these regional competitions playing a final for the County Championship. Another restructure in 1921 saw the formation of five regions and the knock-out stage of the championship extend to semi-finals and a final. The winners of the North East, North West and South East regions were entered into a semi-final draw along with the winners of a play-off between the winners of the South and South West regions. From 2007 to 2016, the top eight counties were split into two regions of four teams, North and South, who played a round-robin tournament. The winners of each region competed for the English County Championship in the final. This format was repeated for the eight counties that competed for the County Championship Plate. The eleven counties which competed for the County Championship Shield were split into three pools from which the winners and the runner-up with the best record met in semi-final matches. In 2017 the competition was given a new structure, with the top tier comprising twelve teams and the second and third tiers having eight teams each. Each tier has a final each year, but promotion and relegation between tiers is decided on a two-year basis. Past winners 1889-1895 1896-1983 1984-present Since 1984 all Championship finals have been played at Twickenham. Championships by county Cumbria, a 1974 amalgamation of the former counties of Cumberland, Westmorland, and the Furness part of Lancashire, is shown separately from Cumberland and Lancashire. Eastern Counties and Notts, Lincs & Derby have reached the final but have never won the championship. Gloucestershire are the only county to have completed a "hat-trick of tat-trick" of county titles: 1920,1921 & 1922; 1930,1931 & 1932; 1974,1975 & 1976. John Fidler, former Gloucester, Gloucestershire and England lock forward, still holds the record for the most County Championship Final appearances, nine in all, from 1971 to 1984. References External links http://countyrugby.com/index.html https://web.archive.org/web/20081113051546/http://www.rfu.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/RFUHome.Community_Detail/StoryID/19903 Rugby union competitions in England Recurring sporting events established in 1889 1889 establishments in England