2017 Challenge Cup

2017 Ladbrokes Challenge Cup
Duration	9 Rounds
Number of teams	72
Broadcast partners	BBC Sport; Sky Sports
Biggest home win	London Chargers 116 – 0 Bridgend Blue Bulls ; (1st Round)
Biggest away win	Aberdeen Warriors 8 – 62 Pilkington Recs ; (1st Round)
	← 2016; 2018 →;

The 2017 Challenge Cup, (also known as the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup^[1] for sponsorship reasons) is the 116th staging of the Challenge Cup the main rugby league knockout tournament for teams in the European Super League, the British National Leagues and a number of invited amateur clubs.

The defending champions are Hull FC who beat Warrington Wolves 12–10 in the 2016 final at Wembley Stadium.^[2]

The format of the competition is eight knock-out rounds followed by a final. The first two rounds are composed entirely of 32 amateur teams. The eight winners of the second round ties are joined in round 3 by the 16 League 1 teams including for the first time a Canadian team, the Toronto Wolfpack. For the fourth round the 12 Championship teams are included in the draw. Round 5 sees four Super League teams entering the competition. These are the four teams that finished in the top four positions of the 2016 Qualifiers and are Huddersfield Giants, Leeds Rhinos, Leigh Centurions and Salford Red Devils. The remaining eight Super League teams join in round 6.

Round dates

Round	Dates
Round 1	28–29 January 2017
Round 2	11–12 February 2017
Round 3	25–26 February 2017
Round 4	18–19 March 2017
Round 5	22–23 April 2017
Round 6	13–14 May 2017
Quarter Finals	17–18 June 2017
Semi Finals	28–29 July 2017
Final	26 August 2017
Source:^[3]^[4]

First round

The draw for the first round of the 2017 Challenge Cup was held on 5 January 2017 at The Deep to celebrate the city being named 2017 UK City of Culture and Hull FC’s efforts in 2016 and featured 32 amateur teams from around the United Kingdom including one student team, all three armed services and the police. Home teams were drawn by Lee Radford and the away teams drawn by Dean Andrew, President of the RFL and The RAF.

Fixtures for the first round were played over the weekend of the 28–29 January 2017.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
Home	Score	Away	Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
London Chargers	116 – 0	Bridgend Blue Bulls	28 January 2017, 13:00	New River Stadium	S. Ellis
Leigh Miners Rangers	12 – 16	Wigan St Patricks	28 January 2017, 13:00	Leigh Miners Welfare Sports & Social Club	S. Mikalauskas
Thatto Heath Crusaders	30 – 10	Skirlaugh ARLFC	28 January 2017, 13:30	Hattons Solicitors Crusader Park	H. Neville
Aberdeen Warriors	8 – 62	Pilkington Recs	28 January 2017, 13:30	Woodside Sports Complex	B. Milligan
University of Hull	12 – 22	Rochdale Mayfield	28 January 2017, 14:00	Hull University Sports & Fitness Centre	J. Stearne
West Bowling	0 – 12	Kells ARLFC	28 January 2017, 14:00	Emsley Recreation Ground	J. Barr
RAF	12 – 30	York Acorn	28 January 2017, 14:00	RAF College Cranwell	J. Jones
Fryston Warriors	33 – 10	Normanton Knights	28 January 2017, 14:00	Fryston Welfare Club	L. Staveley
Royal Navy	34 – 38	Myton Warriors	28 January 2017, 14:00	US Sports Ground	S. Houghton
Siddal ARLFC	16 – 4	Milford Marlins	28 January 2017, 14:00	Siddal Sports & Community Centre	C. Worsley
Egremont Rangers	24 – 14	British Army	28 January 2017, 14:00	Gilfoot Park	C. Astbury
West Hull	24 – 10	Hull Dockers	28 January 2017, 14:00	West Hull Community Park	N. Woodward
Thornhill Trojans	32 – 18	Lock Lane	28 January 2017, 14:00	Thornhill Sports & Community Centre	S. Chromiak
Featherstone Lions	29 – 28	Distington ARLFC	28 January 2017, 14:30	The Mill Pond Stadium	K. Moore
Wath Brow Hornets	4 – 17	Haydock ARLFC	28 January 2017, 14:30	Cleator Sports & Social Club	J. Turner
Wests Warriors	40 – 22	Great Britain Police	28 January 2017, 17:00	New River Stadium	M. Griffiths
Source:^[5]

Second round

The second round draw was made on 31 January from the home of amateur team Siddal, who qualified for the second round by defeating Milford Martins 16–14, and will be streamed live on BBC Sport's website. The draw was made by former players, Johnny Lawless and Luke Robinson both of whom played for Siddal before turning professional.^[6] Ties are to be played over the weekend of 11–12 February 2017.

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
Home	Score	Away	Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Featherstone Lions	–	Wests Warriors	11/12 February 2017
West Hull	–	Thatto Heath Crusaders	11/12 February 2017
Haydock ARLFC	–	Thornhill Trojans	11/12 February 2017
Myton Warriors	–	York Acorn	11/12 February 2017
London Chargers	–	Fryston Warriors	11/12 February 2017
Kells	–	Rochdale Mayfield	11/12 February 2017
Pilkington Recs	–	Siddal ARLFC	11/12 February 2017
Wigan St Patricks	–	Egremont Rangers	11/12 February 2017
Source:

Broadcasts

The primary broadcast organisation for the competition is BBC Sport. On 24 January the RFL announced that the BBC would be streaming one tie from each of the first five rounds live on the BBC Sport website with two games from the 6th, 7th and 8th rounds being broadcast live on BBC TV.^[7]

Live matches

Round	Match	Date	Broadcast method
1st	Leigh Miners Rangers v Wigan St Patricks^[7]	28 January, 13:00	streamed BBC Sport
2nd	Pilkington Recs v Siddal^[8]	11 February, 14:15	streamed BBC Sport

References

^ "Challenge Cup: Ladbrokes replace Tetley's as title sponsor". BBC Sport. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
^ "Scoreboard". Rugby Leaguer & League Express. No. 3034. 29 August 2016. p. 31.
^ "The 2017 season begins here". Rugby Leaguer & League Express. No. 3042. 24 October 2016. p. 13.
^ "2017 Round dates". Rugby Football League. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
^ "Ladbrokes Challenge Cup - Round One - Scoreboard". Rugby Leaguer & League Express. No. 3055. League Publications. 30 January 2017. p. 29.
^ "Huddersfield Giants coach Luke Robinson to make Challenge Cup draw". Huddersfield Examiner. 27 January 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
^ ^a ^b "BBC to show early Challenge Cup rounds". The Rugby Football League. 24 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
^ "BBC pick feature game for Ladbrokes Challenge Cup second round". The RFL. 3 February 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2017.

External links

Official website

[1] "Challenge Cup: Ladbrokes replace Tetley's as title sponsor". BBC Sport. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2016.

[2] "Scoreboard". Rugby Leaguer & League Express. No. 3034. 29 August 2016. p. 31.

[3] "The 2017 season begins here". Rugby Leaguer & League Express. No. 3042. 24 October 2016. p. 13.

[4] "2017 Round dates". Rugby Football League. Retrieved 6 December 2016.

[5] "Ladbrokes Challenge Cup - Round One - Scoreboard". Rugby Leaguer & League Express. No. 3055. League Publications. 30 January 2017. p. 29.

[6] "Huddersfield Giants coach Luke Robinson to make Challenge Cup draw". Huddersfield Examiner. 27 January 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2017.

[RFL240117-7] "BBC to show early Challenge Cup rounds". The Rugby Football League. 24 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.

[8] "BBC pick feature game for Ladbrokes Challenge Cup second round". The RFL. 3 February 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2017.

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v t e Challenge Cup
Years	1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025-26
Finals (List)	1968-69 1969–70 · 1970–71 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
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