1998 Rugby League Challenge Cup

 Round 1 Will be contested by sixty teams. They will include National Conference Division 1 and 2 clubs, plus other top amateur teams from all over the country. For the first time, a team from Ireland, the Dublin Blues, will enter the competition. The only professional team at this stage is Alliance club, Blackpool.

Round 2 The thirty victorious clubs from Round 1, will be joined by the fourteen clubs from the National Conference Premier Division, to give twenty two ties.

Round 2A This supplementary round became necessary when the RFL decided to admit Oldham into the competition. They had previously been excluded, as the new Oldham club were not formally members of the RFL, when the Challenge Cup entries closed.

Round 3 Eighteen professional clubs from the First and Second Divisions, join the twenty two winners from Round 2, to give twenty ties. The professional clubs will be seeded, so that all have a home tie against amateur opposition.

Round 4 The twelve Super League clubs enter the fray, to join the twenty winners from Round 3, making for sixteen ties.

Round 5, onwards The competition proceeds on a straight knock-out basis. The semi-finals will be played at neutral venues and the Final Tie will take place at Wembley Stadium.

The Prize Money

The 1998 Rugby League Challenge Cup will again be sponsored by "Silk Cut", with an investment of £700,000. Some £486,000 of this will be distributed to the participating clubs, as follows:

Clubs eliminated in Round 3
Professional clubs - £4,000
Amateur Clubs - £1,000

Clubs eliminated in Round 4:
£5,000

Clubs eliminated in Round 5:
£8,000

Clubs eliminated in the Quarter-Finals:
£15,000

Clubs eliminated in the Semi-Finals:
£20,000

The competition Runners-Up:
£50,000

The Compeition Winners:
£100,000