Briscoe & Jones to conduct Challenge Cup first round draw

The first round of the Challenge Cup will be drawn at Wembley Stadium on January 7, 2016, with two special guests conducting it.

Five-try Leeds Cup final hero Tom Briscoe will be accompanied by Lizzie Jones, whose heartfelt rendering of ‘Abide with Me’ at Wembley last year will live long in the memories of rugby league fans.

Thirty-six sides will go into the bag, and they will form the first two rounds of the 2016 Ladbrokes Challenge Cup, which will be played on January 30 – 31 and February 13 – 14.

Nine winning teams progressing from the second round will face teams from League 1 in the third round (February 27-28).

Championship sides enter at the fourth round stage (March 19-20).

The bottom four clubs in the 2015 Super League season enter in the fifth (April 16-17), with the top eight Super League teams in 2015 joining the competition in the sixth round (May 7-8).

2016 Ladbrokes Challenge Cup first round draw numbers:

    1 Aberdeen Warriors
    2 Blue Bulls
    3 Distington
    4 East Leeds
    5 Egremont Rangers
    6 Featherstone Lions
    7 Great Britain Police Rugby League
    8 Hull Dockers
    9 Hull University
    10 Hunslet Club Parkside
    11 Kells
    12 Leigh Miners Rangers
    13 Lock Lane
    14 London Chargers RL
    15 Millom
    16 Normanton Knights
    17 Northumbria University
    18 Nottingham Outlaws
    19 Oulton Raiders
    20 Pilkington Recs
    21 Rochdale Mayfield
    22 Royal Air Force
    23 Royal Navy
    24 Sharlston Rovers
    25 Shaw Cross Sharks
    26 Siddal
    27 Stanningley
    28 Thatto Heath Crusaders
    29 The Army
    30 Thornhill Trojans
    31 Underbank Rangers
    32 Wath Brow Hornets
    33 West Bowling
    34 West Hull
    35 Widnes West Bank
    36 York Acorn

First round ties to be played over the weekend of January 30 – 31.