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98-537: The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup , commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League , held annually since 1896, it is the world's oldest cup competition in either code of rugby . A concurrent Women's Challenge Cup and Wheelchair Challenge Cup have been held since 2012 and 2015 respectively. The competition

196-755: A stand-off . But Trinity continued to fluctuate between the two divisions. Former player David Topliss stabilised the Dreadnoughts' ship in 1987. He won immediate promotion in 1988 back to the First Division, retiring as a player after the final match of the campaign. He remained at Wakefield purely as a coach and consolidated the club's top tier status by acquiring the services of seasoned internationals like Steve Ella , new captain Mark Graham , Brian Jackson as well as now former Trinity coach Andy Kelly and later John Harbin . Wakefield escaped

294-469: A 17-year-old in 1913. Wakefield closed for the 1915–16 season but recommenced playing in 1916 following the introduction of conscription which meant that would not be accused of keeping men from volunteering for the First World War. In a quiet time for Trinity, they won only one Yorkshire Cup (in 1924–25 against Batley ) and lost four Yorkshire Cups. Parkin decided he wanted to leave in 1930, at

392-410: A 5–5 draw. Four days later the two clubs drew again, with Leeds eventually lifting the trophy after a second replay, the only occasion it took three attempts to settle a Yorkshire Cup Final. A total of 52,402 spectators watched the three games. As of 2017, the 1943–44 season is the only occasion that Wakefield Trinity have finished top of the league. In 1947, Wakefield Trinity centre Frank Townsend

490-542: A crowd of 13,492. The Challenge Cup trophy was designed by silversmiths Fattorini & Sons of Bradford in 1897. The trophy stands 36 inches high, manufactured of solid silver and sits on a black ebony base approximately 8 inches deep. Tony Collins , the Rugby Football League's archivist, stated in 2007 that, "Fattorini's weren't given any particular commission, just told to come up with something prestigious". The trophy cost £60. The average wage in 1897

588-512: A decline in the prestige of the cup, so the timing of the competition was altered in 2005 On 26 August 2006 St. Helens scrum-half Sean Long became the first player in the history of the Challenge Cup to collect a third Lance Todd trophy following his man-of-the-match performance in the final against Huddersfield . His other Lance Todd trophy wins came in the 2001 and 2004 Challenge Cup Finals. On 25 August 2018, Catalans Dragons became

686-440: A difficult 2022 Super League season with the club struggling near the foot of the table. Following the clubs Magic Weekend loss to Toulouse Olympique , Wakefield found themselves in the relegation zone. However, the club would win five of their remaining seven matches to avoid relegation and finish in 10th place. On 12 September 2022, head coach Willie Poching announced he was departing Wakefield Trinity. Wakefield Trinity started

784-707: A dour 1962 Challenge Cup win over Huddersfield although the Fartowners went on to deny them the double a few days later in the Championship final at Odsal Stadium , Bradford . Wakefield also won the Yorkshire Cup final of 1961–62 and the Yorkshire League of 1961–62. Wakefield Trinity was invited to visit South Africa during June and July 1962. Neil Fox , Harold Poynton , Gerry Round , Derek Turner and Jack Wilkinson , were unable to accompany

882-420: A draw may be settled in extra time and eventually by a penalty shootout or by replaying the fixture. Another perceived disadvantage is that most competitors are eliminated after relatively few games. Variations such as the double-elimination tournament allow competitors a single loss while remaining eligible for overall victory. However, losing one game requires the competitor to win more games in order to win

980-554: A feasibility study on 12 September 2008, into the project and which concluded that it is not feasible for a new stadium at Thornes Park. That left Wakefield Trinity in a precarious position – Belle Vue is not suitable for the long-term future, and a new stadium is crucial to their Super League survival. In 2009 a new stadium in Stanley was proposed with planning permission expected to be applied for in October 2009. Planning permission

1078-528: A final was scored by Robbie Paul for Bradford Bulls v St Helens in 1996. Three years later, Leroy Rivett scored 4 for Leeds Rhinos against London Broncos in 1999. Some players previously missed out on becoming the first to score a hat trick due to tries being disallowed, such as Martin Offiah (Wigan v Castleford in 1992), Tony Iro (Wigan v Halifax in 1988) & Kevin Iro (Wigan v Warrington in 1990). Graham Rees scored

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1176-456: A match between the losers of the semifinal matches called third place playoffs , the winner therein placing third and the loser fourth. Many Olympic single-elimination tournaments feature the bronze medal match if they do not award bronze medals to both losing semifinalists. The FIFA World Cup has long featured the third place match (since 1934 ), though the UEFA Euro has not held one since

1274-455: A match in which his side squandered a 20-point lead – one of several occasions this season Trinity have collapsed in the second half. On 24 July 2006, Wakefield announced former Hull F.C. coach John Kear as Head Coach until the end of the season. Trinity defeated their arch-rivals Castleford by 29–17 at Belle Vue on Saturday 16 September 2006 to preserve their Super League status in an epic match which saw both teams leading for spells of

1372-500: A possible match-up with the top seed until one round later. MLS' format is identical, except that the conference quarterfinals is a best-of-three series. In some situations, a seeding restriction may be implemented; from 1975 until 1989 in the NFL , and from 1994 until 2011 in MLB there was a rule where at the conference or league semifinal, should the top seed and last seed (wild card) be from

1470-437: A quarter-final from the previous year . Sometimes the remaining competitors in a single-elimination tournament will be "re-seeded" so that the highest surviving seed is made to play the lowest surviving seed in the next round, the second-highest plays the second-lowest, etc. This may be done after each round, or only at selected intervals. In American team sports, for example, the NFL employs this tactic, but MLS , NHL and

1568-572: A random factor is always present in a real-world competition, this might easily cause accusations of unfairness. Variations of the single-elimination tournament include: Other common tournament types include: Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield , West Yorkshire , England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue and currently compete in

1666-461: A record 38–5 win v Hull F.C. under the guidance of coach Ken Traill and loose forward Derek 'Rocky' Turner . Wakefield won their fourth Challenge Cup victory in 1962, running out 12–6 winners against Huddersfield. Many of the scenes from the film This Sporting Life were filmed at the Belle Vue during Wakefield's third round Challenge Cup match against Wigan. The club were victorious in

1764-556: A red or blue V. Between 1999 and 2016 the club was known as Wakefield Trinity Wildcats . The club's predecessor was The Young Mens Society, formed in 1867 by the Holy Trinity Church to promote sports, with the team itself formed in 1873 alongside a similarly named athletics club, Wakefield Trinity Cycling and Athletic Club (now Wakefield District Harriers and Athletics Club). Early matches were played at Heath Common (1873), Manor Field (1875–76) and Elm Street (1877) before

1862-599: A result of the split from the Rugby Football Union and in 1896 formed a separate limited company to avoid accusations of professionalism, although they continued to use Belle Vue until the 1920s. Trinity won the Northern Union Challenge Cup for the first time in 1909, beating Hull F.C. 17–0 at Headingley . The corresponding 1914 final saw the result reversed, with Hull winning 6–0. Jonty Parkin signed for Wakefield Trinity as

1960-470: A summer season. When the Rupert Murdoch -funded Super League competition had been proposed, part of the deal was that some traditional clubs would merge. Wakefield were down to merge with Castleford and Featherstone Rovers to form a new club, Calder , which would compete in the newly formed Super League. Although Wakefield voted to merge, the other clubs refused to do so; Wakefield finished below

2058-558: A threat of closure by forming their first ever board of directors in August 1991. Topliss stepped down as coach to concentrate on his business. David Hobbs joined Wakefield Trinity as coach in May 1994. He then went to Halifax as Director of Football in January 1995. In 1996, the first tier of British rugby league clubs played the inaugural Super League season and changed from a winter to

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2156-584: A top 8 finish and a place in the Challenge Cup semi final. 2017 proved to be more successful than many pundits imagined – once again Trinity were in the top 8 of Superleague, despite being many peoples tip to finish last and face a relegation battle. In 2018, Wakefield finished 7th on the table at the end of the Super League XXIII season. The club went on to finish 5th at the end of the Super 8's. In

2254-695: Is 1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6 and 4 v 5, for example this is used for 16 seeds in the World Snooker Championship and 32 seeds in the World Darts Championship . Some tournaments stray from this, for example it is not the procedure that is followed in most tennis tournaments, where the 1 and 2 seeds are placed in separate brackets, but then the 3 and 4 seeds are assigned to their brackets randomly, and so too are seeds 5 through 8, and so on. This may result in some brackets consisting of stronger players than other brackets, and since only

2352-459: Is believed that up to 120,000 spectators were present to see Warrington defeat Halifax 8–4. The first final that was played under limited tackle rules (Originally 4, later changed to 6) Was the 1967 final between Barrow and Featherstone Rovers. Wigan became well known for their successes in the Challenge Cup competition, winning every Challenge Cup Final from 1988 to 1995. Until the 1993–94 season there were very few amateur clubs included in

2450-533: Is first - for example, if sorting the numbers 1-4 ascending, if 4 and 3 meet in the first round, 3 and 1 will lose in the first round and 2 will lose in the second, selecting 4 as the largest number in the set, but insufficient comparisons have been performed to determine which is greater, 1 or 3. Despite this, the candidate that loses in the final round is commonly considered to have taken second place (in this case, 2). When matches are held to determine places or prizes lower than first and second, these typically include

2548-508: Is open to all eligible clubs down to Tier 5 . Some amateur clubs have to qualify to enter in Round One while others can apply through the RFL to enter. The final is traditionally played at Wembley Stadium although it has been played at other venues Wembley is seen as the home of the competition. " Abide with Me ", sung before the game, has become a rugby league anthem. The current holders of

2646-517: Is rare in English itself, with noticeable use in American debate tournaments. The round before the round of sixteen is sometimes called round of thirty-two in English. Terms for this in other languages generally translate as "sixteenth final". Earlier rounds are typically numbered counting forwards from the first round, or by the number of remaining competitors. If some competitors get a bye ,

2744-421: The 1980 edition . Sometimes, contests are also held among the losers of the quarterfinal matches to determine fifth to eighth places. In one scenario, two "consolation semifinal" matches may be conducted, with the winners of these then facing off to determine fifth and sixth places and the losers playing for seventh and eighth; those are used often in qualifying tournaments where only the top five teams advance to

2842-419: The 2019 Super League season , the club finished ninth on the table. In the 2020 Super League season , the club finished second bottom after a difficult campaign. In the 2021 Super League season , Wakefield Trinity finished 10th in the competition. Towards the end of the season, the club terminated head coach Chris Chester . Wakefield later appointed Willie Poching as the new head coach. Wakefield endured

2940-658: The KC Stadium in Hull , Trinity produced a remarkable performance and managed to beat Hull despite having two men sin-binned . The semis saw a visit to Wigan and there was real hope in the camp that Wakefield would make the elimination final play off and all looked to be going that way when Trinity led 14–0 but some strange decisions went the way of the Wiganers so it wasn't yet to be but Wakefield fans will look back on these two games with fondness for many years. The away support

3038-625: The Lance Todd Trophy was introduced and awarded to the man of the match. The first winner was Billy Stott of Wakefield Trinity while the first winner of the trophy on the losing team was Frank Whitcombe of Bradford Northern in 1948. In itself, it is a prestigious trophy presented only at the Challenge Cup Final. The winner is selected by the members of the Rugby League Writers' Association present at

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3136-573: The NBA do not (and neither does the NCAA college basketball tournament ). Although MLB does have enough teams (12) in its playoff tournament where re-seeding would have made a large difference in the matchups; only the WNBA's at the minimum, which is at least four from each conference for a total of 8. The NBA's format calls for the winner of the first-round series between the first and eighth seeds (within each of

3234-709: The Rugby Football Union . The rugby union authorities refused to sanction a nationwide tournament, however, fearing that this would inevitably lead to professionalism. After the schism of 1895 , the northern clubs were free to go ahead, and they started the Northern Rugby Football Union Challenge Cup . In 1896 Fattorini's of Bradford were commissioned to manufacture the Challenge Cup at a cost of just £60. Fattorini's also supplied three-guineas winners' medals then valued at thirty shillings (£1.50). The first competition

3332-680: The Super League , the top tier of the British rugby league system . The club was one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895. They have won the League Championship twice and Challenge Cup five times. Wakefield have local rivalries with Castleford Tigers and Featherstone Rovers as well as Leeds Rhinos . Their traditional kit colours are white with

3430-461: The "Wildcats" nickname in 1998: the year they entered Super League, having won promotion from the first division . Wakefield put together a startling series of results early in the 1999 season, beating some of the most fancied sides and ensuring early in the campaign that they would be safe. The club invested heavily in newcomers. Wakefield also played one of their televised home games at Barnsley F.C's Oakwell stadium against St. Helens. John Harbin

3528-520: The 1950s. Trinity featured in the first league match to be broadcast on British television, a clash with Wigan at Central Park on 12 January 1952. Trinity were runners-up in the league championship in 1959–60 , losing in the Championship Final against Wigan. Wakefield Trinity beat Huddersfield 16–10 in the 1960 Yorkshire County Cup Final at Headingley , Leeds on 29 October 1960. Wakefield returned to Wembley emphatically with

3626-527: The 1960s with ITV's World of Sport even showing games as well for a short period. The BBC has been the predominant broadcaster, showing every final live since 1958 (except the 1982 Final Replay shown as highlights). Eddie Waring was the first commentator for BBC coverage. When he retired, commentary was covered by Ray French and he continued to work for the BBC for a number of years, albeit in semi-retirement, with his last Challenge Cup Final in 2008. From 2009,

3724-483: The 1967 Rugby Football League Championship Final at Station Road, Swinton on 10 May 1967, with scrum half Ray Owen winning the Harry Sunderland Trophy . The following season they retained their title in the 17–10 victory over Hull F.C. in the 1968 Championship Final at Headingley on 4 May 1968, this time with Gary Cooper taking home the man of the match award. Wakefield now wear two gold stars above

3822-476: The 2002 Challenge Cup Final. The winners of the cup in looking after the trophy must "follow a certain code of practice," says Collins. When not in a secure cabinet, the trophy must always be in the presence of someone. When the trophy is taken out overnight, somebody must sleep in the same room and if taken in a car there must be two people in attendance. Collins reveals that, "When it went down to France for some Catalans publicity photos, it even had its own seat on

3920-458: The 2009 season. In February 2011, the club entered administration to avoid a winding up petition from HMRC over £300,000 in unpaid taxes. Former Hull coach Richard Agar became Wakefield Trinity's head coach before the start of the 2012 Super League XVII season, on a three-year deal. Agar was replaced by James Webster after a poor run of form in June 2014. Webster was sacked halfway into

4018-589: The 2015 season just before the Qualifiers started and was replaced by Brian Smith . They went on to win the inaugural Million Pound Game against Bradford Bulls to play another season in Super League. Smith resigned in March 2016. Chris Chester was appointed head coach 16 March 2016 and revitalised the squad. Compared to the previous season when the team were fighting for survival, Chester guided them to

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4116-417: The 2023 Super League season poorly losing their opening nine matches in a row. Wakefield also became the first side of the Super League era to be held scoreless in five games throughout a season after losing 32–0 to Leigh in round 9. After losing their opening 14 games of the 2023 Super League season, Wakefield Trinity recorded their first win of the campaign defeating Leeds 24-14. In the second last round of

4214-495: The 2023 Super League season, Wakefield were officially relegated after losing 20-19 in golden point extra-time against Leigh . It ended Wakefield's 24-year stay in the top flight. After returning to the RFL Championship, Wakefield Trinity claimed the 1895 Cup and finished top of the Championship only losing one match for the entirety of the regular season. They would then go on to reach the Championship grand final where

4312-569: The 2024 final. The Challenge Cup has been sponsored since 1980, with the sponsor being able to determine the cup's sponsorship name. There have been eight sponsors with Betfred being the current sponsors. The official rugby ball supplier is Steeden . The most tries scored in a final was 5 scored by Tom Briscoe (Leeds Rhinos v Hull KR in 2015), who also holds the record for most tries in total from one player (7 for Leeds, 2014 – 1, 2015 – 5, 2020 – 1) one ahead of Kevin Iro (6 for Wigan, 1988 – 2, 1989 – 2, 1990 – 2). The first hat trick of tries in

4410-434: The BBC include John Inverdale and Steve Rider . The current main hosts (as of 2013) are Mark Chapman and Super League Show presenter Tanya Arnold . From 2012–2021, Sky Sports held the rights for the early rounds with one match each round and two quarter finals; whilst BBC Sport showed two sixth round matches, two quarter finals, both semi-finals and the final. Single-elimination tournament In English ,

4508-494: The Challenge Cup and 30 different teams have appeared in the final. Wigan Warriors hold the record for most wins with 21 and have appeared in 34 finals. In 2007, Catalans Dragons became the first non English team to reach the final but lost to St. Helens . 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2002, 2011, 2013, 2022, 2024 1999, 2014, 2015, 2020 2007, 2008, 2021 The BBC first covered the final of this competition when Wigan beat Bradford Northern in 1948. At that time though

4606-518: The Challenge Cup are Wigan Warriors , winning the competition for the 21st time, beating Warrington Wolves 18-8 in the 2024 Final on 8 June 2024 at Wembley Stadium . Wigan are the most successful club in the history of the competition, winning the Cup a record 21 times. The clubs that formed the Northern Union had long been playing in local knock-out cup competitions under the auspices of

4704-463: The Challenge Cup for a fifth time in 1963, Wakefield had still not been able to secure the league championship title. The Holy Grail would be achieved in the 1966–67 season when the experienced Harold Poynton led a powerful side, which included Neil Fox, Don Fox , Gary Cooper and Ray Owen , to victory over St. Helens in a replay of the championship final. They repeated the title feat the following year against Hull Kingston Rovers but were again denied

4802-523: The Lance Todd Trophy that day) had a match winning conversion to take in injury time. But due to the saturated pitch, he miskicked the ball, sending it wide of the posts. Despite a successful career for both club and country, Fox has always been remembered for that one infamous moment. The first player to be sent off in a final was Syd Hynes, for Leeds against Leigh in 1971, for headbutting Alex Murphy. Hynes has always protested his innocence over

4900-478: The Second Division during the 1984–85 season is the lowest position that Wakefield Trinity have ever finished. In December 1985, Wakefield did a deal with the local council to enable them to continue at Belle Vue. Five council delegates joined Wakefield's board giving them the majority vote. The ensuing decline was temporarily halted when Wally Lewis signed up for a brief spell with the club, playing as

4998-415: The age of thirty-four, and he was put on the transfer list at £100. Hull Kingston Rovers would not find the money; so Parkin paid the fee himself to secure his release. The game's bylaws were adjusted shortly afterwards, so that no player could ever do that again. On Saturday 27 October 1934, Leeds and Wakefield Trinity met in the final of the Yorkshire Cup at Crown Flatt , Dewsbury . The match ended in

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5096-474: The club crest to signify the two titles won. Wakefield absorbed a number of different coaches at the helm in subsequent years but did not return to Wembley until William "Bill" Kirkbride 's talented charges fell 12–3 to Widnes in 1979 in front of nearly 100,000 fans. Bill Ashurst coached Wakefield Trinity while still playing during the 1981–82 season. Derek Turner was Head Coach for Wakefield Trinity from July 1983 until February 1984. As of 2017, 11th in

5194-458: The club moved to Belle Vue in 1879. After the 1890–91 season, Wakefield along with other Yorkshire Senior clubs Batley, Bradford, Brighouse, Dewsbury, Halifax, Huddersfield, Hull, Hunslet, Leeds, Liversedge, Manningham decided that they wanted their own county league starting in 1891 along the lines of a similar competition that had been played in Lancashire. The clubs wanted full control of

5292-453: The competition, seeding is often used to prevent this. Brackets are set up so that the top two seeds could not possibly meet until the final round (should both advance that far), none of the top four can meet prior to the semifinals, and so on. If no seeding is used, the tournament is called a random knockout tournament. Standard seeding pairs the highest and lowest, then second highest and second lowest and so on, for an 8 seed tournament this

5390-419: The cup, typically two. For part of the 1980s, and the 1992–93 season the cup was solely for professional clubs. The competition was then opened up to large numbers of amateur clubs as part of a deal between the Rugby Football League and British Amateur Rugby League Association over bridging the gap between the professional and amateur leagues. In 1997, a Challenge Cup Plate took place for teams knocked out in

5488-489: The cut-off point of 10th in the existing top flight and were excluded from the new Super League. As the sport in Britain entered a new era, it would be three years before Wakefield rose again to the top level of the game. Under coach Andy Kelly , Wakefield earned their place in the top flight on the back of their controversial victory over Featherstone Rovers in the inaugural Division One Grand Final in 1998. Wakefield adopted

5586-496: The double when Leeds defeated them in the 1968 'water splash' final at Wembley, a match played during a downpour that saturated the pitch. The game produced the most dramatic of finishes, when Man-of-the-Match, Don Fox had an under-the-posts conversion to win it for Wakefield, but "topped it" on the saturated turf and missed, to leave Leeds 11–10 winners. Trinity were crowned Champions for the only time in successive seasons – 1966–67 and 1967–68. Wakefield Trinity beat St. Helens 21–9 in

5684-539: The early rounds of the competition. The final took place at Wembley and was won by Hull Kingston Rovers who beat Hunslet 60–14. The first final that featured use of the Video Referee, for try decisions, was the 1999 final between Leeds Rhinos and London Broncos , which saw the Broncos beaten by a record margin of 52–16 in a Challenge Cup Final. The 1999 Challenge Cup Final was also the last to be played at

5782-582: The final tie, the rugby league authorities voted 13–10 to move to the recently built Wembley Stadium in London, aiming to emulate the FA Cup's success and to put the game on the national stage. The first final held at Wembley was in 1929 when Wigan beat Dewsbury 13–2 in front of a crowd of 41,500. The final was subsequently held at Wembley in 1930 & 31 but switched to Central Park in Wigan in 1932 as Wembley

5880-403: The first non-English team to win the Challenge Cup as they defeated Warrington Wolves 20–14 at Wembley . The modern Challenge Cup has eight rounds prior to the final. Teams are seeded, entering at different stages. The precise format has altered slightly from year to year, however the current format is as follows: During the first round right through to the quarter-finals the cup is hosted at

5978-492: The game and the trophy was presented at a celebratory dinner at the Willows , the home of Salford . The post World War Two Final crowds almost immediately reached capacity at Wembley – which amounted to multiple 90,000 plus crowds. 1954 saw the Challenge Cup final drawn and the replay set the record for a rugby league match attendance. The match was on 5 May and 102,569 was the official attendance at Odsal Stadium, although it

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6076-689: The game. Had Wakefield not won the match they would have been relegated. Instead, their win, dubbed as the 'Battle of Belle Vue' sent Castleford down to the National League One. The match was attended by a sell out crowd of 11,000. In November 2006 the Wakefield Metropolitan District Council set out plans for a new sporting village to be built at Thornes Park that would incorporate a new stadium to be used by Trinity, along with gymnastics and boxing facilities and swimming pools. The council published results of

6174-461: The incident. Richard Eyres of Widnes was shown a red card for an off the ball elbow on Martin Offiah of Wigan in the 1993 final, and was banned for 6 games as a result. The first final to be decided by golden point was in 2023 with Leigh Leopards scoring a drop goal against Hull KR via Lachlan Lam. 2023 also saw the first occasion of the Women's Challenge Cup final featuring at Wembley Stadium, prior to

6272-479: The initial 22 clubs to form the Northern Union after the acrimonious split from the Rugby Football Union in 1895. Belle Vue was purchased in 1895, in order to provide a permanent base for Trinity. The money was provided by the Wakefield Trinity Cycling and Athletic Club and was also initially used for cycling and athletics competitions. The athletic club split from the rugby club as

6370-700: The league but the Yorkshire Rugby Football Union would not sanction the competition as it meant giving up control of rugby football to the senior clubs. Prior to schism of 1895 which led to the formation of the Northern Rugby Union, Wakefield Trinity participated nine times in thirteen years in the final of the Yorkshire Cup (T'owd Tin Pot), a trophy that is nowadays contested solely by rugby union clubs. They were one of

6468-487: The league. Peter Roe was sacked in July 2002 and was replaced by his assistant Shane McNally . With Adrian Vowles as his co-coach the pair guided Trinity to their first-ever SL play-off position, finishing in 6th place. In 2004, after a slow start to the season Trinity finished stronger than any other team in the competition giving their fans some hope of a little glory at the club which had been missing for too long. Away at

6566-528: The men's final. The 2024 final was known as the Rob Burrow final, with several tributes held to the former Leeds Rhinos player following his death days before the game. Aligned to his former number 7 jersey, the match kicked off at 3.07pm and a minutes applause was held on the seventh minute with all players lining up with Rob burrow shirts prior to kickoff and fans holding up large banners as tribute before kickoff. In total, 26 different clubs have won

6664-399: The next round; or some method of ranking the four quarterfinal losers might be employed, in which case only one round of additional matches would be held among them, the two highest-ranked therein then playing for fifth and sixth places and the two lowest for seventh and eighth. The number of distinct ways of arranging a single-elimination tournament (as an abstract structure, prior to seeding

6762-528: The old Wembley Stadium before the construction of the new Wembley Stadium began in 2003. During this time a variety of venues were used to hold the Final including Twickenham , Murrayfield and the Millennium Stadium . The Challenge Cup Final moved back into the new Wembley Stadium for the 2007 Final . There was a belief that the Challenge Cup final taking place early in the season had led to

6860-429: The only TV transmitter was in London, so fans up North never got to see it. It was another four years before another final was covered when Workington Town beat Featherstone Rovers in 1952. The cup final was not broadcast on TV again until the 1958 final between Wigan and Workington Town since when it has been shown every year. The inception of Grandstand also saw coverage of earlier rounds start to be shown during

6958-414: The opportunity to face every other player/team. Also, if the competitors' performance is variable, that is, it depends on a small, varying factor in addition to the actual strength of the competitors, then not only will it become less likely that the strongest competitor actually wins the tournament, in addition the seeding done by the tournament organizers will play a major part in deciding the winner. As

7056-604: The other. If a small number of teams play in a single elimination tournament, sometimes a consolation bracket is included to allow the eliminated teams to play more than once. This was the format of the Little League World Series until 1992. The format is less suited to games where draws are frequent. In chess , each fixture in a single-elimination tournament must be played over multiple matches, because draws are common , and because white has an advantage over black. In association football , games ending in

7154-532: The plane." The Lance Todd Trophy, named in memory of Lance Todd , is awarded to the man-of-the-match in the Challenge Cup Final. The winner is decided each year by those members of the Rugby League Writers' Association present at the match. The Trophy was first presented in 1946 to William "Billy" Stott of Wakefield Trinity . The current holder of the trophy is Bevan French of the Wigan Warriors following their victory over Warrington Wolves in

7252-587: The players into the tournament) is given by the Wedderburn–Etherington numbers . Thus, for instance, there are three different arrangements for five players: However, the number of arrangements grows quickly for larger numbers of players and not all of them are commonly used. Opponents may be allocated randomly (such as in the FA Cup); however, since the "luck of the draw" may result in the highest-rated competitors being scheduled to face each other early in

7350-418: The present day main commentator is Dave Woods . He usually commentates with Brian Noble , Jonathan Davies , Iestyn Harris or Ian Millward . Nowadays, the BBC continues to broadcast the tournament with Clare Balding hosting from 2006 to 2012 until her move to Channel 4 Racing. Mark Chapman was secondary host in 2012 when Balding was unavailable for the cup and international matches, and previous hosts for

7448-421: The quickest Challenge Cup Final try after just 35 seconds for St Helens against Leeds in 1972. The most famous final was the 1968 'Watersplash' game between Leeds and Wakefield Trinity. Due to a heavy thunderstorm both before and during the match, the pitch became totally waterlogged. In the final minute, with Leeds 11 – 7 in front, Wakefield winger Ken Hurst scored under the posts, and Don Fox (Who had already won

7546-571: The regular season (or did not take place, in some cases). In international fencing competitions, it is common to have a group stage . Participants are divided in groups of 6–7 fencers who play a round-robin tournament, and a ranking is calculated from the consolidated group results. Single elimination is seeded from this ranking. The single-elimination format enables a relatively large number of competitors to participate. There are no "dead" matches (perhaps excluding "classification" matches), and no matches where one competitor has more to play for than

7644-446: The round at which they enter may be named the first round , with the earlier matches called a preliminary round , qualifying round , opening round , or the play-in games . Examples of the diverse names given to concurrent rounds in various select disciplines: Notes: The knockout round of the 2002 FIFA World Cup tournament: Without any additional matches, the only position a single-elimination tournament can reliably determine

7742-520: The round in which only eight competitors remain is generally called (with or without hyphenation) the quarter-final round; this is followed by the semi-final round, in which only four are left, the two winners of which then meet in the final or championship round . The round before the quarterfinals has multiple designations. Often it is called the round of sixteen , last sixteen , or (in South Asia) pre-quarterfinals . In many other languages

7840-399: The same division, they cannot play each other; in that case, the top seed plays the worst division champion; the second-best division champion plays the wild card team. This is due to the scheduling employed for the regular season, in which a team faces any given divisional opponent more often than any given non-divisional opponent – the tournament favors match-ups that took place fewer times in

7938-460: The silver wearing thin, it had lost its fluted top and the players on each of the handles had been damaged. The original Fattorini trophy was last presented at the 2001 Challenge Cup Final to St Helens captain Chris Joynt after his team had beaten Bradford . The original trophy is now stored at the RFL's headquarters at Red Hall and only used for promotional appearances. The trophy used today

8036-573: The squad in Alan Skene , Jan Prinsloo and Colin Greenwood , with the rest of the party made up of Fred Smith , Ken Hirst , Ken Rollin , Keith Holliday , Dennis Williamson , Milan Kosanović , Geoff Oakes , Brian Briggs , Albert Firth and Don Vines . They were winners of all six matches. The tour opened on Saturday 30 June 1962 at Milner Park, Johannesburg, where the local Johannesburg Celtic club were overpowered by 52–6. Despite winning

8134-434: The stadium of the team who has been drawn at home. The semi finals are hosted at neutral venues so there is no advantage for the home team. The final is played at Wembley traditionally, having first been played there in 1929 . Before, the final had been held in different neutral venues, mostly in the north of England. The first Challenge Cup final was held at Headingley , Leeds between Batley and St. Helens in front of

8232-606: The team on the six-match tour, as they were in Australia with the GB tourists. Wakefield Trinity's Chairman Stuart Hadfield was also touring with the national team as Great Britain manager. Trinity therefore added four South African players who were playing for British clubs at that time to their squad. They were Fred Griffiths ( Wigan ), Tom van Vollenhoven ( St. Helens ), Wilf Rosenberg (Hull F.C.) and Edward "Ted" Brophy ( Leigh ). Wakefield had three South Africans of their own in

8330-1060: The term for these eight matches translates to eighth-final (e.g., in these European languages: "huitième de finale" in French , "achtste finale" in Dutch, octavos de final in Spanish , Achtelfinale in German , åttondelsfinal in Swedish , ottavi di finale in Italian , oitavos-de-final in Portuguese , optimi de finală in Romanian , osmifinále in Czech , osemfinále in Slovak , and osmina finala in Serbo-Croatian ), though this term

8428-476: The top 32 players of 128 are seeded in Tennis Grand Slam tournaments, it can happen that the 33rd-best player in a 128-player field could end up playing the top seed in the first round. An example of this occurring was when World No. 33 Florian Mayer was drawn against, and defeated by, World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the first round of the 2013 Wimbledon Championships , in what was also a rematch of

8526-470: The tournament. In a single-elimination tournament without any seeding, awarding the second place to the loser of the final is unjustified: any of the competitors knocked out before getting to play the losing finalist might have been stronger than the actual losing finalist. In general, it is only fair to use a single-elimination tournament to determine first place. To fairly determine lower places requires some form of round-robin in which each player/team gets

8624-438: The two conferences the league has) to face the winner of the first-round series between the fourth and fifth seeds in the next round, even if one or more of the top three seeds had been upset in their first-round series; critics have claimed that this gives a team fighting for the fifth and sixth seeding positions near the end of the regular season an incentive to tank (deliberately lose) games, so as to finish sixth and thus avoid

8722-525: The war produced a return to winning ways as Trinity, with names such as James "Jim" Croston and Billy Stott , pipped Wigan to the Cup 13–12. On Saturday 27 October 1951, 25,495 were at Fartown , Huddersfield to see Wakefield Trinity defeat Keighley 17–3 in the Yorkshire Cup Final. The club was not destined to return to Wembley until 1960 and had to slake its thirst for silverware on two Yorkshire Cup and two Yorkshire League victories in

8820-428: Was around £2 per week which suggests an equivalent 2007 price of £16,000, although Collins says, "if you wanted something made of silver and with that level of craftsmanship these days, it would be far more expensive. In terms of its subsequent value, the RFL got a bargain." The trophy currently presented to the winners after the final is not the original which had to be withdrawn due to its delicate condition. As well as

8918-493: Was created by Jack Spencer ( goldsmith ) of Sheffield in 800 man-hours and is an almost exact replica of the Fattorini piece. One improvement made with the new version is that the small shields displaying each winning team and captain are now the same size, whereas they had been getting smaller as space ran out on the original. The new trophy's neck has been strengthened. The second trophy was first presented to Wigan, winners of

9016-440: Was fatally injured in a match at Post Office Road , Featherstone . On Saturday, 3 November 1945, Bradford Northern met Wakefield Trinity in the final of the Yorkshire Cup held at Thrum Hall , Halifax . Wakefield began the match as favourites, they had lost only one of thirteen matches thus far in the season. However, Bradford won 5–2 and lifted the Yorkshire Cup for the fourth time in six seasons. The first Wembley final after

9114-664: Was granted for the new ground in Newmarket, subject to section 106 agreements, and since this news the club have yet again stalled in progress. The 2009 season was Wakefield's best-ever Super League season with the club finishing 5th on 32 points and qualifying for a home tie in the end of season play-offs. 2010 was a disappointment to the club, after losing Shane Tronc, Terry Newton and Danny Brough, and despite bringing in Danny Kirmond, Charlie Leaeno and Julien Rinaldi, they still finished in 10th position, five places lower than

9212-517: Was held during the 1896–97 season (the second season of the new game), and 52 clubs entered to compete for the trophy. The first final was held at Headingley in Leeds , on 24 April 1897. Batley defeated St. Helens 10–3 in front of a crowd of 13,492 ( see picture ). The St Helens side did not play in a standardised team jersey. The competition was later interrupted by the Great War , although it

9310-558: Was held in 1915, when the season that had begun before the war was completed. It was then suspended until the end of hostilities. Initially, the final tie was held at one of the larger club grounds in the north, however, noting the excitement in Huddersfield that the town's football team were playing at Wembley in the FA Cup Final and the increasing difficulty for any of the rugby league grounds to satisfy spectator demand to see

9408-555: Was not booked by the games administrators. At the start of the Second World War , rugby league suspended its season immediately, but the Challenge Cup took a single year's break before restarting, on a limited basis and with the support of the authorities, as part of keeping up morale. The Challenge Cup finals, which took place in the game's Northern heartland, got big crowds as the game raised money for prisoners of war and for Lord Beaverbrook 's armaments programme. In 1946,

9506-412: Was outstanding for both efforts. Shane McNally was sacked in June 2005 after a disappointing start to the season. Tony Smith took over as caretaker coach from Shane McNally and led Trinity to survival in 2005 but following four straight defeats which saw Wakefield drop into the relegation zone Smith was sacked on Monday, 17 July 2006. Smith's last game in charge was a 26–20 defeat against Huddersfield,

9604-540: Was the coach of Wakefield between October 2000 and October 2001, Wakefield's final game of the 2001 season was a relegation battle with Salford with Wakefield condemning Huddersfield to relegation. He decided to leave the club at the end of 2001. Peter Roe was appointed Head Coach in November 2001. After years of struggling to keep up with the Super League pace which saw Trinity finish next to bottom on most of their attempts they finally got around to making headway up

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