Leeds Rhinos 17-16 Salford Red Devils — 2020 Challenge Cup Final

Wembley Stadium, London · Attendance: 0 (played behind closed doors due to Covid-19 restrictions — the first Challenge Cup Final in history with no crowd; the TV audience reportedly exceeded 6 million, the most-watched final since 2012)

Data last verified: 11 August 2026.

2020 Challenge Cup Final: Leeds Rhinos 17-16 Salford Red Devils, at Wembley Stadium, London.

Sourcing caveat: The exact minute of Gale's drop goal is inconsistently reported (around 76' vs. around 79') across sources — confirmed as normal time, virtually the last play, rather than golden-point extra time, but no precise minute is asserted. Lineups added from Rugby League Project's match-page team sheets — squad numbers are non-sequential (e.g. Leeds' 16, 19, 25, 26; Salford's 19, 21, 22, 32) confirming they are genuine shirt numbers, not a position-order renumbering.

Scoring timeline

12′	Leeds Rhinos — try, Briscoe
19′	Salford Red Devils — try, Williams
31′	Leeds Rhinos — try, Handley
53′	Salford Red Devils — try, Pauli
59′	Salford Red Devils — try, Greenwood
64′	Leeds Rhinos — try, Handley

Tries with a sourced minute, in order scored. Tries whose exact minute isn't recorded in available sources appear in the Scorers table below but not here.

Scorers

Leeds Rhinos	Tries: Briscoe 12'; Handley 31'; Handley 64' Goals: Martin (2/2 conversions: 13', 32') Drop goals: Gale (late in normal time, minute reported inconsistently across sources as approximately 76'-79')
Salford Red Devils	Tries: Williams 19'; Pauli 53'; Greenwood 59' Goals: Inu (2/2 conversions: 20', 60')

Teams

Leeds Rhinos			Salford Red Devils
16	Richard Myler	Fullback	Niall Evalds	1
2	Tom Briscoe	Wing	Rhys Williams	22
4	Konrad Hurrell	Centre	Kallum Watkins	32
15	Liam Sutcliffe	Centre	Kris Welham	3
5	Ash Handley	Wing	Krisnan Inu	5
6	Robert Lui	Five-eighth	Tui Lolohea	6
7	Luke Gale	Halfback	Kevin Brown	7
8	Ava Seumanufagai	Front row	Lee Mossop	8
9	Kruise Leeming	Hooker	Joey Lussick	9
19	Mikolaj Oledzki	Front row	Gil Dudson	10
11	Alex Mellor	Second row	Tyrone McCarthy	13
12	Rhyse Martin	Second row	James Greenwood	21
10	Matt Prior	Lock	Mark Flanagan	19
Substitutes
14	Brad Dwyer		Sebastine Ikahihifo	14
26	Alex Sutcliffe		Pauli Pauli	12
25	James Donaldson		Luke Yates	17
17	Adam Cuthbertson		Greg Burke	16

Richard Agar		Coach	Ian Watson

Match officials

Referee	Liam Moore
Lance Todd Trophy	Richie Myler (Leeds Rhinos), edging teammate captain Luke Gale by 12 votes to 8

Match report

Leeds ended a five-year Cup drought in dramatic fashion, edging Salford 17-16 via Luke Gale's late drop goal in an empty Wembley. Tom Briscoe's early try broke his own record for most tries scored in Challenge Cup finals, and Ash Handley's double kept Leeds in front until Salford, appearing in their first final since 1969, hit back through Rhys Williams' spectacular length-of-field try, then Pauli Pauli and James Greenwood to lead in the second half. Handley's second try levelled it before Gale, with the clock almost run down, slotted the winning drop goal to complete a tense, error-strewn arm-wrestle. Salford disputed the penalty award that set up the drop goal, believing an earlier play-the-ball had been wrongly penalised. Richie Myler's composed display at full-back earned him the Lance Todd Trophy ahead of his own captain. With no fans present because of the pandemic, the result still delivered Leeds a 14th Cup title.

Round by round

Jump to round:

Round 1

Result	Venue	Attendance	Date
Skirlaugh 8–6 Hunslet Club Parkside	Eastside Community Sports Club	—	11 January 2020
Barrow Island 84–6 Rhondda Outlaws	Barrow Island Rugby Club	—	11 January 2020
York Acorn 36–14 Hammersmith Hills Hoists	Acorn Sports & Social Club	—	11 January 2020
Distington 50–10 Bedford Tigers	Distington Community Sports Club	—	11 January 2020
Ashton Bears 58–10 Edinburgh Eagles	Royal High Rugby Club	—	11 January 2020
West Bowling 24–12 Featherstone Lions	Millpond Stadium	—	11 January 2020
Milford Marlins 47–12 Wigan St Judes	Milford Sports Club	—	11 January 2020
West Hull 28–18 Pilkington Recreation	Ruskin Park	—	11 January 2020
Rochdale Mayfield 32–12 London Chargers	Mayfield Sports Centre	—	11 January 2020
Siddal ARLFC 38–0 Saddleworth Rangers	Exley Lane	—	11 January 2020
Thornhill Trojans 22–16 Thatto Heath Crusaders	Overthorpe Park	—	11 January 2020
Underbank Rangers 22–10 Castleford Lock Lane	Lock Lane Sports Centre	—	11 January 2020
Upton 30–4 Jarrow Vikings	Quarry Lane	—	11 January 2020
Widnes West Bank 26–24 Royal Navy	Ted Gleave Sports Ground	—	11 January 2020
Wigan St Patricks 30–14 Dewsbury Moor	Clarington Park	—	11 January 2020
British Army 26–10 Oulton Raiders	The Army Rugby Military Stadium	—	11 January 2020
Leigh Miners Rangers 28–26 Stanningley	Leigh Miners Welfare Sports Club	—	11 January 2020
Wigan Rose Bridge 50–10 East Hull	Ince Rose Bridge Sports and Community Club	—	11 January 2020
Normanton 30–24 Longhorns	Normanton Amateur Rugby Club	—	12 January 2020
Bentley Good Companions 18–10 Royal Air Force	Royal Air Force College	—	12 January 2020
Sherwood Wolf Hunt 26–24 Wests Warriors	Debdale Sports & Recreational Club	—	12 January 2020
British Police 66–0 Torfaen Tigers	Mayfield Sports Centre	—	12 January 2020

Round 2

Result	Venue	Attendance	Date
West Hull 30–10 Wigan St Pats	Clarington Park	—	25 January 2020
Thornhill 58–14 Normanton	Overthorpe Park	—	25 January 2020
York Acorn 34–14 Barrow Island	Acorn Sports & Social Club	—	25 January 2020
British Army 17–16 Skirlaugh	Aldershot Military Stadium	—	25 January 2020
Rochdale Mayfield 19–18 British Police	Mayfield Sports Centre	—	25 January 2020
Wigan Rose Bridge 19–12 Milford Marlins	Milford Sports Club	—	25 January 2020
Siddal ARLFC 62–4 Ashton Bears	Exley Lane	—	25 January 2020
Underbank Rangers 28–14 Distington	The Cross Grounds	—	25 January 2020
Bentley Good Companions 20–18 Widnes West Bank	Ted Gleave Sports Ground	—	25 January 2020
Leigh Miners Rangers 26–6 Upton	Leigh Miners Welfare Sports Club	—	25 January 2020
West Bowling 38–6 Sherwood Wolf Hunt	Debdale Sports & Recreational Club	—	26 January 2020

Round 3

Result	Venue	Attendance	Date
North Wales Crusaders 64–6 Rochdale Mayfield	Mayfield Sports Centre	229	8 February 2020
Siddal 10–6 West Hull	Exley Lane	450	8 February 2020
Doncaster RLFC 24–20 Thornhill Trojans	Tetley's Stadium	—	8 February 2020
British Army 34–22 Wigan Rose Bridge	Aldershot Military Stadium	100	8 February 2020
Leigh Miners Rangers 20–4 Bentley Good Companions	Twist Lane	376	8 February 2020
Underbank Rangers 30–8 West Wales Raiders	Stebonheath Park	50	9 February 2020
Hunslet RLFC 36–4 Coventry Bears	South Leeds Stadium	225	9 February 2020
Newcastle Thunder 16–12 Keighley Cougars	Cougar Park	402	15 February 2020
Workington Town 28–22 West Bowling	Derwent Park	950	16 February 2020
Barrow Raiders 38–18 London Skolars	Matt Johnson Prestige Stadium	769	16 February 2020
Rochdale Hornets 54–10 York Acorn	AJ Bell Stadium	200	16 February 2020

Round 4

Result	Venue	Attendance	Date
Leigh Centurions 36–10 Batley Bulldogs	Leigh Sports Village Stadium	1,586	21 February 2020
Sheffield Eagles 20–18 Halifax RLFC	Mobile Rocket Stadium	429	22 February 2020
Newcastle Thunder 30–10 Siddal ARLFC	Exley Lane	450	22 February 2020
Featherstone Rovers 18–16 Barrow Raiders	L.D. Nutrition Stadium	1,120	22 February 2020
Swinton Lions 56–0 Leigh Miners Rangers	Heywood Road	622	22 February 2020
Bradford Bulls 22–0 Underbank Rangers	Tetley's Stadium	1,458	23 February 2020
Hunslet RLFC 22–18 North Wales Crusaders	Queensway Stadium	249	23 February 2020
York City Knights 24–22 London Broncos	Trailfinders Sports Ground	543	23 February 2020
Rochdale Hornets 54–10 British Army	Crown Oil Arena	400	23 February 2020
Widnes Vikings 52–12 Oldham	DCBL Stadium	1,564	23 February 2020
Workington Town 22–12 Doncaster RLFC	Derwent Park	612	23 February 2020
Dewsbury Rams 22–16 Whitehaven RLFC	Recreation Ground (Whitehaven)	427	11 March 2020

Round 5

Result	Venue	Attendance	Date
Toronto Wolfpack 18–0 Huddersfield Giants	John Smith's Stadium	1,488	11 March 2020
Featherstone Rovers 46–6 Hunslet RLFC	L.D. Nutrition Stadium	1,002	13 March 2020
Wakefield Trinity 17–14 Bradford Bulls	Mobile Rocket Stadium	3,112	13 March 2020
Sheffield Eagles 34–18 Workington Town	Keepmoat Stadium	323	15 March 2020
Hull Kingston Rovers 22–19 Leigh Centurions	Hull College Craven Park	2,620	15 March 2020
Newcastle Thunder 38–30 Dewsbury Rams	Kingston Park	689	15 March 2020
Widnes Vikings 32–16 Swinton Lions	DCBL Stadium	1,527	15 March 2020
York City Knights 70–12 Rochdale Hornets	L.D. Nutrition Stadium	400	15 March 2020

Round 6

Result	Venue	Attendance	Date
Catalans Dragons 36–24 Wakefield Trinity	John Smith's Stadium	—	22 August 2020
Castleford Tigers 16–29 Hull FC	Totally Wicked Stadium	—	13 September 2020

Quarter-Finals

Result	Venue	Attendance	Date
Salford Red Devils 22–18 Catalans Dragons	Totally Wicked Stadium	—	18 September 2020
Leeds Rhinos 48–18 Hull Kingston Rovers	Totally Wicked Stadium	—	18 September 2020
Warrington Wolves 20–18 St Helens	AJ Bell Stadium	—	19 September 2020
Wigan Warriors 36–4 Hull FC	AJ Bell Stadium	—	19 September 2020

Semi-Finals

Result	Venue	Attendance	Date
Leeds Rhinos 26–12 Wigan Warriors	Totally Wicked Stadium	—	3 October 2020
Salford Red Devils 24–22 Warrington Wolves	Totally Wicked Stadium	—	3 October 2020

Final

Result	Venue	Attendance	Date
Leeds Rhinos 17–16 Salford Red Devils	Wembley Stadium	—	17 October 2020

Early rounds feature amateur and community clubs alongside professional ones; team names are linked only where this site has a team page for that exact club, matching the same safety-first approach used for the Final's own results table.

Sources

← All Challenge Cup Finals