1895 Cup should stay forever, insists Mark Aston
Sheffield coach Mark Aston insists the 1895 Cup should continue forever and is already planning next year’s trip to Wembley.
The Eagles became the first ever winners of the 1895 Cup on Saturday as they defeated Widnes 36-18 at Wembley.
The match was played after the Challenge Cup final between St Helens and Warrington, and Aston has heaped praise on the 1895 Cup competition.
He told loverugbyleague.com: “It should stay forever – I’m planning on coming back again next year.
“Wembley is a special place and any Championship club would be crazy not to want to play at Wembley. It’s the Challenge Cup for the part-time teams.
“Fair play to AB Sundecks and Derek Beaumont [AB Sundecks director and Leigh owner] for sponsoring the Cup.
“We play sport for memories and my boys have got the memories of this Cup. It’s a special feeling.”
Aston believes the concept needs tweaking in some areas though, such as scrapping midweek fixtures.
He added: “We need to look at when it is scheduled and how it is run.
“We don’t want to play midweek games when you’ve got tight squads and no money.
“Has it got a place forever? 100%. Does it need to be before the Challenge Cup final? Possibly.
“It wasn’t bad afterwards on Saturday, Warrington and St Helens put on a great spectacle as pre-match entertainment for us so the big game was second.”
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