2021 Challenge Cup

The 2021 Challenge Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2021 Betfred Challenge Cup, will be the 120th edition of the Challenge Cup, the main rugby league knockout tournament in British rugby league run by the Rugby Football League (RFL). This year's competition will be contested between only the professional clubs. The final will be held at Wembley Stadium in London on 17 July 2021.[1]

2021 Betfred Challenge Cup
Duration6 rounds
Number of teams28
Broadcast partnersBBC Sport

Entrants

Usually the Challenge Cup is contested between the clubs of the professional Super League, RFL Championship, RFL League 1 and a number of invited amateur teams. However this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the 2021 Challenge Cup will not include the amateur teams.[2][3] It will also not feature French-based Toulouse Olympique[2][4] or Canadian-based Toronto Wolfpack, who had been expelled and denied re-entry to Super League.[5]

The matches will be broadcast by the BBC with the initial rounds being made available online with matches from the last 16 being broadcast on television following them agreeing a new three year deal with the RFL.[6] The date for the 2021 final was confirmed prior to the 2020 Challenge Cup Final with the hopes that fans will be able to be admitted.[7]

Rounds

When the details of the competition were announced in December 2020 it was envisaged that the first round would feature the League 1 clubs plus Dewsbury Rams, Newcastle Thunder, Oldham and Whitehaven from the Championship. The rest of the Championship clubs enter at round two and the Super League clubs enter in round four.[2] It was also announced that the highest four finishing Championship and League 1 clubs will qualify for the semi-finals of the RFL 1895 Cup, the final of which will be played before the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley.[2] The first round draw was due to be held on the week commencing 4 January 2021.[2] However, due to the UK lockdown, this was delayed.[8] A further meeting of the clubs was held on 13 January 2021 to discuss alternative schedules for both the cup competitions and the league fixtures due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Several contingency plans have been announced which mostly affect the involvement of the League 1 clubs in the Challenge Cup.[9]

  1. Start the 2021 League 1 in March and allow the League 1 clubs to enter the Challenge Cup as previously announced,
  2. Delay the start of the League 1 campaign until May and omit the League 1 clubs from the cup competition,
  3. Delay the start of League 1 until May but let the League 1 clubs decide individually whether to enter the cup or not. However this may involve them playing one or two fixtures in March and then face a two-month gap until the start of the league games during which time they may not be able to take advantage of the British government's furlough scheme.

After further discussion around option 3 the majority of the League 1 clubs decided not to participate in the competition. Just three, Barrow, Keighley and West Wales Raiders, decided to enter and will play in a 16-team round 1 with the 13 participating Championship clubs. Round 1 has been scheduled for the weekend of 20–21 March.[10] After the announcement at least two League 1 clubs, Rochdale and Hunslet, expressed disappointment and claimed that a selection process had taken place rather than all clubs withdrawing.[11]

Round details
RoundDateClubs involved this roundWinners from previous roundNew entries this roundLeagues entering at this round
Round 120–21 March16N/A4413 UK based Championship teams and 3 League 1 teams
Round 227–28 March88N/AN/A
Round 310–11 April16412All 12 Super League clubs
Quarter-finalsTBA88N/AN/A
Semi-finalsTBA44N/AN/A
Final17 July22N/AN/A
Source:[12]

References
  1. "Coral Challenge Cup Final, 2020 and 2021". rugby-league.com. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  2. "RFL outlines 2021 Challenge Cup format". BBC Sport. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  3. https://www.forces.net/sport/military-teams-ruled-out-2021-challenge-cup
  4. "RFL confirm Challenge Cup round dates 2021". Warrington Guardian. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  5. "Toronto Wolfpack Unable to Return for 2021 Season". Toronto Wolfpack. 2 November 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  6. Darbyshire, Drew (15 December 2020). "RFL extend partnership with BBC for Challenge Cup coverage". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  7. "RFL admit "huge disappointment" with zero fans at Wembley as 2021 Challenge Cup final date is set". Yorkshire Post. 28 September 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  8. Shaw, Matthew (5 January 2021). "Championship and League 1 pre-season training suspended as a result of latest national lockdown". Total Rugby League. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  9. Shaw, Matthew (13 January 2021). "Revealed – Championship clubs set for March restart with reduced number of fixtures". Total Rugby League. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  10. "Championship and League 1 clubs target March 21 return date". Love Rugby League. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  11. "Cup Runneth Over". Rugby Leaguer & League Express (3, 161). 25 January 2021. p. 14.
  12. "Betfred Championship and League 1 confirm staged return in 2021". www.rugby-league.com. RFL. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
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