The 2025 Challenge Cup will take place at Wembley on Saturday the 7th of June and will see Warrington Wolves and Hull KR battle it out. These are both sides with immense history but they are not among the very biggest names in the sport so some occasional fans of rugby league may view this as a rather low-key final.
However, over the past few years, Hull Kingston Rovers have been steadily building and are on the brink of creating something special. They have never won the Super League Grand Final but made it to Old Trafford for the decider for the first time last season. They currently sit top of the table, having won 12 of their 13 games. They also made the final of the Challenge Cup in 2023, when they lost a golden-point thriller to Leigh, 17-16.
They have made it back to the final this year and will obviously be hoping to go one better. Given their performances in the Super League this term, and the fact that opponents Warrington are down in eighth, having lost more games than they have won, they will start as strong favourites on Saturday.
If they win, and they are odds-on according to the bookmakers, then it will be just their second success in the competition. Their only previous triumph came in 1980, so their long-suffering fans are certainly due something to cheer about. One concern for those fans is that they have lost in the final seven times, a truly shocking record in the big game.
With such a stat in mind, they won’t be taking anything for granted, even though the oddsmakers give them around a 75% chance of success. The Wolves will hope to upset the odds and claim their 10th title – they are the fourth most successful club in the long history of the Challenge Cup.
The clash between these two teams will be the 125th Challenge Cup final and whilst they are both former champions, there are lots of clubs who have never got their hands on the famous trophy. But how many teams have lifted the Challenge Cup since the first final back in 1896/7?
Smaller Clubs Earn Early Success
The modern history of the competition is dominated by the sport’s behemoths, the likes of record winners Wigan, who boast 21 titles. Leeds are next with 14 and St Helens third, having tasted Challenge Cup glory on 13 occasions. But things were very different in the 19th century.
Batley won the first two Challenge Cups, with both finals played eight miles north of the town at Leeds’ Headingley Stadium. Batley would claim their third and most recent win in 1901 and – one for the fans of niche stats – they are the team to have appeared in the most Challenge Cup finals without losing one.
First challenge cup winners 1897 pic.twitter.com/JulMbjP6HO
— Batley RLFC Heritage (@Batleyheritage) January 12, 2018
Oldham, Swinton and several other smaller clubs also won this cup on either side of the new century and one of those is a name that may be remembered only by rugby league historians. Broughton Rangers were the first side in rugby league to win the league and Challenge Cup double, though Halifax would achieve the same feat 12 months on.
Broughton Rangers are also historically significant for the role they played in the formation of the sport. Founded in 1877 they were one of the 21 clubs that met at Huddersfield’s George Hotel in 1895 and essentially helped create rugby league and found the professional game. They would win the Challenge Cup for a second time in the 1910/11 season but rather sadly ceased to exist in the 1950s after a change of location in 1933 and then a change of name to Belle Vue Rangers (to reflect their new home) in 1946.
History Repeating
The first time two current Super League sides met in the final of the Challenge Cup came in 1905, another final that was played at Headingley. And it was our two 2025 finalists who made the relatively short trip to Leeds, with Warrington beating Hull KR 6-0 in front of almost 20,000 fans.
Hull KR will certainly be hoping for something quite different 120 years on, whilst neutrals will cross their fingers for a higher-scoring encounter. Warrington had already lost two finals by this point, so it was third time lucky for them, whilst Kingston Rovers would not make the final again until 1925.
Big Boys Slow to Land Cup
Rather strangely St Helens did not win their first Challenge Cup until 1955, though they were the side Batley beat in the very first final. Wigan had to wait until 1924 for their first victory, having lost the final in 1911 and 1920. Leeds’ wait was shorter but by the time they first won in 1910, beating Hull FC in a replay, another minnow, Hunslet, had already beaten them to it.
Hunslet, a suburb of Leeds, actually won “All Four Cups”, as the quadruple of then-available trophies was known, that year, becoming the first club to do so. Hunslet were also a founder member of the Rugby Football League but like Broughton, they no longer exist, having folded in 1973.
The Magic Number is 27
To answer the titular question of this article, 27 different clubs have won the Challenge Cup and they can be seen in the table below.
| Team | Wins | Most Recent Title |
|---|---|---|
| Wigan | 21 | 2024 |
| Leeds | 14 | 2020 |
| St Helens | 13 | 2021 |
| Warrington | 9 | 2019 |
| Widnes | 7 | 1984 |
| Huddersfield | 6 | 1953 |
| Hull FC | 5 | 2017 |
| Halifax | 5 | 1987 |
| Bradford | 5 | 2003 |
| Wakefield Trinity | 5 | 1963 |
| Castleford | 4 | 1986 |
| Oldham | 3 | 1927 |
| Swinton | 3 | 1928 |
| Featherstone Rovers | 3 | 1983 |
| Batley | 3 | 1901 |
| Leigh | 3 | 2023 |
| Hunslet | 2 | 1934 |
| Dewsbury | 2 | 1943 |
| Broughton Rangers | 2 | 1911 |
| Salford | 1 | 1938 |
| Hull KR | 1 | 1980 |
| Barrow | 1 | 1955 |
| Workington Town | 1 | 1952 |
| Bradford FC | 1 | 1906 |
| Catalans Dragons | 1 | 2018 |
| Rochdale | 1 | 1922 |
| Sheffield Eagles | 1 | 1998 |
Beyond those 27, there are three further clubs to have played in the final but never won it. All three have made the showpiece game just once, but York, Keighley Cougars and London Broncos, then owned by Richard Branson, were unable to get over the line.