Challenge Cup: Rugby League final date to move again - from August to June
- Published
The Rugby Challenge Cup final is to move its date in the calendar again - from August to June.
The 2024 men's final will be played on Saturday, 8 June at its traditional Wembley Stadium home.
The day will also include the Women's Challenge Cup Final, the fifth 1895 Cup Final and the Champion Schools.
This year's final between Leigh and Hull KR returns to Wembley after the 2022 final between Wigan and Huddersfield was held at Tottenham.
The final had to be switched to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Wembley was unavailable.
But, although attendances have generally been on the decline in recent years, Wembley has been the final's traditional home for most of the last century, when it was invariably played on the first Saturday in May.
This year's Wembley final is the 80th since the Rugby League first took its then showpiece event to the nation's capital in 1929, six years after the old Empire Stadium first opened.
It was then moved for seven years in 1999 to Murrayfield, Twickenham and Cardiff, while Wembley was being rebuilt.
However, following professional rugby league's switch from a winter to a summer sport, the Challenge Cup final then established a new place for itself in the calendar in late August.
But it has never been held in June before - and a two-year deal has been done to stage the men's and women's finals there.
"We will be returning to an earlier position in the season," said Rugby League Commercial managing director Rhodri Jones.
"This fits with the reimagining of Rugby League through the sport's long-term partnership with IMG, as we work towards a restructured calendar, and also maintain the double header of Men's and Women's Challenge Cup Finals given the growth potential of the women's and girls' game."
The Challenge Cup final
1946-1999
Wembley Stadium. On the first Saturday in May.
Replays in 1954 (Odsal, Bradford) and 1982 (Elland Road, Leeds)
2000-2007
While Wembley was being rebuilt, three venues were used:
Murrayfield, Edinburgh: 29 April 2000 and 27 April 2002
Twickenham, London: 28 April 2001 and 26 August 2006
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff: 26 April 2003, 15 May 2004 and 27 August 2005
2007-2019
Wembley Stadium - the last Saturday in August.
2020: 17 October (Wembley - post-Covid pandemic)
2021: 17 July (Wembley)
2022: 28 May (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - Wembley unavailable)
2023: 12 August (Wembley)
2024: 8 June (Wembley)