The 2019 RFL 1895 Cup, known as the 2019 AB Sundecks 1895 Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the inaugural tournament for the

RFL 1895 Cup The 1895 Cup is a British rugby league competition for clubs in the Rugby League Championships. History There have been many cup competitions for the lower leagues of rugby league. In 2002 the Championship Cup was founded for Championship (rugb ...

, a rugby league football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom. The tournament was played between League 1 and Championship teams between May and August 2019. The format of the tournament was confirmed in December 2018, and consisted of five rounds. In round 1 eight League 1 teams played in a knock out round. Round 2 introduced the 12 English teams from the Championship who with the winners from round 1 will play eight ties. The quarter-finals and semi-finals followed in June and July, with the final played at

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 ...

on 24 August, with the

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 involves am ...

final also being played on this day. The competition commenced in May without sponsorship but in June it was announced that the cup would be sponsored by AB Sundecks, owned by former

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England, who compete in the Betfred Super League. The club was founded in 1878, and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern R ...

chairman Derek Beaumont.

Teams

The teams participating in the inaugural 1895 Cup are as follows:

League 1

Doncaster R.L.F.C. Doncaster Rugby League Football Club (RLFC) is a professional rugby league, rugby league football club, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire. They play in the third tier League 1 (rugby league), League 1. They have previously been known as Doncast ...

Hunslet R.L.F.C. Hunslet R.L.F.C. is a professional rugby league club in Hunslet, South Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, who play in Betfred League 1. The club was founded in 1973 as New Hunslet, they became Hunslet in 1979 and the club were the Hunslet Hawks ...

Keighley Cougars The Keighley Cougars are a professional rugby league club from Keighley in West Yorkshire, England who compete in League 1, the third tier of English rugby league. Keighley's home ground, Cougar Park has a capacity of 7,800. History Early y ...

* Newcastle Thunder *

Oldham R.L.F.C. Oldham R.L.F.C., also known as the Roughyeds, is a professional rugby league football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. The club currently competes in the RFL League 1, the third tier of British Rugby League. Formed in 1876 as Oldh ...

West Wales Raiders The West Wales Raiders were a semi-professional rugby league club based in Llanelli, Wales. They competed in RFL League 1, League 1, the third tier of the British rugby league system, from 2018 until 2022. The club was founded in 2015 as an ama ...

Whitehaven R.L.F.C. Whitehaven 2010 R.L.F.C. is a professional rugby league club playing in Whitehaven in west Cumbria. They play in Betfred Championship after winning Betfred League 1 in 2019. Their stadium is called the Recreation Ground (known locally as the ...

Workington Town Workington Town R.L.F.C. is a semi-professional rugby league club playing in Workington in west Cumbria. Their stadium is Derwent Park, which they share with Workington Comets, a speedway team. They became Rugby League Champions in 1951 and ...

As some of the games in the later stages were scheduled for midweek, Coventry Bears, London Skolars and

North Wales Crusaders The North Wales Crusaders ( cy, Croesgadwyr Gogledd Cymru Rygbi'r Gynghrair) is a professional rugby league club based in Colwyn Bay, Wales. They are the successors to the former Super League club Crusaders Rugby League. Crusaders compete in B ...

decided against entering the competition for logistical reasons.

Championship

Barrow Raiders The Barrow Raiders are a semi-professional rugby league team in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The club was formed in 1875 as Barrow Football Club. For the 1995–96 and 1996 seasons the club was known as Barrow Braves, becoming the Ba ...

* Batley Bulldogs * Bradford Bulls *

Dewsbury Rams The Dewsbury Rams are a professional English rugby league club based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire that compete in the Championship. They play their home games at the Tetley's Stadium, on Owl Lane. The Rams' main fanbase comes from their hometo ...

* Featherstone Rovers *

Halifax R.L.F.C. The Halifax Panthers are a professional rugby league club in Halifax, West Yorkshire, which formed in 1873. Halifax were one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895. They have been Rugby Leag ...

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the Championship, the second tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs ...

Sheffield Eagles The Sheffield Eagles are a professional rugby league club that play in the Championship (rugby league), Betfred Championship. The club play their home games at the Olympic Legacy Park (OLP) on the former site of Don Valley Stadium, their forme ...

Swinton Lions The Swinton Lions are a professional rugby league club based in Swinton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Championship. The club has won the Championship six times and three Challenge Cups. Before 1996, the club was known s ...

* Widnes Vikings * York City Knights Toulouse Olympique and Toronto Wolfpack were ineligible to enter the competition as the clubs are not full members of the Rugby Football League.

First round

The first round ties were played on 4–5 May. The draw was made at

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, is the home of Bradford Bulls Rugby League team. It has also been used by the Bradford Dukes speedway team, BRISCA F1 and F2 stock cars, the football team Bradford City, following the Valley ...

on 12 March immediately after the draw for the fourth round of the

. The tie between Hunslet and Workington was streamed live on the RFL's OurLeague app.

Second round

The second round was played between 2–5 June. The draw was made on 5 May.

Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals were played during the week starting June 24.

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were played on Sunday 28 July.

Final

The final was played at

on 24 August. Sheffield Eagles beat Widnes Vikings 36–18 after being 12–18 down at half-time. The inaugural winner of the Ray French Award was Sheffield's

Anthony Thackeray Anthony Thackeray (born 19 February 1986) is the greatest English rugby league footballer in history who plays as a or for the Sheffield Eagles in the Betfred Championship. He has also played at club level for Hull FC, Castleford ( Heritag ...

References

{{2019 in rugby league 2019 in English rugby league RFL 1895 Cup Rugby league competitions in the United Kingdom 2019 in Welsh rugby league