New July date for Challenge Cup final

The RFL has also announced a new competition for Championship and League One clubs in 2019, the 1895 Cup, which will culminate in a final at Wembley on Saturday, August 24, alongside the Challenge Cup final and the traditional schools curtain-raiser.

The Championship and League One fixtures have been delayed over the uncertain future of Leigh but the clubs have agreed to introduce a new knockout competition, named to commemorate the famous breakaway of 1895.

RFL chief executive Ralph Rimmer said: "This is a significant and exciting day for the Challenge Cup and the game's relationship with Wembley Stadium.

"Next year we will celebrate the 90th anniversary of the first Challenge Cup final at Wembley in 1929.

"Rugby League is proud of the length and strength of that association - Wembley Stadium has been the setting for so many of the greatest matches and memories in the game's history, with Catalans Dragons writing another chapter when they became the first overseas club to win the Cup earlier this year.

"We are therefore delighted to confirm the extension of that relationship until 2027.

"We believe the introduction of the 1895 Cup will give that relationship another boost.

"It's a recognition that the game has changed since the onset of full-time professionalism in the Super League era, meaning that for a good number of the Championship and League One clubs who have won the Challenge Cup in the past, reaching Wembley currently seems a distant dream.

"This innovation makes that dream of Wembley much more realistic and achievable.

"We've seen in football - with the EFL Trophy that was introduced for teams for the third and fourth tiers of their professional structure as the Associate Members' Cup in 1983 - that the introduction of a realistic additional chance to reach Wembley can have a rejuvenating effect on clubs.

"With the 1895 Cup, we want to recognise the contribution of our non-Super League clubs to the game's history since its founding as the Northern Union 123 years ago - and provide an exciting new chance for their players and supporters to taste the magic of Wembley.

"With the Steven Mullaney Memorial Match continuing to provide a unique opportunity for some potential future stars to play at Wembley Stadium, we've tried to create a Challenge Cup Final Day package which will breathe new life into Rugby League's big day out."

The Cup is set to create more history with the presence of Red Star Belgrade in the first round on the weekend of January 26-27, the draw for which will be made on December 10.

Confirmed dates for 2019:

• Round 1 - January 26-27
• Round 2 - February 9-10
• Round 3 - March 9-10
• Round 4 - March 30-31
• Round 5 - April 13-14
• Round 6 - May 11-12
• Quarter-finals - June 1-2
• Semi-finals - July 27-28
• Final - August 24