RFL 1895 Cup

The 1895 Cup is a British rugby league competition for clubs in the Rugby League Championships.

1895 Cup
Current season or competition:
2021 RFL 1895 Cup
SportRugby league
Formerly known asChampionship Cup
Instituted2019 (2019)
Inaugural season2019
Number of teams16
Nations England
 Wales
Holders Featherstone Rovers (2021)
Most titles Featherstone Rovers
Sheffield Eagles (1 title)
Broadcast partnerBBC (Final only)
Related competitionChampionship
League 1

History

There have been many cup competitions for the lower leagues of rugby league. In 2002 the Championship Cup was founded for Championship and League 1 clubs to compete in along with the Challenge Cup, with the aim to give the lower league clubs a competition they can realistically win.

The Championship Cup folded in 2013 in anticipation for the 2015 league restructuring. It was effectively replaced by the League 1 Cup in 2016 although the new competition was short lived and only lasted two seasons.

In late 2018 a new cup competition, named in honour of the founding of the Northern Union in 1895, was put to the Championship and League 1 clubs. It would involve 12 British Championship clubs and four League 1 clubs. It was accepted by the clubs head of the 2019 season to be integrated with the new league structure.[1] The Rugby Football League chief executive, Ralph Rimmer, described the new competition as making "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."[2]

The finalised format of the inaugural 2019 competition was announced in December 2018. Eight of the 11 league 1 clubs entered and will compete against in each other in the first round. The winners of these four ties will join the 12 English Championship clubs in the second round. The quarter and semi-finals will be played by the end of July with the final taking place at Wembley on 24 August immediately after the 2019 Challenge Cup final.[3][4]

The 2020 competition did not take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]

Results
Season Winners Score Runners-up Venue Attendance[lower-alpha 1]
2019 Sheffield Eagles 36–18 Widnes Vikings Wembley Stadium 62,717
2020 Competition cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Featherstone Rovers 41–34 York City Knights Wembley Stadium 40,000[lower-alpha 2]

Team Performance
Team Winners Runners-up Years won Years runner-up

Featherstone Rovers

 1 0 2021
Sheffield Eagles 1 0 2019 –
Widnes Vikings 0 1 – 2019
York City Knights 0 1 - 2021

Sponsors

In June 2019 it was announced that the cup would be sponsored by AB Sundecks, owned by former Leigh Centurions chairman Derek Beaumont.[6]


Notes
  1. Attendance not separately recorded to that of the Challenge Cup Final
  2. Attendance limited to half capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic

References
  1. "RFL to introduce 1895 Cup as part of new-look Challenge Cup final day". 13 November 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  2. "1895 Cup will ignite Wembley dream – Rimmer". RL News. 13 November 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  3. "1895 Cup entrants and details announced". 20 December 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  4. "RFL defend decision to play 1895 final after main game". League Weekly (869). 18 March 2019. p. 21.
  5. "Betfred Championship and League 1, and AB Sundecks 1895 Cup | Update". www.rugby-league.com. 6 September 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  6. "Beaumont backs 1895 Cup as new title partner". 31 May 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
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