Ranking Challenge Cup quarter-finalists by longest wait for Wembley trip: St Helens 2nd…
Hull KR lift the Challenge Cup following their triumph in the competition's 2025 final against Warrington Wolves
Eight teams remain in this year’s Challenge Cup, and all are just two wins from an appearance in the final: but which of them have waited the longest to walk down Wembley Way?
Perhaps unsurprisingly, all eight teams that remain in the competition are from Super League.
Championship sides Keighley Cougars, Goole Vikings and Oldham all saw their journeys in the cup ended in the previous round by York Knights, Warrington Wolves and Catalans Dragons respectively.
Without further ado, here is when all eight of the clubs left in the Challenge Cup last made it to Wembley, ranked from the shortest wait to the longest wait…
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8. Hull KR – 2025
Challenge Cup holders KR clinched the trophy under the arch last June, beating Warrington 8-6 courtesy of Tom Davies’ dramatic last-gasp try. That ended the Robins’ long wait for silverware, and kickstarted their treble-winning campaign.
= Warrington Wolves – 2025
Wire were last Challenge Cup winners back in 2019, but have been beaten finalists in each of the last two seasons. Last year’s gut-wrenching loss against Hull KR in the capital came on the back of their 2024 defeat in the showpiece against Wigan Warriors.
= York Knights – 2025
York have only ever reached the Challenge Cup final once, and lost it – against Halifax back in 1931. They have though featured twice at Wembley in the 1895 Cup final, including last year when they beat Featherstone Rovers in Golden Point extra time!
5. Wakefield Trinity – 2024
Wakefield have played in eight Challenge Cup finals, with the most recent being a defeat to Widnes in 1979, and won three of them. Like York though, they played at Wembley in the final of the 1895 Cup, winning that against Sheffield Eagles back in 2024.
= Wigan Warriors – 2024
No one has lifted the Challenge Cup more often than Wigan, with their 21st triumph in the competition coming in 2024 as they beat Warrington in the capital. The Cherry and Whites waited seven years for a Wembley trip before that though having beaten Huddersfield at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the 2022 cup final.
3. Leigh Leopards – 2023
It’s only three years ago, but Leigh’s success against Hull KR in the 2023 Challenge Cup final means they’ve waited the third-longest of this year’s quarter-finalists for a trip to Wembley. Lachlan Lam, of course, was the hero of the hour with the winning drop goal in Golden Point extra time as they downed the Robins.
2. St Helens – 2021
13-time Challenge Cup winners Saints last emerged triumphant in the competition in 2021 when they beat Castleford in the final at Wembley. They have not been back to the national stadium since then, being beaten semi-finalists in both 2022 and 2023.
1. Catalans Dragons – 2018
French outfit Catalans have waited longer than any of the other quarter-finalists to return to Wembley having not played there since their shock victory over Warrington in the 2018 Challenge Cup final. They made it into the semi-finals last year, only to be beaten by eventual winners Hull KR.