Sport Rugby Union Country England | Number of teams 20 Most titles Bridgnorth (3 titles) | |
Instituted 2001; 16 years ago (2001) Holders Kidderminster Carolians (2nd title) (2015–16) | ||
The North Midlands Shield is an annual rugby union knock-out cup club competition organized by the North Midlands Rugby Football Union and was first contested during the 2001-02 season with Ledbury being the first ever winners, defeating Old Saltleians in the final held at Finstall Park in Bromsgrove. It is currently open for clubs ranked in tier 7-8 of the English rugby union system that fall under the North Midlands RFU umbrella, including sides based in Birmingham and the West Midlands, Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire. A tier 9 side, Shropshire based Oswestry, who play in Cheshire (South), also take part. In 2014 the North Midlands RFU introduced a 'Plate' competition for sides eliminated in the early stages of the Shield. It is one of three men's club competitions in the region along with the North Midlands Cup (for tier 5-6 sides) and the North Midlands Vase (for tier 9-10 sides).
The current format is as a knock-out cup with a preliminary round, first round, quarter-final, semi-final and final which is held at a neutral venue in May (currently Heathbrook, home of Dudley Kingswinford RFC) along with the cup and vase finals. Due to the disjointed numbers of teams several teams have play in the preliminary round. Teams that lose in either the preliminary or first round stage then contest the plate while winners go on to contest the cup proper.