Rugby League Challenge Cup Final To Move to July In '20

The Challenge Cup final at Wembley Stadium will be moved from August to July in '20, according to the BBC. The Rugby Football League signed a new deal for the final to remain at Wembley, "its traditional home for almost a century," until '27. This is the first change to the scheduling of the cup final since it was moved from its traditional May berth to the August Bank Holiday weekend in '05. Wembley's "big day has been hit by falling gates in recent seasons" in the wake of rising prices, the growth of the Super League Grand Final and Wembley's rebuilt stadium "losing its once iconic lure." There are "notably fewer supporters of clubs other than the finalists -- once a Wembley cup final tradition in rugby league -- turning up on the big day." But the RFL hopes the planned move to July and the introduction of a new competition, the 1895 Cup -- for Championship and League 1 clubs only, with a final to be played on the same day as the Challenge Cup showpiece -- "can help reverse that trend" (BBC, 11/13).