to reach the Twickenham final, losing a close game 6–10 to Midlands regional winners Bridgnorth. After nine fruitless seasons at Silver Royd, Scarborough's luck would finally change during the 2017–18 season, gaining promotion by default having finished as runners up in Yorkshire 1 after Durham/Northumberland 1 side Durham City was unable to raise a side to contest the playoff game. The season got even better when Scarborough finally won the Yorkshire Shield at the third time of asking, defeating Old Rishworthians 41–27 at Brantingham Park in Brantingham on 18 May 2018. Despite being newcomers to North 1 East – which incidentally was the highest level the club had reached since the 2002–03 season – Scarborough more than held its own and booked a second successive promotion playoff after finishing runners up to champions, Morpeth. Sadly, Scarborough was denied its highest ever league position, as it lost 7–17 away to North 1 West runners Blackburn in the match held on 27 April 2019. Ground Scarborough RUFC plays home games at Silver Royd on Scalby Road (A171), on the northern outskirts of Scalby – a village to the north of Scarborough. The ground was built in 2009 at the cost of 4 million pounds and includes a clubhouse, fitness centre, all-seater grandstand, five full size pitches (two of which have floodlights), five mini pitches, a cricket pitch, and parking for 350 cars. The J.M. Guthrie Clubhouse contains three bars, Harley's cafe-bar (a coffee shop) meeting and function rooms, a snooker room, eight changing rooms and the club shop, while the Barons fitness centre contains a sports hall, four squash courts, two state of the art gyms and two fitness studios. Due to its location on the outskirts of town, the ground is best accessed by car and there is plenty of parking on site. It is possible to catch a train to Scarborough railway station but a 3.5 mile walk to the ground would dissuade all but the keenest walkers. Capacity at Silver Royd around the main pitch is approximately 4500 – 425 seated in the grandstand, the rest standing pitch side or on the clubhouse balcony. The ground has also hosted the Yorkshire side in the County Championship on a number of occasions – most notably in the 2016 Bill Beaumont Cup when 1,896 supporters were at Silver Royd to watch Yorkshire play eternal rivals Lancashire. Yorkshire Carnegie have also played