1985–86 Challenge Cup Explained
| 1985–86 Silk Cut Challenge Cup |
| Duration: | 6 Rounds |
| No Of Teams: | 36 |
| Highest Attendance: | 32,485 Hull KR v Leeds Semi-final Replay |
| Lowest Attendance: | 422 Blackpool v Runcorn 1st Round |
| Final Attendance: | 82,134 |
| Tv: | BBC |
| Biggest Home Win: | 62-11 Warrington v Sheffield Eagles 1st Round |
| Biggest Away Win: | 60-6 Hunslet v Castleford 1st Round |
| Season: | 1985–86 |
| Season Champs: | Castleford |
| Season Champ Name: | Winners |
| Second Place: | Hull Kingston Rovers |
| Mvp: | Bob Beardmore |
| Mvp Link: | Lance Todd Trophy |
| Prevseason Link: | 1984–85 Challenge Cup |
| Prevseason Year: | 1984–85 |
| Nextseason Link: | 1986–87 Challenge Cup |
| Nextseason Year: | 1986–87 |
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 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
First round
| Tie no | Date | Home team | Score | Away team | Attendance |
|---|
| 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
Third round
Semi-final
Replay
Final
External links
