While the debate rumbles on as to whether or not the Challenge Cup Final should remain at Wembley, it’s easy to forget that the showpiece finale has already been played at several different venues across the country – and we’re not just talking about Twickenham, Edinburgh’s Murrayfield and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff when Wembley was being rebuilt. Here’s a reminder of six other grounds that have hosted the final over the years.

HEADINGLEY

The first two Challenge Cup Finals in 1897 and 1898, and several more after that, were held at Headingley Stadium. 

Leeds St John, who later became known as Leeds RLFC, had called the stadium home since it opened in 1889, and the multi-sport venue was considered one of the best sporting grounds around.

In total, the ground held 13 Challenge Cup Finals – the last coming in the second leg of the 1943 competition.

WHEATER’S FIELD

Wheater’s Field, home of Broughton Rangers, hosted the 1907 final as Warrington beat Oldham 17-3. A crowd of 18,500 was in attendance as Warrington lifted the trophy for the second time in three seasons.

Broughton hosted a second final 14 years later in 1921, but after they had moved to The Cliff, a larger venue nearby, with Leigh beating Halifax 13-0.

Across the River Irwell, The Willows also hosted finals in 1904 and 1911.

THE ATHLETIC GROUND

Record cup winners Wigan picked up the first of their 22 titles with a 21-4 win over Oldham in 1924 in a final held at Rochdale’s The Athletic Grounds.

Almost 42,000 fans crammed into the stadium, at the time a new British record for a rugby league game. 

The ground had already hosted the 1902 derby final between Broughton Rangers and Salford, and welcomed it again for the final time in 1926 when Swinton beat Oldham 9-3.

CENTRAL PARK 

The last final played ahead of the game’s move to Wembley in 1929 took place at Wigan’s Central Park when Swinton secured a 5-3 win over Warrington.

The ground had also hosted the previous season’s final, and did so again in 1932 after three consecutive years at Wembley.

It also hosted the first leg of the 1944 final between Wigan and Bradford as the final temporarily moved away from Wembley due to the war.

ODSAL

One of the most iconic rugby league images is that of 102,569 supporters in a packed out Odsal Stadium for the 1954 replay between Warrington and Halifax.

But that wasn’t the first time the West Yorkshire stadium had hosted the showdown with the 1941 and 1942 finals – both won by Leeds – staged there.

With Bradford making the two-legged finals in 1944 and 1945, Odsal hosted games then as well, but even the combined attendance of those four games fell well short of the 1954 crowd.

TOTTENHAM 

Apart from the seven years when Wembley was being rebuilt, the Challenge Cup Final had been held there since 1955, but took a temporary hiatus in 2022 due to a scheduling conflict between the RFL and the BBC, which saw the game moved to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

It was the first final held since 2019 without a Covid pandemic-restricted crowd, and 51,628 (down 11,000 from the previous Wembley final) witnessed the competition in its first new venue in almost two decades.

First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 522 (July 2026)