The draw for the 1895 Cup has been confirmed, as Championship teams battle it out in knockout competition for a chance at silverware.
Last year, York Knights lifted the trophy, as they emerged victorious at Wembley to defeat Featherstone Rovers in a tight and low-scoring affair.
This season’s finale won’t be held at Wembley, and will instead be played at a stadium still to be confirmed.
The final is scheduled to be played on August 31, however that is the same weekend as the final round of Championship fixtures, so one of those will have to move as to avoid a clash.
The draw for the competition was made on Sunday evening live on BBC Radio Leeds, as former Man of Steel picked the balls out of the hat.
Due to the Championship having 19 teams, there needed to be some way to get down to 16 teams, so there will be three Preliminary Round ties to be able to do that.
The winners in those ties will then go on to compete in the First Round, where they will be joined by the three teams still in the Challenge Cup – Goole Vikings, Oldham and Keighley Cougars.
Preliminary Round fixtures will be played on the weekend of March 14/15 with Round One scheduled to take place on April 18/19.
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1895 Cup draw in full
Preliminary Round – Weekend of March 14/15:
London Broncos v Barrow Raiders
Workington Town v Newcastle Thunder
Swinton Lions v Sheffield Eagles
Round One – Weekend of April 18/19:
London Broncos/Barrow Raiders v Keighley Cougars
Doncaster RLFC v Salford RLFC
Dewsbury Rams v Widnes Vikings
Goole Vikings v Whitehaven RLFC
Oldham RLFC v Hunslet RLFC
Workington Town/Newcastle Thunder v Batley Bulldogs
North Wales Crusaders v Midlands Hurricanes
Rochdale Hornets v Swinton Lions/Sheffield Eagles
🏆 Your 1895 Cup Preliminary and Round 1 draw! 👇 pic.twitter.com/kjHsM7aFXU
— Rugby Football League (@TheRFL) February 15, 2026
