The 2004 Challenge Cup, known as the Powergen Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 103rd staging of the

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

, a European

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

cup competition. The competition began in November 2003, and ended with the final in May 2004, which was played at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium (), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium () for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it has a retractable roof and is the home of the Wales national rugby union team; it has ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

due to ongoing reconstruction work at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. The tournament was won by St. Helens, who beat

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

32–16 in the final. The

Lance Todd Trophy The Lance Todd Trophy is a trophy in rugby league, awarded to man of the match in the annual Challenge Cup Final. Introduced in 1945–46, the trophy was named in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was kill ...

was won by

Sean Long Sean Bernard Long (born 24 September 1976), also known by the nickname of "Longy", is an English former professional rugby league footballer, who is the current head coach of Oldham RLFC in the RFL Championship. He has played in the 1990s and ...

First round

Second round

Third round

Fourth round

Fifth round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Teams: St Helens:

Paul Wellens Paul Simon Wellens (born 27 February 1980) is an English professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of St Helens RFC, St Helens in the Super League and a former professional rugby league footballer. A Great Britain national rugby l ...

Ade Gardner Adrian Antonio Gardner (born 24 June 1983) is an English former professional rugby league footballer, who spent the vast majority of his career with St Helens in the Super League. He was an England and Great Britain representative er. Early ...

, Martin Gleeson, Willie Talau,

Darren Albert Darren "DJ" Albert (born 28 February 1976) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A representative winger, he played his club football for the Newcastle Knights (with whom he won the 199 ...

;

Jason Hooper Jason Hooper is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played for the Illawarra Steelers, St George Illawarra Dragons and St Helens. A former Junior Kangaroo, Hooper completed six seasons in the NRL between 1997 and 2002 before emb ...

, Nick Fozzard,

Keiron Cunningham Keiron Cunningham (born 28 October 1976) is a professional rugby league coach and former player. A Great Britain national rugby league team, Great Britain and Wales national rugby league team, Wales international representative , he played his ...

, Keith Mason,

Chris Joynt Chris Joynt (born 7 December 1971) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A Great Britain international representative and , he played his club football with St Helens, with whom he won numerous ti ...

, Lee Gilmour,

Paul Sculthorpe Paul Sculthorpe MBE (born 22 September 1977) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a or forward in the 1990s and 2000s. He played for England and Great Britain at international level, as well as representing ...

Mark Edmondson Mark Edmondson (born 28 June 1954 in Gosford, New South Wales) is a retired Australian professional tennis player. Edmondson won the 1976 Australian Open while ranked 212th in the world, and remains the lowest-ranked winner of a Grand Slam ...

Coach:

Ian Millward Ian "Basil" Millward (born 22 August 1960) is an Australian rugby league coach, occasional pundit and former player. Millward is now the assistant coach of St George Illawarra in the National Rugby League (NRL). Millward is the former head co ...

Wigan:

Kris Radlinski Kristian John Radlinski MBE (born 9 April 1976) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played mainly as a . He is currently CEO of Wigan Warriors whom he played his entire professional career for, making over 300 appeara ...

, David Hodgson,

Sean O'Loughlin Sean O'Loughlin (born 24 November 1982) is an English rugby league coach and former professional rugby league footballer. He is an assistant coach of Wigan Warriors where he spent his entire playing career, playing as a loose forward for the ...

, Kevin Brown, Brett Dallas, Danny Orr,

Adrian Lam Adrian Lam (born 25 August 1970) is a Papua New Guinean professional rugby league coach, and former player, who is currently the head coach of the Super League club Leigh Leopards. He played for the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby Leagu ...

Quentin Pongia Quentin Lee Pongia (9 July 1970 – 18 May 2019) was a New Zealand rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand in the 1990s and 2000s. Background He was the grandson of fellow Kiwi international Jim Calder. His sister Megan Tahapeehi ...

, Terry Newton, Craig Smith, Danny Tickle,

Gareth Hock Gareth Hock (born Gareth Charnock; 5 September 1983) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a or for the Leigh Centurions in the Championship. He has represented Great Britain and England at international leve ...

Andy Farrell Andrew David Farrell (born 30 May 1975) is an English professional rugby union coach and former rugby league and rugby union player. Farrell has been head coach of the Ireland national team since 2019. Farrell earned 34 caps for Great Britai ...

Danny Sculthorpe Daniel Sculthorpe (born 8 September 1979), also known by the nickname "Scully", is an English former professional rugby league footballer. He last played as a for the Widnes Vikings. He also played for the Rochdale Hornets, Wigan Warriors, Cas ...

, Terry O'Connor Coach:

Mike Gregory Michael Keith Gregory (20 May 1964 – 19 November 2007) was an English professional rugby league footballer and coach. As a player, Gregory played either as a second-row or loose forward, and spent most of his club career at Warrington, ma ...

References

External links

Challenge Cup official website
{{2004 in rugby league St Helens R.F.C. Challenge Cup