We're sponsored by Glossop Caravans

2019 SUMMER BASH FIXTURES REVEALED

25 November 2018

The Betfred Championship’s Summer Bash is set to return across the weekend of Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 May 2019, with the Lions facing a familiar foe.


The Championship’s showpiece event, the Summer Bash is set to return in 2019 with the Lions facing local rivals Rochdale Hornets at Bloomfield Road in Blackpool.

The Lions and Hornets kick-off a two-day feast of rugby league by the seaside, where fans can look forward to seven Championship games across both Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th May.

Bloomfield Road has provided mixed emotions for travelling Lions in years past as the club’s current record in Blackpool stands as two wins and two defeats since 2015. This year’s fixture, also against Rochdale Hornets, saw the Lions run out 38-12 victors for their first win of the 2018 campaign.

Elsewhere across the weekend, Toronto Wolfpack and Toulouse Olympique will take their French-Canadian rivalry from Newcastle to Blackpool as one of the feature matches at the Summer Bash, which will return to Blackpool in 2019 for the fifth consecutive year.

Then York City Knights will make their first Summer Bash appearance as a Championship club – having lost to Keighley in the League One Cup Final in Blackpool in 2016 – against a Featherstone Rovers team who will be determined to break their duck at Bloomfield Road, after losing on each of their previous four appearances.

Saturday’s programme ends with the traditional West Yorkshire rivalry between Halifax and Bradford Bulls – the first time they have met in Blackpool since the first Bash, when the Bulls won 18-4.

Day Two kicks off with Barrow facing Sheffield Eagles, before Batley and Dewsbury meet for the fifth consecutive year at Bloomfield Road – with Dewsbury currently holding a 3-1 lead, although all four previous meetings have been tight with the aggregate score 76-70.

Then it will be down to two of the heavyweights in the Betfred Championship with recent Super League experience, Leigh and Widnes, to bring the Summer Bash to a rousing climax – with the Vikings making their first Bash appearance.

Ralph Rimmer, the chief executive of the Rugby Football League, said: “The fixture list for next year’s Summer Bash sums up why we’re so excited about the Betfred Championship in 2019.

“We’ve got the international appeal of Toronto and Toulouse, with more big-name players and coaches than ever.

“Bradford Bulls, Widnes Vikings and the York City Knights are three new clubs to the Championship next year who will add so much. They’re all involved in cracking games against Halifax, Leigh and Featherstone respectively, and I’m confident their supporters will relish this chance to get involved in the Bash, and get behind their team in Blackpool.

“It’s down to the supporters that we are going back to Bloomfield Road for a fifth consecutive year. We had a number of other strong applications to stage the Summer Bash in 2019, showing how the concept has established itself as a real celebration of what the Championship has to offer, on and off the field.

“But all the analysis we did showed that our supporters wanted to go back to Blackpool. Everybody knows the special range of attractions available to fans of all ages which makes it perfect for a Rugby League weekend away.”

Tickets for the 2019 Betfred Championship Summer Bash will be available to purchase from the club shortly – fans are politely advised to wait and purchase through the club.

Don’t forget the full fixture list for the 2019 Betfred Championship and Betfred League One will be published at 6pm – including further details of the 1895 Cup, the new knockout competition for Championship and League One clubs which has opened up a second path to Wembley Stadium in 2019, with the final to be played on Challenge Cup Final Day, August 24.

BETFRED CHAMPIONSHIP SUMMER BASH, 2019 FIXTURE LIST (KICK-OFF TIMES TBC)

Saturday May 18

Rochdale Hornets v Swinton Lions

Toronto Wolfpack v Toulouse Olympique

York City Knights v Featherstone Rovers

Halifax v Bradford Bulls

Sunday May 19

Barrow v Sheffield Eagles

Batley Bulldogs v Dewsbury Rams

Leigh Centurions v Widnes Vikings

Sponsors

Sale FC
Roadflash
Primus Traffic Management
Glossop Caravans
ROODSAFE
Created by Rugby League World Cup England 2021
Camway Installations
Daisymill Technologies
Swinton Lions Supporters Trust