The 2019 RFL 1895 Cup, known as the 2019 AB Sundecks 1895 Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the inaugural tournament for the

RFL 1895 Cup The Rugby Football League 1895 Cup is an annual rugby league knockout tournament for clubs in the RFL Championship and RFL League One. History and format There have been many cup competitions for the lower leagues of rugby league. In 2002 the ...

, a rugby league football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom. The tournament was played between League 1 and

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

teams between May and August 2019. The format of the tournament was confirmed in December 2018, and consisted of five rounds. In round 1 eight League 1 teams played in a knock out round. Round 2 introduced the 12 English teams from the

who with the winners from round 1 will play eight ties. The quarter-finals and semi-finals followed in June and July, with the final played 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 ...

on 24 August, with 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 ...

final also being played on this day. The competition commenced in May without sponsorship but in June it was announced that the cup would be sponsored by AB Sundecks, owned by former

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. Leigh play homes games at Leigh Sports Village and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. ...

chairman Derek Beaumont.

Teams

The teams participating in the inaugural 1895 Cup are as follows:

League 1

* Doncaster R.L.F.C. *

Hunslet R.L.F.C. Hunslet R.L.F.C. is a professional rugby league club in Beeston, Leeds, Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. They play home games at South Leeds Stadium and compete in RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British rugby leagu ...

Keighley Cougars The Keighley Cougars are a professional rugby league club from Keighley in West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Cougar Park and compete in RFL League 1, League One, the third tier of British rugby league system, British rugby le ...

Newcastle Thunder The Newcastle Thunder is a professional rugby league club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was founded in 2000 as Gateshead Thunder, after the merger of the original Gateshead Thunder into Hull F.C. in 1999. The Thunder were based in ...

Oldham R.L.F.C. Oldham Rugby League Football Club, is a professional rugby league football club based in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. The club plays home games at Boundary Park and competes in RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British ...

West Wales Raiders The West Wales Raiders were a semi-professional rugby league club based in Llanelli, Wales. They competed in RFL League 1, League 1, the third tier of the British rugby league system, from 2018 until 2022. The club was founded in 2015 as an ama ...

Whitehaven R.L.F.C. Whitehaven 2010 R.L.F.C. is a professional rugby league club, from Whitehaven, Cumbria. They currently play in the 2025 RFL League One, RFL League One following relegation from the 2024 RFL Championship, Championship in 2024. They currently pla ...

Workington Town Workington Town is a semi-professional rugby league club based in Workington, West Cumbria, England. The club plays home games at Derwent Park and competes in the RFL League One, League One, the third tier of British rugby league system, Briti ...

As some of the games in the later stages were scheduled for midweek,

Coventry Bears The Midlands Hurricanes are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Birmingham, West Midlands, England. They were founded in 2021 and took over the professional franchise owned by Coventry Bears previously entering the third tier of th ...

London Skolars The London Skolars are a rugby league club based at the White Hart Lane Community Sports Centre, New River Stadium in Wood Green, London Borough of Haringey, Haringey, North London. Founded in 1995, the club operated as a semi-professional team ...

and

North Wales Crusaders The North Wales Crusaders () is a professional rugby league club based in Colwyn Bay, Wales. They are the successors to the former Super League club Crusaders Rugby League. Crusaders compete in League 1, the third tier of English rugby leagu ...

decided against entering the competition for logistical reasons.

Championship

Barrow Raiders The Barrow Raiders are a semi-professional rugby league team in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The club play home games at Craven Park (Barrow), Craven Park and compete in the RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British rug ...

Batley Bulldogs The Batley Bulldogs are an English professional rugby league club in Batley, West Yorkshire, who play in the Championship. Batley were one of the original twenty-two rugby football clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895. ...

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

Dewsbury Rams The Dewsbury Rams are a professional rugby league club based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England that compete in RFL League 1, League One, the third tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. History 1875–1887: Dewsbury Athl ...

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Post Office Road and currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Featherstone ...

Halifax R.L.F.C. The Halifax Panthers are a professional rugby league club in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They play home games at The Shay and compete in the RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British rugby league system, British rugby lea ...

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the League 1, the third tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs tha ...

Sheffield Eagles The Sheffield Eagles are a professional rugby league club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They play home games at the Olympic Legacy Park and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Sheffield's on ...

Swinton Lions The Swinton Lions are a professional rugby league club based in Swinton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the RFL League 1 . The club has won the Rugby Football League Championship, Championship six times and three Challenge Cups ...

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

York City Knights The York Knights are the men's professional rugby league team of York RLFC, based in York, England. The club play their home games at York Community Stadium and currently compete in the RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of Briti ...

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 clu ...

and

Toronto Wolfpack Toronto Wolfpack RLFC is a Canadian professional rugby league club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club is the first and only professional rugby league club in North America, and as of 2023 competes in the self sponsored Canada Cup, an invitation ...

were ineligible to enter the competition as the clubs are not full members of the Rugby Football League.

First round

The first round ties were played on 4–5 May. The draw was made at

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium (known as Bartercard Odsal Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a multi-purpose stadium, multipurpose stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium is currently the home of Bradford Bulls rugby league football club and ...

on 12 March immediately after the draw for the fourth round of the

. The tie between Hunslet and Workington was streamed live on the RFL's OurLeague app.

Second round

The second round was played between 2–5 June. The draw was made on 5 May.

Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals were played during the week starting June 24.

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were played on Sunday 28 July.

Final

The final was played at

on 24 August. Sheffield Eagles beat Widnes Vikings 36–18 after being 12–18 down at half-time. The inaugural winner of the Ray French Award was Sheffield's Anthony Thackeray.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:RFL 1895 Cup 2019 in English rugby league

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2019 in Welsh rugby league