Challenge Cup final to move from Wembley to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
- Published
As well as football, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has also hosted NFL games and is scheduled to host rugby union's Challenge Cup and Champions Cup finals in 2023
The 2022 Challenge Cup final will take place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 28 May as it moves from its traditional Wembley home.
Wembley has hosted most finals since 1929, with the event briefly moving to the Principality Stadium and Twickenham during redevelopment in the 2000s.
The final will move back across north London and return to Wembley in 2023.
"We are delighted to bring yet another major sporting event to our stadium," said Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.
The final is reverting to a May date, having been staged in August from 2005 to 2019. It was delayed until October in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and staged in July this year.
Wembley was not available in late May for the 2022 final but will return as host the following year.
The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was scheduled to host a rugby league Ashes Test between England and Australia last November, but the series was called off because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"There was real excitement when we announced the stadium as a venue for an Ashes Test in 2020 and, after the disappointment of losing that game, we're delighted to have this opportunity to recapture that excitement with the sport's traditional showpiece event," said Rugby Football League chief executive Ralph Rimmer.
Tottenham Hotspur moved into their redeveloped 62,000-capacity White Hart Lane home in 2019.
A multi-purpose arena, the ground has also played host to NFL games and is scheduled to host rugby union's European Challenge Cup and Champions Cup finals in 2023.
It will also be the venue for Anthony Joshua's world heavyweight title fight against Oleksandr Usyk on 25 September.
Leeds Rhinos assistant coach Jamie Jones-Buchanan told the BBC 5 Live Rugby League Podcast: "I'm always open minded and interested to see how it manifests. It's a fantastic state-of-the-art stadium.
"It might start a new legacy. I don't think we've filled Wembley as much as we would have liked to have done in recent years."
A crowd of 40,000 watched St Helens beat Castleford 26-21 last month in the 2021 final, but the number was restricted because of Covid restrictions still in place at the time.
Salford Red Devils stand-off Kevin Brown added: "It will be exciting. It's a state-of-the-art stadium and it will be right up there with Wembley, if not better.
"One of the real highlights of my career was playing in different stadiums when games are taken on the road.
"I remember Twickenham was used one year and I was there with Huddersfield and that was a good experience and the same with the Magic Weekend."