The draws for Rounds 3 and 4 of the Betfred Challenge Cup will be streamed on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app live from the DCBL Stadium, home of Widnes Vikings, from 6.30pm this evening (Monday 29 January).
40 years on from Widnes’s 19-6 victory over Wigan at Wembley Stadium in 1984, host Tanya Arnold will be joined by three veterans of that triumph: David Hulme; Mike O’Neill; and Lance Todd Trophy winner Joe Lydon.
Widnes Vikings are one of 22 semi-professional clubs from the Betfred Championship and League One entering the competition at Round 3. They join the 10 community clubs who triumphed in the weekend’s Round 2 ties in the hat for Round 3, with the 16 ties taking place over the weekend of 10/11 February.
Challenge Cup Round 3 draw - Ball numbers:
1 - Barrow Raiders
2 - Batley Bulldogs
3 - Bradford Bulls
4 - Cornwall
5 - Dewsbury Rams
6 - Doncaster
7 - Featherstone Rovers
8 - Halifax Panthers
9 - Hammersmith Hills Hoists
10 - Hunslet ARLFC
11 - Hunslet RLFC
12 - Keighley Cougars
13 - Lock Lane
14 - Midlands Hurricanes
15 - Newcastle Thunder
16 - North Wales Crusaders
17 - Oldham
18 - Rochdale Hornets
19 - Sheffield Eagles
20 - Siddal
21 - Stanningley
22 - Swinton Lions
23 - Thatto Heath Crusaders
24 - Wakefield Trinity
25 - Wath Brow Hornets
26 - West Hull
27 - Wests Warriors
28 - Whitehaven
29 - Widnes Vikings
30 - Workington Town
31 - York Acorn
32 - York Knights
The draw for Round 4, scheduled for the weekend of 24/25 February, will be made immediately after the third round draw. All 32 Round 3 teams will go into the hat, with the eight Round 4 ties drawn on an ‘either/or’ basis. For example, Barrow Raiders or Batley Bulldogs versus Bradford Bulls or Cornwall.
BBC Sport will select one tie from each of the rounds, which will be streamed live on BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and app.
Live streaming of the weekend’s Betfred Challenge Cup games by the BBC, The Sportsman and British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) once again attracted more than 60,000 viewers, continuing the bumper start to the competition achieved in Round 1.
The Men's 2024 Betfred Challenge Cup Final is part of a Finals Day triple-header at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 8 June, alongside the finals of the Betfred Women's Challenge Cup and AB Sundecks 1895 Cup. Tickets are available online now from only £15 Adults and £7.50 Under 16s, with family packages also available starting from just £18.75 for one Adult and two Under 16s.
