iPro Sport Cup | |
---|---|
Current season or competition:: League 1 Cup 2016 |
|
Sport | Rugby league |
Instituted | 2015 |
Number of teams | 16 |
Country |
England Wales (RFL) |
Holders | Keighley Cougars (1st Title) |
Most titles |
Keighley Cougars North Wales Crusaders (1 title) |
Website | Official Site |
Broadcast partner | Premier Sports |
Related competition |
Challenge Cup League 1 |
The League 1 Cup, known as the iPro Sport Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knockout cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League for the third division of rugby league in Britain. The cup is contested by the British League 1 teams, as well as two teams from the National Conference League. The final takes place on the same weekend as The Summer Bash, and is the first game of the weekend to be played.
In 2013 the Championship Cup was decommissioned after 12 seasons and the Challenge Cup became the only cup competition available to the Championships. In 2015, as part of the new structure a new cup competition was to be introduced, but only available to League 1 clubs and two clubs invited from the National Conference League. The first final was played as the opening game of The Summer Bash at Bloomfield Road in Blackpool.
The first round of the League 1 Cup is split into two pools; Northern regions and South and Midlands regions, all 14 League 1 clubs and two National Conference League clubs enter at this stage. A draw is made at the beginning of each round to determine fixtures.
In February 2015, the RFL announced a 3-Year deal with isotonic soft drink company iPro for the competition to be been known as the iPro Sport Cup.