2013 Challenge Cup

2013 Tetley's Challenge Cup

Duration	10 Rounds
Highest attendance	78,137
Broadcast partners	BBC Sport
Winners	Wigan Warriors
Runners-up	Hull FC
Biggest home win	Sheffield Eagles 112-6 Leigh East
Biggest away win	West Hull 6-82 North Wales Crusaders Gloucestershire All Golds 6-82 Salford City Reds
Lance Todd Trophy	Matty Smith
< 2012 Seasons 2014 >

The 2013 Challenge Cup, (also known as the Tetley's Challenge Cup^[1] for sponsorship reasons) was the 112th staging of the most competitive European rugby league tournament at club level and was open to teams from England, Wales, Scotland and France. It began its preliminary stages in October 2012.

Warrington Wolves were the reigning champions, but lost 12 - 16 to Hull F.C. in the semi final, who would go on to lose the final 0 - 16 to the Wigan Warriors.

First Qualifying Round

The draw for the First Qualifying Round was made on Wednesday 10 October 2012 at Carrwood Park in Leeds, and took place on the weekend of 27/28 October 2012. A total of 40 teams played in the Qualifying Rounds. The clubs involved included 22 NCL Divisions 1 and 2, 5 regional league winners, the Yorkshire and Lancashire County Cup winners, 1 Cumberland ARL nomination and the British Police. Also in the draw were the Scottish champions and a Welsh representative, 4 teams from the 2011 Rugby League Conference National, 6 Student teams and a North West League representative. The teams were drawn out by Damian Clayton MBE, the representative for the Armed Forces on the Community Board, and Martin Coyd, the Tier 4 representative. A total of 57 community teams were involved in the 2013 competition which culminated at Wembley in August; the three Armed Services teams and 14 Conference League Premier teams entered the competition at a later stage.

Notes

A.^ Game switched to Recreation Ground (Whitehaven).
B.^ Withdrew from Challenge Cup due to player shortages.

Second Qualifying Round

The Draw for the Second Qualifying Round was made on Wednesday 10 October at Carrwood Park in Leeds, and the ties took place on 3/4 November 2012. The 20 winners from the first qualifying round were involved with the three Armed Services teams and 14 Conference League Premier teams entering the competition at a later stage.

Notes

C.^ Withdrew from Challenge Cup.

First Round

The draw for the first round of the 2013 Challenge Cup was held at the RFL’s Red Hall headquarters in Leeds on 29 October. The home teams were drawn by Paul Kilbride, a former Rugby League player who has been supported by the RL Benevolent Fund since suffering a serious injury while playing, and the away teams were drawn by Rugby League Cares General Manager Chris Rostron.

The first round took place on the weekend of 1 and 2 December 2012,^[2] although the match between Bradford Dudley Hill and Leeds Met was played on 10 November. The match between Millom RLFC and Blackbrook Royals eventually had to be cancelled as the tie had been postponed four times and the away team, Blackbrook received a bye to Round 2.

Notes:
† – After extra time

Second Round

The draw for the second round of the 2013 Challenge Cup was held at Millom Rugby League Club on 18 January. The draw involved 14 Conference League Premier clubs, the three Armed Services teams and the five clubs that had progressed from the first round. The balls were drawn by Millom club stalwart Gary Kelly and Workington Town player Peter Lupton, who played for Millom as a junior before signing professional terms at London Broncos. The second round took place on the weekend of 9/10 March 2013.^[2]

Notes:
† – After extra time

Third Round

The draw for the third round was hosted in the Rugby Pavilion at the home of Oxford RL, the historic Iffley Road sports ground in Oxford on 13 March 2013 at 13:00 GMT. The draw was made by the actor Kevin Whately, who starred in TV series of Inspector Morse and its spin-off show Lewis, and Bruce Ray, the communications director of Carlsberg UK, who own the Tetley's brand that sponsors the 2013 tournament.^[5]

The third round of the Challenge Cup had the entry of the 23 Kingstone Press Championship and Championship One clubs, which for the first time in the competition, included Oxford, Hemel Stags and the Gloucestershire All-Golds.

The third round matches took place on the weekend of 6 and 7 April 2013.^[5]

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
West Hull	6 – 82	North Wales Crusaders	6 April 2013, 14:30 BST	Wilderspool StadiumD	Dave Merrick	230
Swinton Lions	18 – 56	Toulouse Olympique	6 April 2013, 15:00 BST	Leigh Sports Village	George Stokes	450
Leigh Centurions	50 – 4	East Leeds	6 April 2013, 17:30 BST	Leigh Sports Village	Greg Dolan	728
South Wales Scorpions	22 – 52	Doncaster RLFC	6 April 2013, 17:30 BST	The Gnoll	Joe Cobb	456
Batley Bulldogs	72 – 0	Gateshead Thunder	7 April 2013, 14:00 BST	LoveRugbyLeague.com Stadium	Ronnie Laughton	484
Whitehaven RLFC	38 – 32	London Skolars	7 April 2013, 14:00 BST	Recreation Ground	Chris Leatherbarrow	440
Ince Rose Bridge	18 – 50	Hemel Stags	7 April 2013, 14:30 BST	Douglas Valley	Warren Turley
Barrow Raiders	28 – 12	Leigh Miners Rangers	7 April 2013, 15:00 BST	Craven Park	Chris Kendall	826
Blackbrook ARLFC	24 – 26	York City Knights	7 April 2013, 15:00 BST	Langtree ParkE	Peter Brooke
Dewsbury Rams	56 – 6	Myton Warriors	7 April 2013, 15:00 BST	Tetley's Stadium	Chris Campbell	404
Featherstone Rovers	76 – 6	Thatto Heath Crusaders	7 April 2013, 15:00 BST	Bigfellas Stadium	Adam Gill	735
Halifax RLFC	54 – 12	Oxford RL	7 April 2013 15:00 BST	The Shay	Gareth Hewer	1,000
Hunslet Hawks	36 – 10	Oldham Roughyeds	7 April 2013, 15:00 BST	South Leeds Stadium	Matt Thomason	326
Rochdale Hornets	40 – 4	Hunslet Old Boys	7 April 2013, 15:00 BST	Spotland Stadium	Dave Sharpe	414
Sheffield Eagles	112 – 6	Leigh East	7 April 2013, 15:00 BST	Don Valley Stadium	Scott Mikalauskas	333
Skirlaugh RLFC	16 – 26	Gloucestershire All-Golds	7 April 2013, 15:00 BST	Hull RUFCF	Tom Crashley	260
Workington Town	24 – 16	AS Carcassonne	7 April 2013, 15:00 BST	Derwent Park	Jamie Leahy	598
Siddal RLFC	14 – 30	Keighley Cougars	7 April 2013, 15:30 BST	Huddersfield YMCAG	Jamie Bloem	521
Source:[3][4]

Notes:
D.^ Match moved to Wilderspool in Warrington^[6]
E.^ Match moved to St Helens RLFC's Langtree Park^[7]
F.^ Match move to Hull RUFC
G.^ Match move to Laund Hill^[8]

Fourth Round

The draw for the fourth round of the 2013 Challenge Cup took place on 8 April 2013 at 15:30 BST at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington. The draw saw the 14 Super League teams joined by the 18 winning teams from the third round. The draw was made by Rugby League Hall of Fame member Alex Murphy and Bruce Ray, who is Communications Director of Carlsberg UK, the parent company of title sponsors Tetley’s and was broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live.^[9] Matches took place on 19, 20 and 21 April 2013^[2] with the Hull Kingston Rovers vs St Helens RLFC match being shown live on BBC One.^[10]

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Leeds Rhinos	28 – 12	Castleford Tigers	19 April 2013, 20:00 BST	Headingley Carnegie Stadium	Phil Bentham	8,130
Widnes Vikings	42 – 28	Doncaster RLFC	19 April 2013, 20:00 BST	Stobart Stadium	Tim Roby	1,965
Wigan Warriors	60 – 10	Leigh Centurions	19 April 2013, 20:00 BST	DW Stadium	Matt Thomason	6,889
Hull Kingston Rovers	26 – 18	St Helens RLFC	20 April 2013, 14:30 BST	MS3 Craven Park	Richard Silverwood	4,454
London Broncos	24 – 12	Featherstone Rovers	20 April 2013, 15:00 BST	Twickenham Stoop	Thierry Alibert	1,217
Sheffield Eagles	30 – 16	Dewsbury Rams	20 April 2013, 15:00 BST	Don Valley Stadium	Gareth Hewer	467
Hemel Stags	6 – 66	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	20 April 2013, 18:00 BST	Rapid Solicitors StadiumH	Peter Brooke	2,456
Hull F.C.	62 – 6	North Wales Crusaders	21 April 2013, 13:00 BST	KC Stadium	Chris Leatherbarrow	3,879
Hunslet Hawks	12 – 50	Catalans Dragons	21 April 2013, 13:00 BST	South Leeds Stadium	George Stokes	600
Batley Bulldogs	4 – 13	Huddersfield Giants	21 April 2013, 14:00 BST	LoveRugbyLeague.com Stadium	Ben Thaler	2,067
Gloucestershire All Golds	6 – 82	Salford City Reds	21 April 2013, 15:00 BST	Prince of Wales Stadium	Tim Crashley	553
Halifax RLFC	52 – 6	Barrow Raiders	21 April 2013, 15:00 BST	The Shay	Joe Cobb	1,110
Keighley Cougars	4 – 74	Warrington Wolves	21 April 2013, 15:00 BST	Cougar Park	James Child	1,413
Rochdale Hornets	10 – 70	Bradford Bulls	21 April 2013, 15:00 BST	Spotland Stadium	Robert Hicks	1,722
Whitehaven RLFC	12 – 16	Workington Town	21 April 2013, 15:00 BST	Recreation Ground	Ronnie Laughton	1,600
York City Knights	30 – 28	Toulouse Olympique	21 April 2013, 15:00 BST	Huntington Stadium	Dave Merrick	431
Source:[3][4]

Notes:
H.^ Match moved to Wakefield's Rapid Solicitors Stadium.^[11]

Fifth Round

The draw for the fifth round of the 2013 Challenge Cup took place on Monday 22 April 2013 at 15:30 BST on BBC Radio 5 Live with ex-Wigan player Billy Boston making the draw.^[12] Matches were played on 10, 11 and 12 May 2013^[2] with the Huddersfield-Leeds match shown live on BBC One on 11 May.^[13]

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Hull F.C.	24 – 6	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	10 May 2013, 20:00 BST	KC Stadium	Tim Roby	7,697
London Broncos	25 – 16	Bradford Bulls	10 May 2013, 20:00 BST	Twickenham Stoop	James Child	1,237
Sheffield Eagles	28 – 12	Halifax RLFC	10 May 2013, 20:00 BST	Don Valley Stadium	Ben Thaler	782
Huddersfield Giants	24 – 8	Leeds Rhinos	11 May 2013, 14:30 BST	John Smith's Stadium	Phil Bentham	11,389
Catalans Dragons	92 – 8	York City Knights	12 May 2013, 15:00 CEST	Stade Gilbert Brutus	Thierry Alibert	3,105
Hull Kingston Rovers	14 – 46	Wigan Warriors	12 May 2013, 15:00 BST	MS3 Craven Park	Richard Silverwood	4,280
Warrington Wolves	52 – 6	Salford City Reds	12 May 2013, 15:00 BST	Halliwell Jones Stadium	Robert Hicks	5,451
Workington Town	0 – 36	Widnes Vikings	12 May 2013, 15:00 BST	Derwent Park	George Stokes	1,657
Source:[3][4]

Quarter finals

The draw for the quarter finals took place on 18 May with the draw shown on BBC Breakfast on BBC One by presenters Louise Minchin and Charlie Stayt.^[14] Matches took place over four days between 12 and 15 July 2013^[2] with matches on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 July shown live on BBC Two and the matches on Friday 12 and Monday 15 July shown live by Sky Sports.^[15][16]

Home	Score	Away	Match Information
			Date and Time	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Sheffield Eagles	10 – 29	London Broncos	12 July, 20:00 BST	Don Valley Stadium	James Child	2,459
Catalans Dragons	13 – 24	Hull F.C.	13 July, 16:00 BST / 17:00 CEST	Stade Gilbert Brutus	Richard Silverwood	6,500
Warrington Wolves	44 – 24	Huddersfield Giants	14 July, 16:15 BST	Halliwell Jones Stadium	Phil Bentham	7,603
Wigan Warriors	48 – 4	Widnes Vikings	15 July, 20:00 BST	DW Stadium	Ben Thaler	6,327
Source:[3][4]

Semi finals

The draw for the semi finals of the 2013 Challenge Cup took place on 14 July on BBC Two after the televised Warrington-Huddersfield match on the same channel and was made by Des Drummond and Henderson Gill.^[17] The matches took place on 27 and 28 July 2013 at neutral venues.^[2]

^[3][4]

Final

The final of the 2013 Challenge Cup took place on 24 August 2013 at Wembley Stadium^[2] with the match kicking off at 15:00 BST. The match was shown live on BBC One^[18] with Wigan winning 16-0.^{[3][4][19][20]}

^[21][22]

UK Broadcasting rights

The tournament was jointly televised by the BBC and Sky Sports on the second of their five-year contracts.

• Except Scotland

Sky Sports televised the other two quarter final matches live. The first on Friday July 12 between Sheffield Eagles and London Broncos and the second on Monday July 15 between Warrington Wolves and Huddersfield Giants.

External links

• Challenge Cup official website

References