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England Champion Schools Finals Day 2025

ourfooty — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 02:59:32 +0000

England Champion Schools Finals Day 2025

Wakefield Trinity’s DIY Kitchens Stadium welcomed school Rugby League teams from across the country for the Inspiresport Champion Schools Finals on Wednesday, July 2.

Teams from the North West, Yorkshire, and Wales battled through numerous matches to reach the final stage of the national school’s tournament.

Participating schools included:

Airedale Academy
Archbishop Sentamu Academy
St Bede’s and St Joseph’s Catholic College
Bedford High School
St Peter’s Catholic High School
Ysgol Glantaf
Sirius Academy West
Castleford Academy

The first win of the Finals Day went to Archbishop Sentamu Academy of Yorkshire, who triumphed over Airedale Academy in an attritional Year 7 Girls Final.

Next came an all-Yorkshire clash in the Year 8 Girls Final, where St Bede’s and St Joseph’s secured a high-scoring victory against Archbishop Sentamu Academy.

The final girls’ fixture saw a thrilling North West vs Yorkshire battle between Bedford High School and Archbishop Sentamu Academy, culminating in a dramatic Golden Point finale!

The boys’ finals kicked off with Bedford High School taking on Archbishop Sentamu Academy in the only North West vs Yorkshire match-up among the boys.

Bedford clinched the win with a game-saving tackle in a tightly fought contest.

The Year 8 Boys Final featured Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf, who travelled all the way from Wales to face a resilient St Peter’s Catholic High School in a physical encounter.

The two teams previously met in last year’s final at Wembley, where St Peter’s came out on top.

However, this time, it was Glantaf who turned the tables, securing a well-earned victory in a fiercely contested rematch.

Capping off the day were the Year 10 boys from Castleford Academy, who delivered a dominant performance against Sirius Academy West.

Inspiresport RFL Champion Schools 2024 – Roll of Honour:

Year 7 Girls’ Final

Archbishop Sentamu Academy (Yorkshire) 24 Airedale Academy (Yorkshire) 6

Year 8 Girls’ Final

St Bede’s and St Joseph’s (Yorkshire) 40 Archbishop Sentamu Academy (Yorkshire) 10

Year 9 Girls’ Final

Bedford High School (North West) 26 Archbishop Sentamu Academy (Yorkshire) 22

Year 9 Boys’ Final

Bedford High School (North West) 12 Archbishop Sentamu Academy (Yorkshire) 10

Year 8 Boys’ Final

Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf (Wales) 30 St Peter’s Catholic High School (North West) 22

Year 10 Boys’ Final

Castleford Academy (Yorkshire) 32 Sirius Academy West 6

Andrea Murray, National Education Manager, said:

“On behalf of everyone at the RFL, our congratulations go to all the winners, the finalists and the dozens of schools and players who have competed in the 2025 Champion Schools competitions.

“We are grateful to the DIY Kitchens Stadium as our dedicated venue for Inspiresport Finals Days, and to inspiresport, who have been outstanding sponsors of the competition over the last three years.

“It has been brilliant to see the fantastic talent on show and we wholeheartedly would like to thank all schools competing for representing the game respectfully, to a high quality and remarkable standard.”

Inspiresport RFL Champion Schools

ourfooty — Mon, 08 Jul 2024 08:52:06 +0000

Inspiresport RFL Champion Schools

Author : England Rugby League

Inspiresport RFL Champion Schools Finals Day

Castleford Academy maintained their outstanding record in the inspiresport RFL Champion Schools as their Year 9 Boys and Year 10 Girls clinched two more titles on an action-packed day of Rugby League at Wakefield Trinity’s DIY Kitchens Stadium on Friday.

But they weren’t the only winners, with five more schools crowned Champions, and 10 different schools represented.

Castleford Academy had already won two of the three inspiresport Champion Schools titles decided before the main Finals Day, doubling up in the Year 11 Finals that were played in the spring term to prevent a clash with GCSE studies.

Their incredible tally of Champion Schools wins, which was the subject of a feature in The Guardian in 2023.

The schools where England’s rugby league and union players are made | Rugby league | The Guardian is now approaching 60.

The first win of the summer term Finals Day was secured by St Bede’s & St Joseph’s of Bradford, who beat Rainford High School of St Helens in a high-scoring Year 7 Girls Final.

St Peter’s High School of Orrell had already secured the Year 7 Boys Final in its traditional home at Wembley Stadium in June, beating Ysgol Gyfon Gymraeg Glantaf of Cardiff 26-6 in the Steven Mullaney Memorial Match.

The Year 8 Girls Final was an all-Hull affair and it was Archbishop Sentamu Academy from the east of the city – very much in Hull KR territory – who beat Malet Lambert 34-26 in another high-scoring match.

The Year 8 Boys finalists came from west of the Pennines and it was Outwood Academy Haydock who beat Leigh’s Bedford High School 34-16.

Malet Lambert secured the Year 9 Girls title with a 36-14 win against St Peter’s.

Then Castleford Academy took over, with their Year 9 Boys beating Sirius Academy West – the third Hull school to have earned a place on Finals Day – and the Year 10 Girls also beating Hull opposition in Malet Lambert.

The Year 10 boys of Standish Community High School produced a dazzling display in the last Final of the day to beat Ryburn Valley High School of Sowerby Bridge.

Andrea Murray, the RFL’s National Education Manager, said:

“On behalf of everyone at the RFL, our congratulations go to all the winners, and also the finalists and the dozens of schools and thousands of players who have competed in the 2024 Champion Schools competitions.

“Every year, we see the future of the sport with wonderful skills, fantastic commitment and so many youngsters enjoying the experience – and I’d like to add personal thanks to the teachers, parents and other volunteers – as well as our RFL team – who make it all possible.

“We are grateful to Wakefield Trinity, with the redevelopment of the DIY Kitchens Stadium making it an ideal venue for our 2024 Finals Day, and also to inspiresport, who have been outstanding sponsors of the competition for the last two years.”