The 2016 Challenge Cup, (also known as the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 115th staging of the Challenge Cup the main rugby league knockout tournament for teams in the Super League, the British National Leagues and a number of invited amateur clubs.
The cup was won by Hull F.C. who beat Warrington Wolves 12–10 in the final at Wembley Stadium on 27 August 2016.
The defending champions, Leeds Rhinos who were looking to win the trophy three times in a row were defeated by Huddersfield Giants in the sixth round.
The format of the competition is eight knock-out rounds followed by a final. The first two rounds are composed entirely of amateur teams. The nine winners of the second round ties are joined in round 3 by the 15 Championship 1 teams. For the fourth round the 12 Championship teams are included in the draw. Starting in 2015 and continuing for the 2016 competition round 5 sees four Super League teams entering the competition. These are the four teams that finished in the bottom four positions of the 2015 Super League and are; Widnes Vikings, Hull Kingston Rovers, Salford Red Devils, and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats. These are the same four teams that joined at this stage in the 2015 competition. The remaining eight Super League teams join in round 6.
First round The draw for the first round of the 2016 Challenge Cup was held on 7 January 2016 at Wembley Stadium and featured 36 amateur teams from around the United Kingdom including two student teams, all three armed services and the police. Home teams were drawn by Tom Briscoe and the away teams drawn by Lizzie Jones.
Fixtures for the first round were played over the weekend of the 30–31 January 2016.
HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeAttendance Thatto Heath Crusaders 16 – 23 Hunslet Club Parkside 30 January 2016, 13:30 Hattons Solicitors Crusader Park M Griffiths York Acorn 36 – 10 Sharlston Rovers 31 January 2016, 13:30 Acorn Sports & Social Club H Neville London Chargers 14 – 22 Shaw Cross Sharks 30 January 2016, 14:00 Old Blues RFC G Dolan Aberdeen Warriors 16 – 42 Northumbria University 30 January 2016, 14:00 Rubislaw Playing Fields P Marklove Normanton Knights 18 – 31 Distington 30 January 2016, 14:00 Queen Elizabeth Drive A Haigh West Bowling 0 – 16 Lock Lane 30 January 2016, 14:00 Odsal Recreation Ground M Rossleigh Royal Navy 18 – 20 Featherstone Lions 30 January 2016, 14:00 United Services Recreation Ground G Evans Hull Dockers 8 – 6 Thornhill Trojans 30 January 2016, 14:00 The Willows Sports & Social Club C Campbell Kells 30 – 0 Nottingham Outlaws 30 January 2016, 14:00 Old Arrowthwaite J Stearne East Leeds 0 – 32 Oulton Raiders 30 January 2016, 14:00 Richmond Hill S Ellis Millom 32 – 14 University of Hull 30 January 2016, 13:30 Coronation Field C Braithwaite Widnes West Bank 20 – 38 Rochdale Mayfield 30 January 2016, 14:00 Ted Gleave Sports Ground N Bennett Leigh Miners Rangers 14 – 20 Underbank Rangers 30 January 2016, 13:30 Twist Lane J Jones Wath Brow Hornets 26 – 4 Royal Air Force 30 January 2016, 14:30 Cleator Club B Pearson Stanningley 16 – 28 Pilkington Recs 30 January 2016, 14:30 Arthur Miller Stadium L Staveley Egremont Rangers 64 – 0 Blue Bulls 30 January 2016, 15:30 Gillfoot Park J McMullen West Hull 36 – 4 Great Britain Police 31 January 2016, 14:00 West Hull Community Park K Moore British Army 4 – 30 Siddal 31 January 2016, 14:30 Aldershot Military Stadium L Moore Source:
Second round The draw for the second round was held at RAF Coningsby on 2 February 2016 and the teams were drawn by Sheffield Eagles coach Mark Aston and Batley Bulldogs coach John Kear.
Ties were played on 13 February.
HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeAttendance Millom 12 – 46 Pilkington Recs 13 February 2016, 14:00 Coronation Field N Bennett Shaw Cross Sharks 6 – 40 Lock Lane 13 February 2016, 14:00 Shaw Cross Club B Pearson Hunslet Club Parkside 18 – 19 West Hull 13 February 2016, 14:00 Hillidge Road S Race York Acorn 28 – 10 Distington 13 February 2016, 14:00 Acorn Sports & Social Club P Marklove Hull Dockers 12 – 14 Featherstone Lions 13 February 2016, 14:00 The Willows Sports & Social Club M Griffiths Egremont Rangers 22 – 26 Rochdale Mayfield 13 February 2016, 14:00 Gillfoot Park M Mannifield Siddal 18 – 16 Northumbria University 13 February 2016, 14:00 Siddal Sport & Community Centre M Rossleigh Kells 42 – 6 Underbank Rangers 13 February 2016, 14:30 Old Arrowthwaite G Dolan Wath Brow Hornets 30 – 4 Oulton Raiders 13 February 2016, 14:30 Cleator Club J Jones Source:
Third round The third round draw was held on 16 February at North Wales Crusaders ground, the Glyndwr University Racecourse Stadium, Wrexham. The draw was made by Paul Rowley and Lee Briers. The 12 ties were played over the last weekend of February.
HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeAttendance Siddal RLFC 30 – 4 Newcastle Thunder 27 February 2016, 14:00 Reactiv Park B Pearson 405 Rochdale Mayfield 14 - 40 Rochdale Hornets 27 February 2016, 14:00 Mayfield Sports Centre G Hewer 937 Pilkington Recs 13 – 0 London Skolars 27 February 2016, 14:30 Ruskin Drive L Moore 642 Kells ARLFC 12 – 6 Hemel Stags 27 February 2016, 14:30 Copeland Athletics Club J Callaghan 250 (estimated) Featherstone Lions 37 – 20 South Wales Scorpions 27 February 2016, 15:00 Mill Pond Stadium S Mikalauskas 400 (estimated) Wath Brow Hornets 14 – 32 Toulouse Olympique 27 February 2016, 15:00 Cleator Moor D Merrick 400 (estimated) West Hull 0 – 54 Doncaster 28 February 2016, 14:00 West Hull Community Park T Crashley 268 North Wales Crusaders 36 – 40 Gloucestershire All Golds 28 February 2016, 14:30 Glyndŵr University Racecourse Stadium J Bloem 324 Oxford 22 – 37 Lock Lane 28 February 2016, 14:30 Maidenhead RFC B Robinson 55 York City Knights 66 – 0 York Acorn 28 February 2016, 15:00 Bootham Crescent A Sweet 2,293 Hunslet Hawks 46 – 12 Barrow Raiders 28 February 2016, 15:00 South Leeds Stadium T Grant 354 Keighley Cougars 54 – 28 Coventry Bears 28 February 2016, 15:00 Cougar Park J Roberts 421 Source:
Fourth round The draw for the fourth round was made on 1 March at the White Lion pub in Swinton. The draw was made by retired players Adrian Morley and Paul Wellens. The 24 teams in the draw comprise the 7 Championship 1 teams and 5 National Conference League teams who won through from the third round and the 12 teams of the Championship.
Ties were played over the weekend of 18–20 March.
HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeAttendance Hunslet Hawks 48 – 6 Doncaster 18 March 2016, 19:30 South Leeds Stadium A Sweet 337 Dewsbury Rams 31 – 30 Bradford Bulls 18 March 2016, 20:00 Tetley's Stadium C Campbell 2,021 Featherstone Lions 16 – 30 Lock Lane 19 March 2016, 14:00 The Big Fellas Stadium C Straw 1,738 Pilkington Recs 0 – 78 Halifax 19 March 2016, 14:30 Langtree Park T Crashley 837 Batley Bulldogs 37 – 36 Whitehaven 19 March 2016, 15:00 Mount Pleasant J Cobb 457 Sheffield Eagles 32 – 28 Swinton Lions 19 March 2016, 15:30 SHU Sports Park T Grant 412 Toulouse Olympique 62 – 28 Gloucestershire All Golds 19 March 2016, 15:30 Stade Ernest-Argelès M Woodhead 1,053 Leigh Centurions 68 – 14 Workington Town 19 March 2016, 18:00 Leigh Sports Village C Kendall 2,049 London Broncos 26 – 48 Featherstone Rovers 19 March 2016, 20:00 Trailfinders Sports Ground S Ansell 294 Oldham 40 – 6 Kells 20 March 2016, 15:00 Bower Fold J Bloem 385 Rochdale Hornets 48 – 20 Siddal RLFC 20 March 2016, 15:00 Spotland Stadium W Turley 653 York City Knights 20 – 12 Keighley Cougars 20 March 2016, 15:00 Bootham Crescent J Roberts 624 Source:
Fifth round The fifth round draw was made on Tuesday 22 March. This round sees the first entry of Super League clubs when the teams that finished 9th – 12th in the 2015 season are in the draw. The draw was made by Sam Tomkins and Chris Hill (Hill was a late replacement for Sean Long). Ties were played over the weekend of 15–17 April.
HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeAttendance Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 44 – 10 Sheffield Eagles 15 April 2016, 20:00 Rapid Solicitors Stadium Ben Thaler 2,257 Dewsbury Rams 30 – 16 York City Knights 15 April 2016, 20;00 Tetley's Stadium Andy Sweet 707 Hull Kingston Rovers 22 – 36 Oldham 16 April 2016, 14:00KC Lightstream Stadium Sam Ansell 3,056 Toulouse Olympique 10 – 8 Leigh Centurions 16 April 2016 16:00Stade Ernest-Argelès Chris Kendall 2,133 Batley Bulldogs 28 – 10 Featherstone Rovers 16 April 2016 17:00 Mount Pleasant Gareth Hewer 1,461 Rochdale Hornets 6 – 62 Widnes Vikings 17 April 2016, 15:00 Spotland Stadium James Child 1,242 Hunslet Hawks 14 – 50 Salford Red Devils 17 April 2016, 15:00 South Leeds Stadium Chris Campbell 834 Halifax 80 – 4 Lock Lane 17 April 2016, 15:00 The MBi Shay Jamie Bloem 1,108 Source:
The tie between Batley and Featherstone was shown live on Sky Sports 5.
Sixth round The draw for the sixth round was made on 21 April 2016 live on BBC Radio 4 Today programme. The teams were drawn by Today presenter John Humphrys and former England and Great Britain international player Martin Offiah. Ties were played over 6–8 May 2016.
HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeAttendance Batley Bulldogs 4 – 40 Catalans Dragons 6 May 2016, 20:00 Fox's Biscuits Stadium Gareth Hewer 1,249 Huddersfield Giants 36 – 22 Leeds Rhinos 6 May 2016, 20:00 John Smith's Stadium Ben Thaler 4,979 Castleford Tigers 32 – 18 Salford Red Devils 7 May 2016, 14:30 Wheldon Road James Child 3,317 Oldham 10 – 70 Warrington Wolves 7 May 2016, 15:00 Bower Fold Jonathan Roberts 2,394 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 40 – 22 Toulouse Olympique 8 May 2016, 14:00 Belle Vue Chris Kendall 2,539 Dewsbury Rams 4 – 54 Wigan Warriors 8 May 2016, 15:00 Tetley's Stadium Chris Campbell 3,102 Halifax 18 – 28 Widnes Vikings 8 May 2016, 15:00 The MBi Shay Michael Woodhead 2,032 St. Helens 18 – 47 Hull 8 May 2016, 16:30 Langtree Park Richard Silverwood 7,094 Source:
Sky televised the Batley v Catalans game on Friday 6 May. The BBC broadcast Castleford v Salford on Saturday 7 May and St Helens v Hull on Sunday 8 May.
Quarter finals The quarter final draw was made after the conclusion of the St Helens vs Hull game, live on BBC 2. The home teams were drawn by Linzi Prescott (widows of Steve Prescott) and the away teams by Tommy Martyn. Ties will be played over the weekend of 23–25 June.
HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeAttendance Huddersfield Giants 16 – 28 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 23 June 2016, 20:00 Galpharm Stadium Gareth Hewer 3,289 Warrington Wolves 20 – 18 Widnes Vikings 24 June 2016, 20:00 Halliwell Jones Stadium James Child 7,773 Hull 22 – 8 Catalans Dragons 25 June 2016, 13:30 KC Stadium Ben Thaler 9,639 Wigan Warriors 26 – 12 Castleford Tigers 25 June 2016, 17:30 DW Stadium Chris Campbell 8,010 Source:
All four matches were broadcast live. The games at Huddersfield and Hull were shown on Sky Sports and the other two games by BBC Sport.
Semi finals The semi-final draw was made immediately after the Wigan v Castleford quarter final game. The draw was made by Castleford and Leigh player Bob Beardmore and Ian Gildart who played for Wigan, Wakefield Trinity and Oldham.
HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeAttendance Wigan Warriors12 – 16 Hull29 July 2016, 20:00Keepmoat StadiumBen Thaler10,488 Warrington Wolves56 – 12 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats30 July 2016, 14:30Leigh Sports VillageGareth Hewer10,358 Source:
Final
The final was played at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 27 August 2016. Hull were seeking a first ever Challenge Cup victory at Wembley while Warrington were looking for their first win since 2012. HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeAttendance Hull 12 – 10 Warrington Wolves 27 August 2016, 15:00 Wembley Stadium Gareth Hewer 76,235Source: