Group Stage Play By Date: 13th March 2026 Knockout Stages: Play By Date 4th September 2026 Final: 26th – 27th September 2026 Final Venue: West Midlands Bridge Club
The Crockfords Cup
- England's premier teams championship!
TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR IN CHARGE: Chris Benneworth
England's premier teams championship, with a knockout qualification and an eight-team final.
Format for 2025/26
The entry fee will be £96, but there will be a further fee of £105 per team for those who qualify to play in the finals.
Teams will be drawn in groups of four and will play a match against each of the other three teams in the group, so all non-seeded teams will be guaranteed three matches. Any team in each round-robin (RR) group that plays its three matches and wins at least two of them, will go on to the knockout stage of the event, when the seeded teams will also participate. No team that concedes a match without playing it may proceed to the knockout stage.
Between five and eight seeded teams will be exempted from the round-robin stage of the event. At the end of that stage, further teams will be given seeded status so as to have a total of eight seeds. These additional seeds will be selected from among teams that won all three of their matches, further based on gold points.
There will be no separate Crockfords Plate knockout, but the eight winning teams from the group of sixteen will qualify for the main Crockfords Cup final while the eight losing teams will qualify for the Crockfords Plate final. The format of these finals will remain as at present. Any team that qualifies for one of the finals but does not play in it, will not be eligible to be seeded in the following year.
Later rounds of this event will be face-to-face but teams are asked to indicate their preference for playing online or face-to-face, which will be used in the round-robin stage of the draw and teams must abide by their stated choice. Although this will also be taken into account for the draw for the knockout stages if possible, all teams must be willing to play those stages face-to-face if necessary. Prices for Crockfords entries are based on the previous face to face iteration.
Results
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To enter
By entering an EBU congress or event you agree to abide by the terms and conditions set out in the Terms and Conditions document.
Closing date for 2026/27 entries is Friday 9th October 2026
Please can entrants who wish to play online contact comps@ebu.co.uk so that those wishing to play online can be drawn against one another in the first few rounds (depending on number of online applicants). Note that the competition will default to face to face and we won't be able to guarantee online opposition after a couple of rounds.
Full payment must be made at the time of entering. Those who play in an event without having entered and paid beforehand will be subject to an additional financial penalty of £20.
Holders
2024/25
Cup - Hillman Team: Richard Hillman, Sebastian Atisen, Ben Green, Barry Myers, Sally Brock & Keith Bennett (pictured)
Plate - Stefano Tommasini, Ben Norton, Martin Jones & Adam Hickman (picture)
| 2025-26 Cup | Play by Date | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Group Stage | 13th March 2026 | ||
| Knockout Stage | Match 1 | 25th May 2026 | |
| Knockout Stage | Match 2 | 4th September 2026 | |
| Cup Final | 26th - 27th September 2026 | ||
| Plate Final | 26th - 27th September 2026 | ||
| 2025/26 Cup & Plate Final | |||
| SAT 26 | 11:30 | 12:30 | Match 1a |
| 12:35 | 13:35 | Match 1b | |
| 13:40 | 14:40 | Match 2a | |
| 14:40 | 15:10 | Lunch | |
| 15:10 | 16:10 | Match 2b | |
| 16:15 | 17:15 | Match 3a | |
| 17:20 | 18:20 | Match 3b | |
| 18:25 | 19:25 | Match 4a | |
| SUN 27 | 10:00 | 11:00 | Match 4b |
| 11:05 | 12:05 | Match 5a | |
| 12:10 | 13:10 | Match 5b | |
| 13:10 | 13:40 | Lunch | |
| 13:40 | 14:40 | Match 6a | |
| 14:45 | 15:45 | Match 6b | |
| 15:50 | 16:50 | Match 7a | |
| 16:55 | 17:55 | Match 7b | |
| 18:00 | Results and presentation of trophy | ||
| The entry fee for 2025/26 is £96 per team (please note: there will be an additional charge of £105 for teams that make the finals). The entry fee for 2026/27 is £106 per team (please note: there will be an additional charge of £114 for teams that make the finals). |
|---|
Master Points
This is a Green Point event, with the following awards.
Green Points are 1 for each of the first matches won, plus an extra 1 for a team that is unbeaten over three matches. Then 2, 3, 4 for the subsequent rounds. A team that wins two matches and is conceded their third by their opponents without playing it will get 1 Green Point for each of their two wins plus another 1 for being unbeaten. (Note that the unbeaten team are not allowed to concede the third match themselves without playing it)
Crockfords Cup
| Round | RR | I | II | III | Final |
| GPs | 1 each | 2 | 3 | 4 | see below |
Cup Final: 1 Green Point per match won (0.5 for a draw) plus ranking points to the top four teams: 1st 24; 2nd 12; 3rd 7; 4th 3.
Plate Final: 50% of awards for Cup
Agreements
Level 5 agreements are permitted in this event.
Venue and Tariff
2025/26 Final: West Midlands Bridge Club
Please note: Most hotels cannot guarantee check-in times earlier than 3pm.
Downloads
- EBU Knockout and League Competitions General Regulations
- General Regulations Rulings
- General Regulations for Rulings Online
- Specific Regulations for this Event
Past winners
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2024/25 Crockfords Cup and Plate
2023/24 Crockfords Cup; 2023/24 Crockfords Plate
2022/23 Crockfords Cup; 2022/23 Crockfords Plate
2021/22 Crockfords Cup; 2021/22 Crockfords Plate
2020/21 Crockfords Cup; 2020/21 Crockfords Plate
2019/20 Crockfords Cup; 2019/20 Crockfords Plate
2018/19 Crockfords Cup; 2018/19 Crockfords Plate
2017 results
2016 results
2015 results
2014 results
2013 results
2012 results
2011 results
2010 results
2009 results
2008 results
2007 results
2006 results
2005 results
2004 results
2003 results
2002 results
2001 results
2000 results
1998 results
1997 results
1996 results
1995 results
1994 results
1992 results
1991 results
1990 results
1989 results
1988 results
1987 results
1986 results
1984 results
1983 results
1982 results
1981 results
1980 results