The 2006 Challenge Cup (also known as the Powergen Challenge Cup due to sponsorship from
Powergen) was the 105th tournament played for
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
's
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involve ...
. It features teams from across Europe including England, Scotland,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
, France and Russia.
The competition started in January 2006 with the preliminary round where the
Gloucestershire Warriors
Gloucestershire Warriors RLFC are a rugby league team from the county of Gloucestershire in England. They play in the Conference League South and in 2006 made their debut in the Challenge Cup.
History
''Cheltenham Warriors'' were formed in 199 ...
from the
Rugby League Conference
The Rugby League Conference (RLC) (also known as the Co-operative Rugby League Conference as a result of sponsorship from The Co-operative Group), was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England ...
surprised an established Pennine League team in
Illingworth. The final was scheduled to be played at the new
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
but in March 2006 it became apparent that the stadium would not be ready for the final on 26 August so it was switched to
Twickenham
Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boro ...
.
In the final
St. Helens proved too strong for the
Huddersfield Giants
Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium which is sha ...
, winning by 42 points to 12. It was Huddersfield's first final since 1953, when they also faced St Helens.
Round 1
:''(week ending 5 February)''
Sees the introduction of the major amateur clubs from the
National Conference League
The National Conference League (known as the Kingstone Press National Conference League for sponsorship reasons) is the top English amateur rugby league competition in the Rugby Football League pyramid, and as such is the leading amateur rugby l ...
and the teams from
National League 3
Round 2
:''(week ending 19 February)''
Round 3
:''(week ending 12 March)''
Round 3 sees the introduction of the
National League 1 and 2 teams and teams from France and Russia. Amateurs Thornhill Trojans provided the first surprise result by beating national 2 team Workington Town. Late season snow caused a number of postponements on the Sunday.
Round 4
:''(week ending 2 April)''
Round 4 sees the introduction of the
Super League
The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of w ...
teams. Some matches are now televised live by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
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...
. In this round the matches chosen for transmission were at Bradford and Wakefield.
:''(week ending 21 May)''
No new teams enter at this stage. In this round the matches chosen for transmission were at St Helens and Widnes.
:''(week ending 4 June)''
In this round the matches chosen for transmission were at Hull KR and Leeds. Hull KR pulled off a major surprise when they beat Superleague team Warrington Wolves.
:''(week ending 30 July)''
Unlike earlier rounds, matches from now on will be played on neutral grounds. Huddersfield have the chance to win the Cup for the first time in 1953 when they beat this year's final opponents St Helens.
...