The 2007 Carnegie

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 ...

began in February 2007. The Challenge Cup is the most prestigious knock-out competition in the world of

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 ...

, featuring teams from across Europe including England, Scotland, Wales, France and Russia. In 2007 the preliminary round was dropped, reducing the number of amateur clubs involved. Teams from the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

were given byes to round three, and teams from 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 wh ...

entered in round four. Teams from outside the UK were introduced at various stages. St. Helens successfully defended their title after beating

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons ( French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. The team competes in the Super League and are the only team from ...

(who were the first French club ever to take part in the competition's final) 30 – 8 in the final 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 ...

on 26 August.

Round 1

:''(week ending 4 February)'' Teams came 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 ...

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, ...

Student Rugby League The University and College Rugby League (UCRL), formerly known as ''the Student Rugby League'', is the organisation which administrates university and college rugby league football in the United Kingdom, on behalf of the Rugby Football League and Br ...

Pennine League The Pennine Amateur Rugby League, or Pennine League is a rugby league competition for amateur open-age clubs that runs from September to April. The clubs are drawn from West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and the east of Lancashire. ...

North West Counties The North West Counties A.R.L. were a series of rugby league regional leagues in the North West of England. Most clubs at open age level joined the North West Men's League in 2011 and 2012 but it carried on until folding part way through the 2014- ...

, Yorkshire League, CARLA,

Hull & District League The Hull & District League is a BARLA winter league for clubs from Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. It consists of clubs playing in two divisions. It is one of only four amateur leagues older than the British Amateur Rugby League As ...

and the

Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

. This round consisted entirely of amateur teams.

Fife Lions Fife Lions ARLFC are a rugby league club located in Fife, Scotland. They play in the Scottish National League. The Fife Lions in recent years have been one of the dominant teams in the SRLC. Winning their maiden premiership in 2004, the Lion ...

, the only Scottish club in the tournament, were eliminated.

Round 2

:''(week ending 25 February)'' Russian team

Kazan Arrows Kazan Arrows, sometimes called Strela Kazan, are a rugby league and rugby union club from Kazan, Tatarstan in Russia. They were formed in 1989 and play in the Russian Championship, the top-tier of rugby league in Russia. Since late 2009 they ha ...

entered the competition. Castleford Lock Lane defeated Bradford Dudley Hill after extra time in the closest game of this round, which against consisted of amateur teams.

Round 3

:''(week ending 11 March)'' Teams from National League Two, National League One entered at this stage, as did three teams from France and

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (''FC Lokomotiv Moskva'', russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб "Локомотив" Москва, ) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москв ...

from Russia. Lokomotiv's defeat ended the competition for Russian teams. The Castleford derby was a highlight of the draw, though the professional

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, that compete in the Super League, the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern Hemisphere. The club have competed i ...

defeated their amateur neighbours. 2005 semi-finalists Toulouse failed to win at York, though Pia's victory against Blackpool ensured that one team from the

French Rugby League Championship The French rugby league championship (french: Le Championnat de France de Rugby à XIII) has been the major rugby league tournament for semi-professional and professional clubs in France since the sport was introduced to the country in the 1930s. ...

progressed. All remaining amateur teams were eliminated.

Round 4

:''(week ending 1 April)'' This round saw the teams from the

enter. The only all-Super League match saw Warrington defeat Hull KR. Celtic Crusaders' defeat saw the final Welsh team leave the tournament. Once again, however, all games went to form, with no sides from lower leagues defeating a team from a higher league. Pia's defeat saw the

French rugby league championship The French rugby league championship (french: Le Championnat de France de Rugby à XIII) has been the major rugby league tournament for semi-professional and professional clubs in France since the sport was introduced to the country in the 1930s. ...

's exit from the Cup.

Round 5

:''(week ending 13 May)'' No new teams enter at this stage with all matches scheduled to be played over 12 and 13 May. The remaining teams for the 5th round are made up with eleven teams from

, three from National League One and two from National League Two.

Quarter-finals

---- ---- ----

Semi-finals

----

Final

UK Broadcasting rights

The tournament was screened in the United Kingdom by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

External links

Rugby Football League
{{2007 in rugby league Challenge Cup St Helens R.F.C.

2007 in English rugby league 2007 in French rugby league 2007 in Scottish sport 2007 in Russian sport