Championship Cup

Northern Rail Cup
Current season or competition:
2013 National League Cup
Northern Rail Cup logo
Sport Rugby league football
Instituted 2002
Ceased 2013
Number of teams 26
Country  England
Holders Leigh Centurions (2013)

The Championship Cup, known as the Northern Rail Cup due to sponsorship by Northern Rail, and previously known as the National League Cup, was a rugby league football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom's Championship and Championship 1 leagues, formerly known as the Rugby League National Leagues. Although the French club Toulouse Olympique competed in the Championship from 2009 through 2011, it never participated in the cup until 2012 after they had left the Championship. The competition was founded in 2002, with Northern Rail buying the naming rights in 2005. The Cups last season was 2013, though the RFL did look into the possibility of the competition returning for the 2015 season. This ultimately did not happen and with the new league format, the competition returning is unlikely.

History

The Trans-Pennine Cup was a short-lived competition for professional British rugby league clubs outside Super League. It was played for during the period in which all non-Super League professional clubs were grouped into a single competition, the Northern Ford Premiership.

As part of the redevelopment of the Northern Ford Premiership competition; the National League cup was first held in 2002. It was known as the Buddies Cup, after its sponsors, a soft drinks manufacturer. Eighteen teams took part divided into three groups of six (East, West and Central).

The Northern Ford Premiership was replaced by National Leagues One and Two in 2003. The competition was known as the Arriva Trains Cup after sponsors Arriva Trains Northern). The twenty National League teams were divided into four groups (North, East, West and Central) of five teams each, while in 2004 there were five groups (North, East, West, Pennine, Yorkshire) of four teams each.

Northern Rail became the competitions sponsors in 2005 and the name Northern Rail Cup was adopted. Four teams from the then National League Three also entered the competition. There were no cross-group games in the 2005 competition; each team therefore played only six games in the group stages, with the top team from each of the first five groups progressing to the quarter-final directly. The second-placed team in each of these groups, plus the top team from group six (the group of teams from National League 3) played an additional round to determine the remaining three spots in the quarter-finals.

For 2006 there were seven groups. Groups one to six comprised the 22 teams in National Leagues One and Two and the two southern National League Three teams, Hemel Stags and St Albans Centurions. There were four teams in each regional division. The top two teams from groups one to six and the best three third-placed teams qualified for the last sixteen knock out stage along with the winner of group seven. Group seven comprised northern National League Three teams that choose to enter, and included three teams: Bramley Buffaloes, Warrington Wizards and Dewsbury Celtic.

In 2007 the competition adopted a new points system: Win – three points; Draw – two points; Loss by 12 points or fewer – one point.

In 2009, the Northern Rail Nines tournament was started. Teams not involved in the Northern Rail Cup Final entered a rugby league nines event with the trophy and plate final played as curtain raisers to the Northern Rail Cup Final at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool.

Records

Below is a list of National League Cup records.[1]

Most tries

Most goals

Most goals in a final

Most points

Highest score

Highest away score

Closest score

Most Final Appearances (Club)

Most Competition Wins (Club)

Cup final results

Year Winner Score Runner Up Match Information
Date & Time Referee Venue Attendance
2002 Huddersfield Giants 32–6 Hull Kingston Rovers Chris Moyles Stadium 4,352
2003 Salford City Reds 36–19 Leigh Centurions Spotland Stadium 6,486
2004 Leigh 42–14 Hull Kingston Rovers Spotland Stadium 4,383
2005 Hull Kingston Rovers 18–16 Castleford Tigers Bloomfield Road 9,400
2006 Leigh 22–18 Hull Kingston Rovers Bloomfield Road 7,547
2007 Widnes Vikings 54–6 Whitehaven RLFC Bloomfield Road 8,326
2008 Salford City Reds 60–0 Doncaster RLFC Bloomfield Road 6,328
2009 Widnes Vikings 34–18 Barrow Raiders 12 July 2009 at 17:15 Gareth Hewer Bloomfield Road 8,720
2010 Batley Bulldogs 25–24 Widnes Vikings 18 July 2010 at 16:00 Robert Hicks Bloomfield Road 8,138
2011 Leigh Centurions 20–16 Halifax RLFC 17 July 2011 at 17:00 Matt Thomason Bloomfield Road 8,822[4]
2012 Halifax RLFC 21–12 Featherstone Rovers 29 July 2012 at 15:00 Jamie Leahy Bloomfield Road 6,691
2013 Leigh Centurions 43 – 28 Sheffield Eagles 20 July 2013 at 17:00 Chris Leatherbarrow The Shay, Halifax 4,179

Northern Rail Bowl

Year Winner Score Runner Up
2013 North Wales Crusaders 42-24 London Skolars

Total titles won

Club Winners Runners-up Winning years
Leigh Centurions
4
1
 2004, 2006, 2011, 2013
Widnes Vikings
2
1
 2007, 2009
Salford City Reds
2
0
 2003, 2008
Hull Kingston Rovers
1
3
 2005
Halifax RLFC
1
1
 2012
Huddersfield Giants
1
0
 2002
Batley Bulldogs
1
0
 2010

Broadcasting rights

Setanta Sports Australia broadcasts live Northern Rail Cup matches in Australia.

See also

External links

References

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