2025 RFL 1895 Cup

2025 RFL 1895 Cup

Duration	February – June 2025
Number of teams	23
Winners	York Knights
Runners-up	Featherstone Rovers
← 2024 2026 →

The 2025 RFL 1895 Cup (also known as the 2025 AB Sundecks 1895 Cup) was the sixth staging of the RFL 1895 Cup, a rugby league competition for English and Welsh clubs competing in the Championship and League One.

Format

Once again, the tournament for 2025 had a revised format from previous years. For the first time, all British clubs from the two divisions entered the tournament (with French club Toulouse not participating). After the group format used in 2024, the competition reverted to a knockout tournament. The 11 League One clubs competed across two preliminary rounds to produce four qualifiers who joined the 12 Championship clubs in the first round. ^{[1] [2]}

The final was played at Wembley Stadium on 7 June 2025 alongside the finals of the Challenge Cup and the Women's Challenge Cup. ^[3]

Preliminary rounds

The draw for the preliminary rounds was made in December 2024. Three first preliminary round ties were drawn with the five undrawn teams gaining a bye to the second preliminary round. ^[4]

First preliminary round

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Rochdale Hornets	64–12	Cornwall	1 February, 14:00	Mayfield Sports Centre	L. Bland
Midlands Hurricanes	52–24	Whitehaven	2 February, 14:00	Alexander Stadium	A. Williams
Newcastle Thunder	00–60	North Wales Crusaders	2 February, 15:00	Crow Trees Ground	A. Sweet
Source: [5]

Second preliminary round

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Goole Vikings	26–18	North Wales Crusaders	16 February, 15:00	Victoria Pleasure Grounds	L. Bland	256
Keighley Cougars	7–6	Midlands Hurricanes	16 February, 15:00	Cougar Park	A. Williams
Rochdale Hornets	18–16	Swinton Lions	16 February, 15:00	Spotland	A. Belafonte	483
Workington Town	10–18	Dewsbury Rams	16 February, 15:00	Derwent Park	T. Jones
Source: [5]

First Round

First round

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
London Broncos	26–16	Dewsbury Rams	1 March, 15:00	New River Stadium	A. Belafonte
Batley Bulldogs	12–16	Bradford Bulls	2 March, 14:00	Mount Pleasant	S. Mikalauskas
Featherstone Rovers	52–12	Keighley Cougars	2 March, 14:00	Post Office Road	K. Moore
Goole Vikings	16–34	Barrow Raiders	2 March, 15:00	Victoria Pleasure Grounds	C. Worsley
Hunslet	26–28	Widnes Vikings	2 March, 15:00	South Leeds Stadium	D. Arnold	562
Oldham	58–60	Rochdale Hornets	2 March, 15:00	Boundary Park	J. Vella	1,057
Sheffield Eagles	50–18	Doncaster	2 March, 15:00	Sheffield Olympic Legacy Stadium	M. Lynn	648
York Knights	32–20	Halifax Panthers	2 March, 15:00	York Community Stadium	R. Cox
Source: [6]

Quarter finals

The draw for the quarter finals was made on 2 March. The ties were played over the weekend of 5/6 April. ^[7]

Quarter finals

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Bradford Bulls	36–20	Sheffield Eagles	6 April 2025, 15:00	Odsal Stadium	M. Lynn	1,606
Featherstone Rovers	34–60	London Broncos	6 April 2025, 15:00	Post Office Road	K. Moore
Oldham	38–24	Barrow Raiders	6 April 2025, 15:00	Boundary Park	S. Mikalauskas	1,400
York Knights	39–60	Widnes Vikings	6 April 2025, 15:00	York Community Stadium	R. Cox
Source: [8]

Semi finals

The draw for the semi finals was made on 13 April. The ties will be played over the weekend of 17/18 May. ^[9]

Semi finals

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Oldham	10–40	Featherstone Rovers	18 May 2025, 14:00	Boundary Park	S. Mikalauskas	2,843
York Knights	28–20	Bradford Bulls	18 May 2025, 15:00	York Community Stadium	C. Worsley
Source: [10]

Final

The final was played on 7 June.

7 June 2025 17:45 BST

Featherstone Rovers	4–5 (g.p.)	York Knights
Goals: Reynolds 12' (pen), 61' (pen)	[11] [12]	Goals: Harris 29' (pen), 40' (pen) Drop goals: Harris 85'

Wembley Stadium, London Referee: L. Rush Touch judges: C. Worsley, M. Lynn

References

1. "1895 Cup Format Confirmed". Widnes Vikings. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
2. "AB Sundecks to back 1895 Cup again in 2025". RFL. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
3. "Date confirmed for 2025 Challenge Cup finals". Total RL. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
4. "2025 RFL 1895 Cup: Preliminary Round draw, round dates, schedule". Love Rugby League. 12 December 2024. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
5. "1895 Cup". Total Rugby League. 26 February 2025. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
6. "Scoreboard: 1895 Cup Round One". Rugby Leaguer & League Express . No. 3470. 3 March 2025. p. 31.
7. Jones, Chris (2 March 2025). "1895 Cup quarter-final draw as Wembley moves step closer for Championship sides – Total Rugby League". Total RL. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
8. "AB Sundecks 1895 Cup: Quarter Finals". Rugby Leaguer & League Express . No. 3475. 7 April 2025. p. 31.
9. "AB Sundecks 1895 Cup Semi Final Draw confirmed". RFL. 13 April 2025. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
10. "1895 Cup – Semi Finals". Rugby Leaguer & League Express . No. 3481. 19 May 2025. p. 30.
11. "York pip Featherstone in extra time to win 1895 Cup". BBC Sport. 7 June 2025. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
12. "1895 Cup – Final". Rugby Leaguer & League Express . No. 3484. 9 June 2025. p. 20–21, 30.