The 1985–86 Challenge Cup was the 85th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. Known as the Silk Cut Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons,. The Preliminary, 1st and 2nd rounds. and Quarter-finals was hit by the Winter of 1985-86 in Great Britain and Ireland with the preliminary round ties not being completed until 31 January and the 1st Round not being completed until 26 February and the first round had a major upset in the form of 2nd Division Doncaster knocking out 1st Division Salford winning 18-12 at home however only 842 spectators were there to see it and only 2 2nd Round ties being played on 23 February with 1 1st Round tie being played the day before on 22 February in front of the BBC Grandstand cameras the other 2 being played on 24 and 26 February and the remaining 2nd Round ties being played between 8–12 March 1986 (including a replay). This meant that the Quarter-finals were not played until 16 March 1986 (with a replay on 19 March 1986) with no television coverage (though highlights of the Leeds v Widnes replay on 19 March was shown on Sportsnight) this led to the Last 16, Quarter-finals and the Semi-finals being played on consecutive weekends for the first time in the Challenge Cup's 89-year history. The final on 3 May 1986 was contested by Castleford and Hull Kingston Rovers at Wembley. Castleford won the match 15–14.

Preliminary round Tie noDateHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance1 26 January 1986 Hunslet 20–8 Kells 1,2002 29 January 1986 Hull 38–10 Dudley Hill 2,5903 30 January 1986 Swinton 8–30 Leeds 1,3484 31 January 1986 Carlisle 20–14 Mansfield Marksman 482

First round Tie noDateHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance 1 8 February 1986 Hull Kingston Rovers 22–6 Hull 8,770 2 9 February 1986 Blackpool Borough 30–10 Runcorn Highfield 422 3 9 February 1986 Doncaster 18–12 Salford 842 4 9 February 1986 Featherstone Rovers 14–18 Widnes 2,378 5 9 February 1986 Halifax 4–24 Leeds 7,422 6 9 February 1986 Huddersfield 4–10 Rochdale Hornets 913 7 9 February 1986 Hunslet 6–60 Castleford 2,358 8 9 February 1986 Keighley 2–24 Leigh 1,968 9 9 February 1986 Oldham 56–10 Carlisle 2,785 10 9 February 1986 Warrington 62–11 Sheffield Eagles 2,347 11 9 February 1986 Workington Town 12–56 Wigan 6,346 12 9 February 1986 York 18–6 Whitehaven 2,339 13 16 February 1986 Bramley 8–6 Batley 1,050 14 22 February 1986 Bradford Northern 10–8 Wakefield Trinity 2,649 15 24 February 1986 Dewsbury 19–22 St. Helens 1,948 16 26 February 1986 Fulham 4–17 Barrow 1,220

Second round Tie noDateHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance 1 23 February 1986 Doncaster 10–28 Leeds 7,636 2 23 February 1986 Widnes 36–20 Rochdale Hornets 3,706 3 8 March 1986 Wigan 24–14 St. Helens 18,553 4 9 March 1986 Barrow 6–30 Castleford 3,613 5 9 March 1986 Bradford Northern 20–20 Bramley 3,037 Replay 12 March 1986 Bramley 2–36 Bradford Northern 3,014 6 9 March 1986 Leigh 31–10 Blackpool Borough 3,241 7 9 March 1986 Oldham 13–6 Warrington 6,526 8 9 March 1986 York 6–34 Hull Kingston Rovers 5,694

Third round Tie noDateHome teamScoreAway teamAttendance 1 16 March 1986 Hull Kingston Rovers 25–10 Leigh 7,928 2 16 March 1986 Oldham 6–1 Bradford Northern 6,962 3 16 March 1986 Widnes 10–10 Leeds 8,141 Replay 19 March 1986 Leeds 5–0 Widnes 15,710 4 16 March 1986 Wigan 2–10 Castleford 18,503

Semi-final

Replay

Final

FB 1 Gary LordRW 2 David PlangeRC 3 Tony MarchantLC 4 Gary HydeLW 5 Jamie SandySO 6 John Joyner (c)SH 7 Bob BeardmorePR 8 Kevin WardHK 9 Kevin Beardmore PR 10 Barry JohnsonSR 11 Keith EnglandSR 12 Martin KetteridgeLF 13 Ian FrenchSubstitutions:IC 14 David RoockleyIC 15 Stuart HortonCoach: Mal Reilly FB 1 George FairbairnRW 2 Garry ClarkRC 3 Mike SmithLC 4 Gary ProhmLW 5 David LawsSO 6 John DorahySH 7 Paul HarkinPR 8 Peter Johnston HK 9 David Watkinson (c)PR 10 Asuquo EmaSR 11 Andy KellySR 12 Des HarrisonLF 13 Gavin Miller Substitutions:IC 14 Gordon SmithIC 15 John LydiatCoach: Roger Millward

References

External links Challenge Cup official website Challenge Cup 1985/86 results at Rugby League Project