THE 1895 Cup final is back in doubt – this time because of Covid issues at York, who are due to play Featherstone at Wembley tomorrow (Saturday).
While Rovers say they can field a side despite an outbreak in their camp, the RFL have announced that the Knights face a further round of testing on the morning of the match, which kicks-off at noon.
The governing body said in a statement: “Featherstone Rovers have been cleared to face York City Knights in the AB Sundecks 1895 Cup Final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday (July 17).
“Rovers had been required to conduct a full round of PCR testing on their squad on Thursday evening after notifying the RFL of a number of positive tests for Covid-19 earlier this week.
“There were no further positives in that round of testing, and they had an additional round of negatives this morning (Friday) in the lateral flow testing that is required of all teams the day before each fixture.
“York had one positive in their round of lateral flow testing, and after two other positive results in previous days, the multiple cases group require them to have a further round of testing on Saturday morning.
“The AB Sundecks 1895 Cup Final is scheduled to be played before the Betfred Challenge Cup Final between Castleford Tigers and St Helens, and to be shown live by BBC Sport on red button and iPlayer.
“Given the latest developments, any Featherstone or York supporters who do not wish to travel to the game can apply today (Friday) to have their tickets refunded, by contacting ticketing@rfl.co.uk.
“The results of York’s additional testing round will be confirmed as soon as possible on Saturday morning.”
Featherstone haven’t played at Wembley since 1983 while York’s only previous visit was in 1931.