Garden Cities Trophy

The Garden Cities Trophy

- a teams of eight competition for the winners of county events

Regional finals venues TBC, 10th May 2025

Final 14th June, venue TBC

The competition is for the winners of each County’s designated event for affiliated club teams of 8. If the winners are unable to participate, then the invitation is extended to the runners-up. Each County is responsible for deciding the format of its designated event. In practice, some Counties hold a one-off qualifying event and others choose to use a season-long event such as a County League for club teams of 8. Clubs may play in the designated event in another County, if that County’s regulations permit it, but without standing to qualify for the Garden Cities Trophy representing that other County. The intention of the competition is that clubs are represented by their regular players or established members. Players must:

• be registered members of the club they are to represent continuously throughout the period commencing with the date three months before the relevant closing date, and finishing with the last stage of the competition in which they play; and
• play regularly at the club or for the club, or contribute to the club regularly in some other way (or have done so in previous years, yet be unable currently to do so through some personal circumstance, e.g. illness, work, childcare, etc.).

“Registered member” means a member of the club who is at all relevant times included on the list of members of the club registered with the EBU for the purposes of the Universal Membership Scheme. For the purposes of these regulations the County stage of the competition is considered separately from the Regional and National stages, but the Regional and National stages are considered as a single stage. Accordingly, “the relevant closing date” means:

• for the County stages, the County’s closing date for entries to its designated event; and
• for the Regional or National finals, the EBU’s closing date for entries to the Regional Finals.

Players must also comply with any additional eligibility requirements stipulated by the County. Players are not required to owe primary allegiance to the County they represent. Although all players must be EBU members, they are not required to be members of the County they represent, provided that the relevant County regulations permit this. 

For the avoidance of doubt a club’s participation in the Regional Finals is not prejudiced by the fact that one or more players who have represented it in the County stages may have subsequently become ineligible to represent the club. Similarly, a club’s participation in the National Final is not prejudiced by the fact that one or more players who have represented it in the County stages and/or the Regional Finals may have lost their eligibility. This is subject to the overriding requirement that all players must have been eligible to represent the club on every occasion on which they actually did so at any stage of the competition. Players may participate in qualifying competitions in more than one County (subject to meeting the eligibility requirements of that County), but only for one club within any one County in each season. Having once represented a club in a qualifying competition, a player may not subsequently represent some other club from the same County at any stage of that season’s competition, but they may play for a different team from the same club at different stages of the event. 

Furthermore, a player who represents one County in the Regional Final may not represent a different County in the National Final in the same season. Entries to the Regional and National stages must be submitted by an authorised official of either the County or the Club which has qualified to represent the County. Both the County and the club have a responsibility to satisfy themselves that the players comply with all the eligibility requirements set out in these regulations (including any additional eligibility requirements stipulated by the County). Teams are limited to eight playing members in each of the Regional and National Finals, although not necessarily the same eight in the Regional and National Final.

Regional finals The Regional finals will be run as a round round robin of 4x12-board, 5x10-board, 6x8-board, 7x7-board, 8x6-board or 9x5-board event on Saturday 10th May 2025.

National final The National final is due to be played on Saturday 14th June 2025, a light lunch will be provided.

Player relevant information for the Garden Cities Trophy

Previous Winners

2024 results
2023 results
2022 results
2021 results
2020 event not held
2019 results
2018 results
2017 results
2016 results
2015 results
2014 results
2013 results
2012 results
2011 results
2010 results
2009 results
2008 results - not currently available
2007 results
2006 results
Garden Cities Trophy - the history