The Devon Senior Cup is an annual rugby union league and cup club competition organized by the Devon Rugby Football Union. It was first introduced in the 1886-87 season and the inaugural competition was won by Tiverton.[1] During the early years of the cup the format changed several times from a knock-out competition to a league format, then to hybrid league/cup, then back to being a knock-out cup once again. The competition also was had periods of inactivity, with World War I preventing play for a number of seasons and then the cup being cancelled in the 1930s before being reintroduced for the 1969-70 season when it was won by St. Luke's College (now University of Exeter). The Havill Plate was introduced in the 1970s for teams knocked out of the first round of the cup which would continue until 1999. Competitions similar to the Havill Plate were introduced in 2009 for teams that got knocked out of the earlier stages of the cup were introduced - plate (semi finals) and vase (quarter finals) - but these were discontinued due to a lack of interest by the clubs involved.[2]
The Devon Senior Cup is currently the premier county cup competition for club sides based in Devon that play in tier 5 (South West One) of the English rugby union league system. For 2022-23 the format was two conference divisions of four teams playing three games to determine the top two in each pool, who go through to the semi-finals. The bottom two teams in the pools go through to the Devon Senior Shield, where two semi-finals are played to determine the finalists.
^1913 final was replayed after first game finished 3-3.
^extra time played after game finished 4-4 after 80 minutes.
^1926 final was replayed after the first game finished 3-3.
^Final was awarded to Cullompton as Paignton were unable to raise a side.[34]
^If you include the Devon Cup titles won by Plymouth Albion's parent clubs - Devonport Albion and Plymouth RFC - that merged to create the modern club in the 1920s then they have actually won 23 titles which would make them the most prolific team in the competition's history.
^Exeter University's figure includes Devon Cups won by St. Luke's College before it was amalgamated into Exeter University in 1978.