Introduction

Each year Yorkshire enters teams for several inter-county competitions, listed on the right. Click on the link for information about the Northern Bridge League and for results in recent years. Scroll down to the bottom of this page for information about the other inter-county competitions.

Interested?

Would anyone interested in playing in a Northern Bridge League team in 2025 (matches are from July to October) please contact the chair of the selection committee before March 2025, when the teams will be selected. You will find the names of the selection committee members elsewhere on this site – click on the ‘About YCBA’ tab and then on ‘Official Documents’. The next section explains the selection criteria.

Inter-County Player Selection

The YCBA Board delegates responsibility for selection of players for the Northern Bridge League, Presidents Cup and Tollemache to selection committees. There are many factors to take into account in selection decisions, but the main considerations are:

Criteria for selection for the Northern Bridge League (NBL)

1. Established or evolving partnerships
   
2. Competing in Yorkshire League and/or Online Yorkshire League Division 1, 2 or 3
   
3. Some experience of playing with success against good standard opposition in national and county competitions.

Criteria for selection for the Tollemache and President’s Cup

1. Established partnerships *
   
2. Recent success in national and county level competitions.
   Weighting for Teams events will be significantly higher than Pairs events.
   
3. Competing in 5 or more NBL Division 1 events within the last 3 years with a positive average butler / cross-imp rating.
   
4. Competing in Yorkshire League and/or Online YL Division 1 or 2 with a positive average butler / cross-imp rating over the last 3 years.

* Exceptions may be made due to late withdrawals, new partnerships with good recent record or other exceptional circumstances.

Entry Fees:

YCBA pays the entry fees, but there is a charge made at the venue to cover the cost of catering & hire of the venue, part of which is paid by the YCBA.

The entry fees for the Tollemache Cup and President’s Cup competitions will be paid in full by the YCBA. If an overnight stay is required, the YCBA may make a contribution to the cost of the stay.

Tollemache Cup

The ‘Tolle’ is the EBU’s principal inter-county competition for teams-of-eight. All county associations are eligible to enter, and most do so. It is played in two stages. A qualifying round is currently played online over a weekend in November. The counties entering are divided into two groups, playing a round robin of matches, and the leading four teams in each group qualify for the final. The final is played face-to-face over a weekend the following February.

Yorks miss out on Tolle final place

Yorkshire’s quest for a place in the final of the intercounty Tollemache Cup has been unsuccessful once again.    The qualifying round was played online using RealBridge over the weekend of 9th and 10th November 2024   Yorkshire finished eighth in their group of fourteen teams, with only the top four in each group going through to the final.    Yorkshire started slowly and did not improve in the second and third sessions, only finding  their form in the last three matches, all of which were won, including a 19-1 thrashing of high flying Surrey.

The Yorkshire team was Richard Pike & David Waxman, Tom Copeland & Alan Jarvis, Tom Cohen & Phil Morrison,  Frank Dixon & Paul Brereton, Alan Brosgill & Robin Jepson and Sandra Penfold & Brian Senior.   Richard & David, Tom & Alan and Tom & Phil led the way in the crossimps ranking list.   Well done to them.

The team was ably captained by Alan Brosgill who had  to amend his planned schedule when one pair was unable to play on the first day.     Thanks to Alan and his co selector Dave Robinson.    

We will try again next year ….

President’s Cup

The President’s Cup is another inter-county competition, initiated by David Stevenson (Merseyside & Cheshire) but currently organised by Cumbria Contract Bridge Association.
The participants vary from year to year, but most are county associations in the north of England. It is played over a single weekend in the summer and the format is a round robin of matches between the competing teams.

In 2024,Yorkshire repeated their victory of the previous year, thus retaining the President’s Cup. The competition was played online using RealBridge over the weekend of 6th and 7th July. Five teams took part – four from the traditional northern county assocations – Cumbria & Westmorland, Merseyside & Cheshire, North East and Yorkshire. To add an overseas flavour, a team from Dublin was also invited.

The contest was quite close in the end, Yorkshire withstanding a late run by Dublin to prevail by 26 imps. The Yorkshire team was Dave Robinson (captain) Tony Sowter, Sandra Penfold, Brian Senior, Ian Cook, Dennis Haines, Alan Brosgill, Robin Jepson, Paul Brereton, Frank Dixon, Nichola Cockerill-Smith, Richard Pike, Keith Joules and Phil Godfrey.

Thanks to all the players, and to the selectors – Alan Brosgill, Dave Robinson and Sandy Davies.

The 2025 edition of the President’s Cup will be played online on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th July. The Yorkshire squad of six pairs has been selected and is Alan Jarvis & Alan Hayward, Dave Robinson & Tony Sowter or Tony McNiff, Paul Brereton & Frank Dixon, Tom Cohen & Phil Morrison, David Waxman & Richard Pike, and Alan Brosgill & Robin Jepson.

Pachabo Cup

The Pachabo Cup is an EBU competition, for which counties may enter the winning teams or runners up in their principal knockout competition for teams-of-four. In Yorkshire, the knockout competition is the Waddington Shield.
In 2024, the Yorkshire team comprised four players from the team that finished runners-up in the Waddington Shield – Frank Dixon, Paul Brereton, David Waxman & Richard Pike. The winners of the Waddington were unable to send a team. Yorkshire finished in a strong seventh place out of a total of 29 counties taking part. The winners of the Pachabo Cup were Hampshire & the Isle of Wight.

Garden Cities Trophy

The Garden Cities Trophy is another EBU competition, for which county associations may enter the winners or runners-up in their designated competition for affiliated club teams-of-eight. This event is played in two stages, starting with regional semi-finals, from which the leading teams qualify for the final.

The Yorkshire League is YCBA’s designated competition, so the winners of Division 1 of the Yorkshire League are invited to play in the Garden Cities.

Th 2025 Yorkshire were represented by Sheffield, the winners of the Yorkshire League 2024-25.     In the regional heat played on 10th May, Sheffield finished second, just two victory points behind the winners, Manchester.    Only three teams took part in the regional heat, so Sheffield did not qualify for the final.    The Sheffield team was Bazil Caygill & Matthew Kiggins, Richard Pike & Graham Knott, Dave Robinson & Tony Spwter, and Mike Pomfrey & Tom Gisborne.

National inter-county league final

The winners of each division of regional inter-county leagues qualify for this EBU competition. For Yorkshire the inter-county league is the Northern Bridge League and, as the NBL is staged in the summer and autumn months, the divisional winners are eligible to play in the NICL final the following year.

In 2024, Yorkshire’s A and B teams qualified for the finals of the NICL, which took place on 2nd June.

Yorkshire won the A team final by two victory points following an appeal. The team comprised Dave Robinson & Tony Sowter, Sandra Penfold & Brian Senior, Paul Brereton & Frank Dixon, and Tom Copeland & Alan Jarvis. Paul & Frank were the leading Yorkshire pair in the cross-imps table, and third overall.

Yorkshire finished in second place jin the B team final, five victory points behind the winners, Hertfordshire . The team comprised John O’Sullivan (captain) & Ian Johns, David Lewis & Colin Fallows, Ian Cook & Dennis Haines, and Rod Hose & David Adams. Ian and Dennis were the top pair overall in the cross-imps table.

Congratulations to both teams add to the selectors.

Yorkshire teams have again qualified for the A and B finals in 2025. These will take place on 8th June and will be played online using RealBridge. The Yorkshire A team has been selected and is Dave Robinson & Tony Sowter, Paul Brereton & Frank Dixon, Tom Copeland & Alan Jarvis and Tom Cohen & Phil Morrison.

Corwen Trophy

The Corwen is the national competition for which pairs qualify though a high-placed finish in their county’s princilpal pairs event – which, for Yorkshire, is the Yorkshire Pairs. An equivalent competition for Nine High players was inaugurated by the EBU in 2025 and Yorkshire holds a qulalifying event for the Nine High Corwen, usually on the same day as the Yorlshire Pairs.

The 2025 Corwen was played on RealBridge over the weekend of 31st May and 1st June.   Five Yorkshire pairs took part in the competition, withMike Jackson & John Hayton achieving an excellent second place.   It was an exciting finish – after the  96 boards had been played,   less than 1.2% covered the top eight pairs and Mike & John were just 0.18% or 13.45 match points behind the winning pair.   Paul Brereton & Frank Dixon (23rd) and Nick Woolven & Geoff Kenyon (37th) also finished in the top half of the field.

The Nine High Corwen was also played on RealBridge on 31st May, Again five Yorkshire pairs took part, and there was more success, as Ren Buss & Martin Craven also finished second.   Richard Wilson & Anne Wilson were 17th and Suzanne Hutley & Geoffrey Deighton were 19th.

This page was last updated on 2nd June 2025.

Competitions

• Northern Bridge League
• Tollemache Cup (EBU)
• President’s Cup
• Pachabo Cup (EBU)
• Garden Cities Trophy (EBU)
• National Inter-county League final (EBU)