2024 RFL 1895 Cup

2024 RFL 1895 Cup
DurationGroup stage + 3 knock-out rounds
Number of teams21
Highest attendance5,340, Bradford Bulls v Wakefield Trinity, 12 May 2024
Lowest attendance180, Midlands Hurricanes v Doncaster, 28 January 2024

The 2024 RFL 1895 Cup (also known as the 2024 AB Sundecks 1895 Cup) was the fifth staging of the RFL 1895 Cup, a rugby league competition for English and Welsh clubs outside the Super League.

The competition was open to all clubs in the Championship and League 1 although French team, Toulouse Olympique have always declined to enter. League 1 club, Cornwall, also decided not to enter at the request of the other clubs to reduce the burden on the other clubs in having to travel to Cornwall.[1]

For 2024 the format of the competition was significantly amended. In 2021 and 2022 the cup ran concurrently with the early rounds of the Challenge Cup with the teams reaching the knock-out stages being determined by progression in the Challenge Cup. To provide more games, especially for the League 1 teams, the competition for 2024 included a group stage; seven groups of three teams each, with the seven group winners and the second-placed team with the best record progressed to the quarter-finals. The groups were regionalised to reduce the financial costs further and League 1 clubs played at home in fixtures against Championship teams.[2] Newcastle Thunder were included in the competition even though at that date the club's participation in the league for 2024 had yet to be confirmed.[3]

The final was played at Wembley Stadium on 8 June 2024 alongside the finals of the Challenge Cup and the Women's Challenge Cup.[4]

  1. ^ "Cornwall chief explains withdrawal from 1895 Cup, admits 'preference would have been to take part'". Love Rugby League. 10 November 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  2. ^ "RFL confirm Championship and League One structure for 2024, including expanded 1895 Cup format". Love Rugby League. 8 November 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Newcastle Thunder chief calls upon 'all rugby league fans' to aid survival bid as club details three-stage plan". Love Rugby League. 24 November 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  4. ^ Walker, Callum (8 November 2023). "Championship and League One structure for 2024 CONFIRMED as 1895 Cup revamp revealed". Total Rugby League. Retrieved 1 December 2023.