| The Festive Challenge | |
| Pixels: | 200 |
| Teams: | 2 |
| Gov Body: | RFL |
| Champion: | Leeds Rhinos (12th title) |
| Most Champs: | Leeds Rhinos |
| Count: | 12 |
The Festive Challenge is an annual friendly rugby match played between Leeds Rhinos and Wakefield Trinity that is played on Boxing Day.[1] [2]
Matches played on Boxing Day were a regular part of rugby league season in Great Britain before the establishment of the Super League in 1996 and the switch to a summer season. Following the winter of 1962–1963, which caused the postponement of many sports fixtures, undersoil heating was installed at Headingley. This ensured that the surface would be playable for the 1963 Boxing Day match between Leeds and Wakefield, and led to the league schedule including a Leeds home fixture on Boxing Day every year apart from 1994 when they were away to Hull F.C. During this period Leeds faced numerous opponents, but the most frequent was Wakefield, who they faced a further ten times after 1963.[3] In 1995, Leeds defeated Castleford at Headingley in their final competitive Boxing Day match before the move to the summer era.[4]
In 1996, Gary Hetherington, the recently appointed chief executive at Leeds, wanted to continue the tradition of a Boxing Day game so a friendly against Halifax was played as the first "festive challenge". In the following years Leeds played Halifax three more times and faced Bradford Bulls in 1999.[3] [4] [5] Between 2001 and 2003 Leeds played Castleford Tigers and defeated them in all three matches.[6] [7] [8]
The first festive challenge between Leeds and Wakefield was played in 2004.[9]
The 2010 event was postponed to New Year's Day due to poor weather.[10]
In 2017, the fixture was moved to Belle Vue, the first time it was played away from Headingley, due to the redevelopment of Headingley Stadium.[11]
| Year | Winner | Score | Runners up | Venue |
| 2004 | Leeds Rhinos | 32–12 | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | Headingley Stadium |
| 2005 | Leeds Rhinos | 42–18[12] | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | |
| 2006 | Leeds Rhinos | 22–14 | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | |
| 2007 | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | 26–18 | Leeds Rhinos | |
| 2008 | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | 22–16 | Leeds Rhinos | |
| 2009 | Leeds Rhinos | 32–12 | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | |
| 2010 | Leeds Rhinos | 40–22 | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | |
| 2011 | Leeds Rhinos | 26–10 | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | |
| 2012 | Leeds Rhinos | 40–26 | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | |
| 2013 | Leeds Rhinos | 18–18 | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | |
| 2014 | Leeds Rhinos | 50–28 | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | |
| 2015 | Wakefield Trinity Wildcats | 14–6 | Leeds Rhinos | |
| 2016 | Wakefield Trinity | 30–6 | Leeds Rhinos | |
| 2017 | Leeds Rhinos | 17–10[13] | Wakefield Trinity | Belle Vue |
| 2018 | Leeds Rhinos | 10–4[14] | Wakefield Trinity | Headingley Stadium |
| 2019 | Wakefield Trinity | 30–4[15] | Leeds Rhinos | |
| 2020 | colspan=4 | |||
| 2021 | Leeds Rhinos | 34–6[16] | Wakefield Trinity | Headingley Stadium |
| 2022 | Wakefield Trinity | 32–20[17] | Leeds Rhinos | |
| 2023 | Leeds Rhinos | 41–22[18] | Wakefield Trinity |
| Team | Wins | Years | ||
| 1 | Leeds Rhinos | 12 | 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2023 | |
| 2 | Wakefield Trinity | 6 | 2007, 2008, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2022 |
| Period | Sponsor | Name | |
| 2009 | Cravendale | Cravendale Festive Challenge | |
| 2011–2013 | Heatshot | Heatshot Festive Challenge | |
| 2014 | Tetley's | Tetley's Festive Challenge | |
| 2015– | Wetherby Whaler | Wetherby Whaler Festive Challenge |