The Cheshire Cup is an annual rugby union knock-out club competition organized by the Cheshire Rugby Football Union. It was first introduced in the 1877–78 season as the Cheshire Challenge County Cup and the inaugural competition was won by Birkenhead Park, who along with eight other local sides including New Brighton and Sale, made up the club members of the Cheshire RFU at that time. Four years later the cup was discontinued due to arguments over whether cup ties were beneficial to the county game. The Cheshire RFU reintroduced the cup during the 1969–70 season, with Sale the first winners of the competition in over 80 years.