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Women's Challenge Cup
Current season or competition:
2024 Women's Challenge Cup
The women's, men's, and wheelchair Challenge Cup trophies
SportRugby league
Instituted2012
Inaugural season2012
CountryEngland
Wales
Winners St. Helens (2024)
Most titlesSt Helens (8 titles)
WebsiteWomen's Challenge Cup
Broadcast partnerBBC
Related competitionWomen's Super League
Women's Super League South
Championship
League 1

The Women's Challenge Cup is a rugby league knockout competition organised by the Rugby Football League. The competition started in 2012.

History

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2012–2016: Foundations

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The Women's Challenge Cup was set up in 2012[1] to run alongside the men's competition to give women's rugby teams more competitive games and to give the sport a bigger profile by attaching it to the Challenge Cup. Most teams in the first few years were community clubs and had no links to professional men's clubs. In 2014 the RFL set up an amateur league for the women's game, to help more women's teams get regular game time.[2]

2017–2020: Exposure

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In 2018 the competition started to receive a much higher profile, with the final being broadcast live on the BBC Sport website.[2][3] In 2019 bookmakers Coral agreed to sponsor the competition – in addition to their sponsorship of the men's Challenge Cup – and it was also announced that the final of the 2019 Cup would be played as part of a triple-header with the semi-finals of the men's 2019 Challenge Cup at the University of Bolton Stadium on 27 July 2019.[2][4] The 2019 competition also saw the introduction of a new trophy commissioned by the RFL.[2][5] In 2020, the competition was suspended after the first round and later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6][7]

2021–present: Restructuring

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In the 2021 competition, entry was restricted to the ten teams in the Super League.[8] The following year the competition expanded to 16 teams (12 Super League, three Championship and one Super League South) and a group stage was introduced with the top two teams from the four groups advancing to the quarter-final stage.[9]

Finals

[edit]
List of finals
Year Winning team Score Losing team Venue Ref.
2012  Featherstone Rovers 46–00  Bradford Thunderbirds Crown Flatt [10]
2013  Thatto Heath Crusaders 54–12  Bradford Thunderbirds Mount Pleasant [11]
2014  Thatto Heath Crusaders 32–24  Bradford Thunderbirds Crown Flatt [12][13]
2015  Thatto Heath Crusaders 22–60  Featherstone Rovers Odsal Stadium [14][15]
2016  Thatto Heath Crusaders 62–60  Leigh Miners Rangers [16]
2017  Bradford Bulls 50–16  Featherstone Rovers Heworth ARLFC [17]
2018  Leeds Rhinos 20–14  Castleford Tigers Halliwell Jones Stadium [18]
2019  Leeds Rhinos 16–10  Castleford Tigers University of Bolton Stadium [19]
2020 Tournament cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic [6][7]
2021  St. Helens 34–60  York City Knights Leigh Sports Village [20]
2022  St. Helens 18–80  Leeds Rhinos Elland Road [21]
2023  St. Helens 22–80  Leeds Rhinos Wembley Stadium [22]
2024  St. Helens 22–00  Leeds Rhinos Wembley Stadium [23]

List of teams by number of wins

[edit]
List of teams by number of wins
Club Wins Runners
up 		Winners Runners up
1  St. Helens[a] 8 0 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
2  Leeds Rhinos 2 3 2018, 2019 2022, 2023, 2024
3  Bradford Bulls[b] 1 3 2017 2012, 2013, 2014
4  Featherstone Rovers 1 2 2012 2015, 2017
5  Castleford Tigers 0 2 2018, 2019
6  Leigh Miners Rangers 0 1 2016
 York City Knights 0 1 2021
  1. ^ as Thatto Heath (2013–2016)
  2. ^ as Bradford Thunderbirds (up to 2015)

Challenge Shield

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Between 2012 and 2019 teams that were knocked out of the cup in the early rounds went on to compete in the Challenge Shield competition.[24] In 2021, with entry to the Challenge Cup restricted, the Rugby Football League launched a Women's League Cup for teams outside of the Super League and Championship.[25] In 2022, the League Cup was opened to teams from the Championship, with the two sides that did not progress from the group stage of the Challenge Cup entering the League Cup at the quarter-final round.[26]

List of finals
Year Winning team Score Losing team Ref.
2012 Widnes Vikings 40–10  Stanningley [27]
2013 Normanton Knights 34–14  Featherstone Rovers [28]
2014  Featherstone Rovers 64–14  Stanningley [29]
2015 unknown
2016  Thatto Heath Crusaders Reserves 62–60 Whitley Bay Barbarians [30]
2017  York City Knights 26–24  Army [31]
2018  Bradford Bulls 44–16  Stanningley [32]
2019  Army 40–40  York City Knights [33]

Sponsorship

[edit]
Year Sponsor Name
2019–2020[34] Coral Coral Women's Challenge Cup
2021–present[35] Betfred Betfred Women's Challenge Cup

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Coral Women's Rugby League Challenge Cup Roll of Honour". Rugby Football League. 2019. Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d "These Girl Can: The Wider Impacts of the Development and Growth of Women's & Girls' Rugby League (March 2021)" (PDF). Rugby Football League. pp. 16–19. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  3. ^ "Women's Challenge Cup final and Shield to be streamed live". Bradford Bulls. 3 August 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  4. ^ "Challenge Cup 2019: RFL confirm new sponsor and semi-finals double-header". The Mail. 21 January 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  5. ^ "Coral Women's Challenge Cup - new trophy for Rugby League". Rugby-League.com. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Update | Betfred Women's Super League / Coral Women's Challenge Cup". Rugby-League.com. 20 May 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Covid-19 forces cancellation of Women's Competitions in 2020". Rugby-League.com. 27 August 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  8. ^ "Draw details for AB Sundecks 1895 Cup and Betfred Women's Challenge Cup". Rugby-League.com. 24 April 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  9. ^ "A new format, a new final venue - Why we should look forward to the 2022 Women's Challenge Cup". Serious About Rugby League. 11 December 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  10. ^ "Featherstone win Women's Challenge Cup". Love Rugby League. 16 July 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  11. ^ "RFL Womens Challenge Cup Final". Rugby Leaguer & League Express. No. 2, 868. 24 June 2013. p. 33.
  12. ^ "Amateur game: Women's Rugby League round-up". Total RL. 4 August 2014. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  13. ^ "Thatto Heath win the Ladies' Challenge Cup". St Helens Star. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  14. ^ "Stanley racks up points in Challenge Cup triumph". St Helen's Star. 4 August 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  15. ^ "Coral Women's Rugby League Challenge Cup". Rugby-League.com. Archived from the original on 22 March 2019.
  16. ^ "Women's Rugby League Challenge Cup Final". 4 The Love of Sport. 1 August 2016. Archived from the original on 26 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  17. ^ "Bradford Bulls win Women's RL Challenge Cup". Telegraph & Argus. 30 July 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  18. ^ "Women's Challenge Cup: Leeds Rhinos women beat Castleford Tigers 20-14 to lift trophy". BBC Sport. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  19. ^ "Women's Challenge Cup final: Castleford Tigers 10-16 Leeds Rhinos". BBC Sport. 27 July 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  20. ^ "St Helens outclass York to take Women's Challenge Cup with Woosey double". The Guardian. 5 June 2021. Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  21. ^ "St Helens retain Women's Challenge Cup in front of record UK crowd". Rugby-League.com. 7 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  22. ^ Bower, Aaron (12 August 2023). "Hoyle makes sure Saints fight off Leeds in Women's Challenge Cup final". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  23. ^ "Saints beat Leeds to retain Women's Challenge Cup". BBC Sport. 8 June 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  24. ^ "Women's Rugby League heads into summer". A Brighter Future. Rugby Football League. 9 March 2012. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012.
  25. ^ "Dewsbury Moor Ladies win inaugural Women's League Cup". Rugby-League.com. 11 August 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  26. ^ "Hull FC To Face Hull KR In Women's League Cup Quarter-Finals". Hull F.C. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  27. ^ Smith, Sophia (16 July 2012). "Rugby: Widnes win Challenge Shield Final". Sport Sister. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012.
  28. ^ "Knights lift Challenge Shield". Women's Rugby League. 24 June 2013. Archived from the original on 30 June 2013.
  29. ^ "Rovers take Challenge Shield". Rugby-League.com. 4 August 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  30. ^ "Thatto Heath double up!". Rugby-League.com. 31 July 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  31. ^ "Bradford Bulls win Women's Challenge Cup". Rugby-League.com. 2 August 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  32. ^ "Catch-up: Women's Challenge Cup & Challenge Shield finals". BBC Sport. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  33. ^ "REPLAY | Army Rugby League 40-4 York City Knights | Women's Challenge Shield". Rugby-League.com. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  34. ^ "Coral to sponsor the Challenge Cup". www.rugby-league.com. 21 January 2019. Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  35. ^ "Betfred up for the Cups". www.rugby-league.com. 4 February 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
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