The 2019 RFL 1895 Cup, known as the 2019 AB Sundecks 1895 Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the inaugural tournament for the RFL 1895 Cup, a rugby league football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom. The tournament was played between League 1 and Championship teams between May and August 2019. The format of the tournament was confirmed in December 2018, and consisted of five rounds. In round 1 eight League 1 teams played in a knock out round. Round 2 introduced the 12 English teams from the Championship who with the winners from round 1 will play eight ties. The quarter-finals and semi-finals followed in June and July, with the final played at Wembley Stadium on 24 August, with the Challenge Cup final also being played on this day.
The competition commenced in May without sponsorship but in June it was announced that the cup would be sponsored by AB Sundecks, owned by former Leigh Centurions chairman Derek Beaumont.
Teams The teams participating in the inaugural 1895 Cup are as follows:
League 1 Doncaster R.L.F.C. Hunslet R.L.F.C. Keighley Cougars Newcastle Thunder Oldham R.L.F.C. West Wales Raiders Whitehaven R.L.F.C. Workington Town
As some of the games in the later stages were scheduled for midweek, Coventry Bears, London Skolars and North Wales Crusaders decided against entering the competition for logistical reasons.
Championship Barrow Raiders Batley Bulldogs Bradford Bulls Dewsbury Rams Featherstone Rovers Halifax R.L.F.C. Leigh Centurions Rochdale Hornets Sheffield Eagles Swinton Lions Widnes Vikings York City Knights
Toulouse Olympique and Toronto Wolfpack were ineligible to enter the competition as the clubs are not full members of the Rugby Football League.
First round The first round ties were played on 4–5 May. The draw was made at Odsal Stadium on 12 March immediately after the draw for the fourth round of the Challenge Cup. The tie between Hunslet and Workington was streamed live on the RFL's OurLeague app.
HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeAttendance Newcastle Thunder 38–12 Keighley Cougars 4 May 2019, 14:30 Kingston Park T. Crashley 340 Hunslet 28–31 Workington Town 4 May 2019, 15:00 South Leeds Stadium C. Smith 296 Doncaster 70–6 West Wales Raiders 5 May 2019, 15:00 Keepmoat Stadium C. Worsley 248 Oldham 48–12 Whitehaven 5 May 2019, 15:00 Whitebank Stadium J. Roberts 369Source:
Second round The second round was played between 2–5 June. The draw was made on 5 May.
HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeAttendance Batley Bulldogs 38–18 Rochdale Hornets 2 June 2019 15:00 Mount Pleasant B. Pearson 700 Dewsbury Rams 44–26 Swinton Lions 2 June 2019 15:00 Tetleys Stadium J. Smith 453 Leigh Centurions 62–12 Workington Town 2 June 2019 15:00 Leigh Sports Village A. Sweet 1,660 Oldham 12–24 Doncaster 2 June 2019 15:00 Vestacare Stadium M. Rossleigh 283 York City Knights 30–16 Newcastle Thunder 2 June 2019 15:00 Bootham Crescent N. Bennett 796 Barrow Raiders 50–6 Bradford Bulls 5 June 2019 19:30 Craven Park J. Child 1,161 Halifax 8–52 Sheffield Eagles 5 June 2019 20:00 Cougar Park T. Grant 312 Widnes Vikings 22–16 Featherstone Rovers 5 June 2019 20:00 Halton Stadium G. Dolan 1,515Source:
Quarter-finals The quarter-finals were played during the week starting June 24.
HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeAttendance Doncaster 28–32 Sheffield Eagles 26 June 2019 19:30 LD Nutrition Stadium C. Worsley 374 Leigh Centurions 19–18 Barrow Raiders 26 June 2019 19:30 Totally Wicked Stadium G. Hewer 1,012 York City Knights 16–17 Batley Bulldogs 26 June 2019 19:30 Bootham Crescent T. Grant 1,395 Widnes Vikings 54–6 Dewsbury Rams 26 June 2019 20:00 Select Security Stadium M. Mannifield 1,458Source:
Semi-finals The semi-finals were played on Sunday 28 July. HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeAttendance Leigh Centurions 8–12 Widnes Vikings 28 July 2019, 15:00 Leigh Sports Village B. Thaler 4,460 Sheffield Eagles 18–2 Batley Bulldogs 28 July 2019, 15:00 Olympic Legacy Park G. Hewer 727Source:
Final The final was played at Wembley Stadium on 24 August. Sheffield Eagles beat Widnes Vikings 36–18 after being 12–18 down at half-time. The inaugural winner of the Ray French Award was Sheffield's Anthony Thackeray.
HomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeAttendance Sheffield Eagles 36–18 Widnes Vikings 24 August 2019, 17:45 Wembley Stadium C. Kendall Not separately recordedSource:
References