The Championship Cup, (known as the Northern Rail Cup for sponsorship reasons), and previously known as the National League Cup, was a

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 ...

football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom's

Rugby League Championships The Rugby League Championships (known as the National Leagues between 2003-2008) are the two professional divisions below the Super League, consisting of 12 teams in the Championship and 14 teams in League 1. Promotion and relegation is in use ...

. Although the French club

Toulouse Olympique Toulouse Olympique or TO XIII is a professional rugby league club in Toulouse, south-west France. Founded in 1937, two years after the French Rugby League Federation, the club is a six-time winner of the French Rugby League Championship. The cl ...

competed in the Championship from 2009 through 2011, they never participated in the cup until 2012 after they had left the Championship. The Cup's last season was 2013, after which it was replaced by the 1895 Cup.

History

The Trans-Pennine Cup was a short-lived competition for professional British rugby league clubs outside Super League. It was played for during the period in which all non-Super League professional clubs were grouped into a single competition, the Northern Ford Premiership. As part of the redevelopment of the Northern Ford Premiership competition; the National League cup was first held in 2002. It was known as the Buddies Cup, after its sponsor, a soft drinks manufacturer. Eighteen teams took part divided into three groups of six (East, West and Central). The Northern Ford Premiership was replaced by National Leagues One and Two in 2003. The competition was known as the Arriva Trains Cup after sponsor

Arriva Trains Northern Arriva Trains Northern was a train operating company in England owned by Arriva that operated the Regional Railways North East franchise from March 1997 until December 2004. Arriva resumed operating Northern train services again on 1 April 2016 ...

). The twenty National League teams were divided into four groups (North, East, West and Central) of five teams each, while in 2004 there were five groups (North, East, West, Pennine, Yorkshire) of four teams each.

Northern Rail Northern Rail, branded as Northern, was an English train operating company owned by Serco-Abellio that operated the Northern Rail franchise from 2004 until 2016. It was the primary passenger train operator in Northern England, and operated the ...

became the competition's sponsor in 2005 and the name Northern Rail Cup was adopted. Four teams from the then National League Three also entered the competition. There were no cross-group games in the 2005 competition; each team therefore played only six games in the group stages, with the top team from each of the first five groups progressing to the quarter-final directly. The second-placed team in each of these groups, plus the top team from group six (the group of teams from National League 3) played an additional round to determine the remaining three spots in the quarter-finals. For 2006 there were seven groups. Groups one to six comprised the 22 teams in National Leagues One and Two and the two southern National League Three teams,

Hemel Stags Hemel Stags are an amateur rugby league club based in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. They were semi-professional and played in Betfred League 1 from 2013 until 2018. They withdrew from the professional system when their licence was purchased ...

and

St Albans Centurions The St Albans Centurions are a rugby league club based in St Albans, Hertfordshire. The club plays their home games at Toulmin Drive, St Albans and their clubhouse is in High Oaks, St Albans. Founded in 1996, they first played in various loca ...

. There were four teams in each regional division. The top two teams from groups one to six and the best three third-placed teams qualified for the last sixteen knock out stage along with the winner of group seven. Group seven comprised northern National League Three teams that choose to enter, and included three teams:

Bramley Buffaloes Bramley Buffaloes RLFC is a rugby league club from the Bramley area of West Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. History At the end of the 1999 season Bramley RLFC resigned from the Northern Ford Premiership to become a feeder team for Leeds, ...

Warrington Wizards Woolston Rovers are a rugby league team based in Warrington. The open age teams play in the National Division of the Rugby League Conference. History Woolston Rovers ''Woolston Rovers Rugby Club'' was founded at the Lido Country Club on Manc ...

and Dewsbury Celtic. In 2007 the competition adopted a new points system: Win – three points; Draw – two points; Loss by 12 points or fewer – one point. In 2009, the

Northern Rail Nines The Northern Rail Nines was a one-off rugby league nines tournament held in Lytham St Annes and Blackpool, England as part of a celebration weekend encompassing the Northern Rail Cup Final. Held over the weekend of 11 and 12 July 2009, it was ...

tournament was started. Teams not involved in the Northern Rail Cup Final entered a

rugby league nines Rugby league nines (or simply nines) is a version of rugby league football played with nine players on each side. The game is substantially the same as full rugby league, with some differences in rules and shorter games. Nines is usually played in ...

event with the trophy and plate final played as curtain raisers to the Northern Rail Cup Final at

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the ...

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and ...

Venues

Results

Winners

Championship Bowl

Records

Below is a list of National League Cup records. Most tries * 5 Paul Salmon (

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 Bar ...

) vs

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 a ...

2002 * 5 Neil Turley (

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 ...

) vs

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 ...

2003 * 5 Neil Turley (Leigh Centurions) vs

Chorley Lynx # Chorley Lynx was an English professional rugby league club based in Chorley, Lancashire. Under various names, they were members of the Rugby Football League 1989–93 and 1995–2004. History Formation as Chorley Borough Springfield Boroug ...

2004 * 5

Jon Steel Jon Steel , full name Jonathan Steel (born 14 March 1980), also known by the nicknames of "Steely" and "Rocket", is a former rugby league and rugby union footballer who played professionally from 1996 until 2013. He played in the Super League ...

(

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challenge ...

) vs

London Skolars The London Skolars are a professional rugby league club based at the New River Stadium, Wood Green, Haringey in north London. They were founded in 1995 and have been professional since 2003, operating in the Betfred League 1. They also run ...

2005 * 5

Byron Ford Byron James Ford is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played for Newtown in the second tier NSW Cup competition in which he played for them in the 2008 NSW Cup grand final. He previously played in England wi ...

(Hull Kingston Rovers) vs

York City Knights The York Knights are the men's professional rugby league team of York RLFC (known as the York City Knights from 2002 to 2022) based in York, England. The Knights played their home games at Huntington Stadium before moving to Bootham Crescent. ...

2006 Most goals * Gareth Moore (

Batley Bulldogs Batley is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. Batley lies south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield. Batley is part ...

) vs Gateshead Thunder 2010 Most goals in a final * 10

John Wilshere John Wilshere (born 5 May 1978) is a Papua New Guinean former professional rugby league footballer who last played for the Salford City Reds. Playing career Wilshere had represented Papua New Guinea many times and was a key player in their sq ...

( Salford City Reds) vs

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated i ...

2008 equaling the all-time record for goals kicked in any final Most points * 42 (5 tries, 11 goals) Neil Turley (

) at

2004 Highest score * Gateshead Thunder 4 vs 100

– 2010 Highest away score * Gateshead Thunder 4 vs 100

– 2010 Closest score *

25 vs

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at the Halton Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twenty-two ...

24 – 2010 Most Final appearances (Club) * Leigh Centurions have contested 5 Championship Cup Finals. Most Competition Wins (Club) * Leigh Centurions have won 4 Championship Cup Finals, from 5 final appearances.

Broadcasting rights

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It h ...

broadcast a limited number of Championship Cup matches. In 2012 the rights passed to

Premier Sports Viaplay Sports and Premier Sports are a group of pay television sports channels owned by Viaplay Group. Viaplay Sports holds exclusive live UK and Republic of Ireland TV rights to La Liga, Scottish League Cup, Elite Ice Hockey League, NHL and ...

.Premier Sports to broadcast Championship matches
Sport on the Box 18 October 2011 Setanta Sports Australia broadcast live Northern Rail Cup matches in Australia.

References

External links

Official competition website

Fixture List for 2007 Season

Results for 2007 Season

Tables for 2007 Season

Scores from Sky Sports
{{British Rugby League links Rugby league competitions in the United Kingdom Sports leagues established in 2002 Sports leagues disestablished in 2013 2002 establishments in England 2013 disestablishments in England

History

Venues

Results

Winners

Championship Bowl

Sponsors

Records

Broadcasting rights

See also

References

External links