The date for the 2026 Challenge Cup final has officially been locked in – with the Rugby Football League also seemingly dropping a huge hint on the future of the 1895 Cup, too.

The governing body confirmed – bizarrely during the middle of England’s defeat to Australia on Saturday afternoon – that Wembley Stadium would host the men’s and women’s Challenge Cup finals on Saturday May 30. Tickets went on sale at half-time on Saturday.

But in their confirmation of the date and location for the cup finals, there was no mention about whether or not the 1895 Cup would be part of finals day once again.

It has become a bit of a permanent fixture in recent years, with two Championship sides getting the opportunity to play at the national stadium for the right to lift the trophy won by York Knights this year.

But it now appears that the cup is set to move its showpiece finale away from Wembley. There has been increased speculation in recent weeks that the competition’s latter rounds could be staged later in the season so it does not directly clash with the Challenge Cup finals.

And it now looks as though a new venue is going to be sought to give the competition its own standalone day in the spotlight. Critics of the Wembley schedule have bemoaned the fact that Wembley is almost always nearly empty by the time the 1895 Cup kicks off in the evening, with the two sets of supporters from the Challenge Cup final never sticking around.

With that in mind, the governing body look to have made the decision to relocate the final back up north to a different venue, with a different date set to be pencilled in too as part of a new-look Championship in 2026.

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