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new completion introduced by the RFL

Offline Haven Lottery Results

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on: 13 Nov 2018, 08:00:37 am
Dear All
 
Please find below the press release that we intend to go live at 8am in the morning.
 
I am really grateful for the pace at which both the Executive, the clubs and also the RFL Board have worked together in order to make this happen within the requisite timeframe.
 
This is a really exciting innovation for the clubs in Championship and League 1 and I hope demonstrates to you all the energy with which we are approaching this landscape.
 
Sincerely,
 
Ralph

The Rugby Football League today confirms not only the date for the 2019 Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium connected by EE – Saturday August 24 – but also a July date for the 2020 Final, a new long-term agreement with Wembley, and a new competition – the 1895 Cup - which means a bumper new-look programme of three matches on Challenge Cup Final Day.

Tickets go on open sale today (Tuesday November 13 – an appropriate, rather than unlucky, date for Rugby League) for the 2019 Wembley Stadium showpiece, along with dates for the eight rounds on the Road to Wembley – which will begin next month with the draw for the First Round to be played on January 26-27.

But for supporters of Championship and League One clubs, there’s an extra reason to make a note of Challenge Cup Final Day – as they will have a second chance to reach Wembley next year, in the 1895 Cup.
Full details will be announced with the Betfred Championship and League One fixtures on Sunday week, but the clubs have agreed after a meeting last week to introduce the new competition.

All but one of the 12 English Championship clubs have previously won the Challenge Cup, sharing a total of 30 Cup wins – from Batley, who were the first winners in 1897, to Bradford Bulls, the most recent to do so in 2003.

In addition two League One clubs – Hunslet and Oldham – are also former Challenge Cup winners, although in Oldham’s case famously never at Wembley.

But only Sheffield and Bradford have played at Wembley during the Super League era (since 1996), and none of the Championship or League One clubs have reached the new Wembley Stadium since the Challenge Cup Final returned to its spiritual home in 2007.

The introduction of the 1895 Cup means that there will be three Finals at Wembley Stadium next August – as the Steven Mullaney Memorial Match (the RFL Champion Schools Final for Year 7s), which has long been established as a popular curtain-raiser to the Challenge Cup Final, will also remain a key part of the day.

The RFL have also extended their partnership with Wembley – which has staged 76 Challenge Cup Finals since the first between Wigan and Dewsbury in 1929 – until 2027, which will therefore be the 85th.
Next year’s Challenge Cup Final Day will stick to what has become a regular place on the calendar, the August Bank Holiday Weekend. But in 2020, there will be a move forward to Saturday July 18.

Ralph Rimmer, the chief executive of the Rugby Football League, said: “This is a significant and exciting day for the Challenge Cup, and the game’s relationship with Wembley Stadium.
 
“Next year we will celebrate the 90th anniversary of the first Challenge Cup Final at Wembley in 1929. Rugby League is proud of the length and strength of that association – Wembley Stadium has been the setting for so many of the greatest matches and memories in the game’s history, with Catalans Dragons writing another chapter when they became the first overseas club to win the Cup earlier this year.
“We are therefore delighted to confirm the extension of that relationship until 2027.
“We believe the introduction of the 1895 Cup will give that relationship another boost. It’s a recognition that the game has changed since the onset of full-time professionalism in the Super League era, meaning that for a good number of the Championship and League One clubs who have won the Challenge Cup in the past, reaching Wembley currently seems a distant dream. This innovation makes that dream of Wembley much more realistic and achievable.
 
“We’ve seen in football, with the EFL Trophy that was introduced for teams for the third and fourth tiers of their professional structure as the Associate Members’ Cup in 1983, that the introduction of a realistic additional chance to reach Wembley can have a rejuvenating effect on clubs.
“With the 1895 Cup, we want to recognise the contribution of our non-Super League clubs to the game’s history since its founding as the Northern Union 123 years ago – and provide an exciting new chance for their players and supporters to taste the magic of Wembley.
“With the Steven Mullaney Memorial Match continuing to provide a unique opportunity for some potential future stars to play at Wembley Stadium, we’ve tried to create a Challenge Cup Final Day package which will breathe new life into Rugby League’s big day out.”

Confirmed Challenge Cup Round Dates for 2019:
 
Round 1 – 26th/27th January
Round 2 – 9th/10th February
Round 3 – 9th/10th March
Round 4 – 30th/31st March
Round 5 – 13th/14th April
Round 6 – 11th/12th May
Quarter-Finals – 1st/2nd June
Semi-Finals – 27th/28th July
Final – Saturday 24th August - Wembley Stadium connected by EE
 
The draw for Round 1 of the 2019 Challenge Cup will take place week commencing December 10th. Further details to follow soon.


Offline Brow Lad

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Reply #1 on: 13 Nov 2018, 08:27:34 am
What happens if a top end championship team get to semi finals in both cups  ???


Offline whitey12

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Reply #2 on: 13 Nov 2018, 09:00:19 am
Fail to say it;s only for the top four of champ 1 as well.


Offline Snowdrop

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Reply #3 on: 13 Nov 2018, 09:15:00 am
Workington have won the Challenge Cup as well haven't they?
« Last Edit: 13 Nov 2018, 09:00:10 pm by Snowdrop »


Offline HavenWarrior

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Reply #4 on: 13 Nov 2018, 03:04:26 pm
Fail to say it;s only for the top four of champ 1 as well.




The format will be League 1 clubs start the ball rolling and are whittled down to the last 4. Either by straight knockout or by mini leagues

They then join the 12 Championship club making 16. The most games a  Championship side can play is 4 games.

Potentially League 1 teams could play 7 games.

Gates will be shared as in the Challenge Cup. Only the two finalists will be helped with expenses on finals day.


HW


Offline whitey12

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Reply #5 on: 13 Nov 2018, 04:18:37 pm
If that is true it has to be regional groups or clubs would lose money.  Would be okay if we got town, Newcastle, Oldham,.  But we can't be going to hemel etc.


Offline CUMBRIAN BOY

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Reply #6 on: 13 Nov 2018, 06:20:53 pm
Wonder if the rfl had any consultation with the championship clubs or anyone on this,  also think Wembley is no longer an a attraction for the rugby league faithful anymore, this can be seen by the poor attendances. 


Offline Johnno

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Reply #7 on: 14 Nov 2018, 04:49:52 pm
If that is true it has to be regional groups or clubs would lose money.  Would be okay if we got town, Newcastle, Oldham,.  But we can't be going to hemel etc.

Thought Hemel had packed in


Offline haven94

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Reply #8 on: 14 Nov 2018, 04:51:38 pm
If that is true it has to be regional groups or clubs would lose money.  Would be okay if we got town, Newcastle, Oldham,.  But we can't be going to hemel etc.

Thought Hemel had packed in

thats right
born and bred haven.


Offline whitey12

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Reply #9 on: 14 Nov 2018, 07:06:09 pm

If that is true it has to be regional groups or clubs would lose money.  Would be okay if we got town, Newcastle, Oldham,.  But we can't be going to hemel etc.

Thought Hemel had packed in

Yeah, bad example.  London, South Wales etc.


Offline HavenWarrior

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Reply #10 on: 20 Dec 2018, 03:29:03 pm
So it seems this Comp could bring only 1 extra game in what is already a sparse fixture list. How clubs are expected to survive is beyond me.

HW


Offline eternal optimist

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Reply #11 on: 20 Dec 2018, 03:41:28 pm
So it seems this Comp could bring only 1 extra game in what is already a sparse fixture list. How clubs are expected to survive is beyond me.

HW

Let’s hope it’s not West Wales away!


Offline MrsHavenWarrior

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Reply #12 on: 20 Dec 2018, 03:54:51 pm
The lowdown from The RFL........

https://www.rugby-league.com/article/54095/-cup-entrants-confirmed

The 20 clubs who will contest the inaugural 1895 Cup can now be confirmed. The brand new competition provides another opportunity for their players and supporters to earn a trip to Wembley Stadium in 2019.

Coventry Bears, London Skolars and North Wales Crusaders have opted not to enter for logistical reasons, meaning eight clubs from Betfred League 1 will play a straight knockout in the First Round on May 5-6 – before the 12 English clubs from the Betfred Championship join the four First Round winners in the last 16.

The winners of those eight fixtures, to be played in the first week of June, will earn places in the 1895 Cup quarter finals later in the month – with the semi finals to be played the day after the Challenge Cup semi finals, on Sunday July 28.

That will leave the finalists with almost a month to prepare for the 1895 Cup Final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday August 24.

The Bears, Crusaders and Skolars confirmed their decision not to participate today, in each case for logistical reasons, with the later rounds of the competition to be played in midweek.

Mark Croston, the Skolars Director of Rugby, said: “Due to scheduling matters and player welfare issues, we have decided that we couldn’t commit to the 1895 Cup this year.

“Given League 1 and Championship consist mostly of players who currently have full-time jobs, it is unrealistic to expect them to spend a full day on weekdays for away games, potentially returning in the early hours of Thursdays, thus requiring two days away from work.”

Alan Robinson, the Coventry owner and CEO, added: “The logistics are against us on this one. But we are hoping for another good Challenge Cup run like last year, and Midlands fans will still be able to enjoy the special atmosphere of a floodlit game with Leeds’s visit to Butts Park on Friday 18th January. We will also be looking to focus all our efforts on our league position and developing our young squad in what will be another year of substantial growth for the club in the region."

First round (May 4-5; draw in April on date tbc) - teams enter: Doncaster, Hunslet, Keighley Cougars, Newcastle Thunder, Oldham, West Wales Raiders, Whitehaven, Workington Town.

Second round (June 2-5; draw in early May date tbc) - teams enter: Barrow Raiders, Batley Bulldogs, Bradford Bulls, Dewsbury Rams, Featherstone Rovers, Halifax, Leigh Centurions, Rochdale Hornets, Sheffield Eagles, Swinton Lions, Widnes Vikings, York City Knights, plus four First Round winners.

Quarter Finals – week starting June 24

Semi Finals – Sunday July 28

Final – Wembley Stadium, Saturday August 24

🤎💙💛 Whitehaven RLFC 🤎💙💛


Offline Brow Lad

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Reply #13 on: 20 Dec 2018, 06:34:54 pm
At best possibly 2 home draws