Featherstone Rovers 1895 Cup Final at Wembley will go ahead after positive Covid tests

Featherstone Rovers have been cleared to face York City Knights in the  1895 Cup Final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
By James Carney
Published 16th Jul 2021, 13:43 BST
Updated 16th Jul 2021, 14:07 BST
The match is set to go aheadThe match is set to go ahead
The match is set to go ahead

The club's website said 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 in the lateral flow testing that is required of all teams the day before each fixture.

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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 club's website said: "The AB Sundecks 1895 Cup Final will be played before the Betfred Challenge Cup Final between Castleford Tigers and St Helens, and will be shown live by BBC Sport on red button and iPlayer.

"The competition was launched in 2019 as a second and more realistic opportunity for clubs from outside the Betfred Super League to experience Wembley and to boost the festival atmosphere of Challenge Cup Final day, with Sheffield Eagles winning the first Final against Widnes Vikings.

"It was not possible to play the tournament in 2020 because of the pandemic, but it was combined with the Betfred Challenge Cup for 2021 with Featherstone, York, Widnes and Swinton Lions earning semi final places by winning through the first two rounds of the Challenge Cup.

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"Featherstone then beat Widnes in the semi final to earn their first Wembley appearance since they stunned Hull FC in the Challenge Cup Final in 1983, and York beat Swinton to earn only the second Wembley appearance in their history – the previous having come in 1931.

"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 [email protected] . The results of York’s additional testing round will be confirmed as soon as possible on Saturday morning."

Related topics:WembleyYorkFeatherstone RoversYork City KnightsFeatherstone