County Championship While this was going on, representatives of the eight leading county clubs held a private meeting to discuss the method by which the county championship should in future be decided. The new competition began in the 1890 season and at first involved just the eight leading clubs: Gloucestershire, Kent, Lancashire, Middlesex, Nottinghamshire, Surrey, Sussex and Yorkshire. Subsequently, the championship has been expanded to 18 clubs by the additions at various times of Derbyshire, Durham, Essex, Glamorgan, Hampshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Somerset, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. It is difficult to know when the concept of a county championship originated. While early matches were
County Championship Shield County Championship Shield The County Championship Shield is an annual rugby union competition in England between teams representing English counties. It was formed in 2005 when it known as the County Championship Plate (a competition which is now played by tier 2 sides) - changing to its current name by 2010. It is contested by third tier teams in the RFU County Championship and the 2018 tournament involves two groups of six teams. From 2010 the County Championship Shield involves counties that are only able to select players from clubs at level five and below. The six teams involved are