2023 tournament.

Honours

Tetley's County Shield winners: 2004

Affiliated clubs

Among the Clubs affiliated with the North Midlands RFU, most have teams at both senior and junior level, although some of the more prominent second teams have also been listed by the North Midlands RFU as affiliated clubs. The North Midlands region covers a large area with club sides based in Greater Birmingham RFU, Hereford & Worcestershire RFU and Shropshire RFU.

County club competitions

The North Midlands currently runs the following competition for clubs sides based in Birmingham and the West Midlands, Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire:

Cups

North Midlands Cup – founded in 1972, currently open to clubs at tiers 5–6 of the English rugby union system
North Midlands Shield – founded in 2001, clubs at tiers 7–8
North Midlands Vase – founded in 2005, clubs at tiers 9–10

Discontinued competitions

North Midlands 1 - tier 7-10 league that ran between 1987 and 2006
North Midlands 2 - tier 8-11 league that ran between 1987 and 2006
North Midlands 3 – tier 9-12 league that ran intermittently between 1987 and 2004
North Midlands 4 – tier 10 league that ran between 1987 and 1992
Midlands 5 West (North) – tier 10 league for North Midlands and Staffordshire clubs that ran between 2005 and 2019