Summer Bash

Other names	Blackpool Bash
Location	Blackpool
Teams	14
First meeting	2015
Latest meeting	2019
Next meeting	2022
Broadcasters	Sky Sports
Stadiums	Bloomfield Road
Statistics
Meetings total	5
Largest victory	London 46-6 Sheffield

The Summer Bash is an annual event organised by the Rugby Football League. An entire round of Championship matches are played in a city to showcase the sport of rugby league.^[1] It has been held at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool since 2015.

Concept

The Summer Bash was introduced in 2015 after the success of the Super League Magic Weekend. It is an extra round for the Championship teams to compete in, usually a local derby. The event takes place over a single weekend in which three regular season games are played back-to-back on each day with an extra fourth game being played on the Saturday which is the final of the League 1 Cup.

History

2015: Blackpool

The games played were, when possible, 'local derby' matches in an attempt to maximise interest in the event. The "non-heartland" sides were paired against each other. An extra match on the Saturday, was the final of the inaugural League 1 Cup between North Wales Crusaders and Swinton.

Team	Score	Team	Match Information
			Date and Time	Crowd
North Wales Crusaders	14–8	Swinton Lions	23 May 2015 12:00 BST (League 1 Cup Final)	8,650
Workington Town	26–20	Whitehaven	23 May 2015 14:30 BST
London Broncos	46–6	Sheffield Eagles	23 May 2015 16:45 BST
Bradford Bulls	18–4	Halifax	23 May 2015 19:00 BST
Dewsbury Rams	19–12	Batley Bulldogs	24 May 2015 12:45 BST	7,021
Doncaster	12–25	Hunslet	24 May 2015 15:00 BST
Leigh Centurions	31–12	Featherstone Rovers	24 May 2015 17:15 BST

2016: Blackpool

After a successful inaugural Summer Bash in Blackpool in 2015 it returned to Blackpool in 2016 with mostly local derbies being played apart from Bradford vs Leigh and Sheffield Eagles vs London Broncos not being geographical derbies and were based on league positions. Once again, the League 1 Cup final took place as the opening game to the weekend.

Team	Score	Team	Match Information
			Date and Time	Crowd
Keighley Cougars	22–18	York City Knights	28 May 2016 12:00 BST (League 1 Cup Final)	9,521
Sheffield Eagles	14–32	London Broncos	28 May 2015 15:20 BST
Workington Town	24–28	Whitehaven	28 May 2016 17:30 BST
Bradford Bulls	20–24	Leigh Centurions	28 May 2016 19:35 BST
Dewsbury Rams	24–28	Batley Bulldogs	29 May 2016 12:45 BST	6,391
Oldham	24–25	Swinton Lions	29 May 2016 15:00 BST
Halifax	37–0	Featherstone Rovers	29 May 2016 17:15 BST

2017: Blackpool

The event returned to Blackpool's Bloomfield Road for a third consecutive year after the previous years record attendances. The Summer Bash once again opened with the League 1 Cup final.

Team	Score	Team	Match Information
			Date and Time	Crowd
Barrow Raiders	38–32	North Wales Crusaders	27 May 2017 12:00 BST (League 1 Cup Final)	11,557
Oldham	28–38	Rochdale Hornets	27 May 2017 14:30 BST
London Broncos	42–16	Featherstone Rovers	27 May 2017 16:45 BST
Hull Kingston Rovers	20–19	Bradford Bulls	27 May 2017 19:00 BST
Sheffield Eagles	30–24	Swinton Lions	28 May 2017 12:35 BST	4,887
Halifax	22–32	Toulouse Olympique	28 May 2017 15:00 BST
Batley Bulldogs	12–13	Dewsbury Rams	28 May 2017 17:15 BST

2018: Blackpool

The event returned to Blackpool's Bloomfield Road for a fourth consecutive year after the previous years record attendances. The Summer Bash this year opened with a Women's Super League fixture.

Team	Score	Team	Match Information
			Date and Time	Crowd
Featherstone Rovers Ladies	22–46	Bradford Bulls Women	26 May 2018 12:30 BST (RFL Women's Super League)	7,877
Barrow Raiders	22–38	Sheffield Eagles	26 May 2018 15:00 BST
Halifax	24–18	Featherstone Rovers	26 May 2018 17:15 BST
Toronto Wolfpack	28–26	Leigh Centurions	26 May 2018 19:30 BST
London Broncos	28–40	Toulouse Olympique	27 May 2018 13:00 BST	3,928
Rochdale Hornets	12–38	Swinton Lions	27 May 2018 15:15 BST
Batley Bulldogs	18–20	Dewsbury Rams	27 May 2018 17:30 BST

2019: Blackpool

The event returned to Blackpool's Bloomfield Road for a fifth consecutive year.

Team	Score	Team	Match Information
			Date and Time	Crowd
Toronto Wolfpack	42–14	Toulouse Olympique	18 May 2019 13:15 BST	7,912
Rochdale Hornets	30–40	Swinton Lions	18 May 2019 15:30 BST
York City Knights	10–42	Featherstone Rovers	18 May 2019 17:45 BST
Halifax	21–14	Bradford Bulls	18 May 2019 20:00 BST
Barrow Raiders	18–30	Sheffield Eagles	19 May 2019 13:00 BST	7,158
Batley Bulldogs	30–14	Dewsbury Rams	19 May 2019 15:15 BST
Leigh Centurions	36–22	Widnes Vikings	19 May 2019 17:30 BST

2020: Blackpool

The 2020 Summer Bash was scheduled to return to Blackpool for a sixth consecutive year, however was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.

Team	Score	Team	Match Information
			Date and Time	Crowd
Batley Bulldogs	C–C	Dewsbury Rams	30 May 2020 15:00 BST
Halifax	C–C	York City Knights	30 May 2020 17:15 BST
Featherstone Rovers	C–C	Bradford Bulls	30 May 2020 19:30 BST
Swinton Lions	C–C	Oldham	31 May 2020 13:00 BST
Sheffield Eagles	C–C	Whitehaven	31 May 2019 15:15 BST
Leigh Centurions	C–C	Widnes Vikings	31 May 2019 17:30 BST

2021: Blackpool

The 2021 Summer Bash was also cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. Fixtures were never released.

Team statistics

	Club	Played	Wins	Draws	Loses	Points
1	Leigh Centurions	4	3	0	1	6
2	London Broncos	4	3	0	1	6
3	Swinton Lions	4	3	0	1	6
4	Dewsbury Rams	5	3	0	2	6
5	Halifax	5	3	0	2	6
6	Sheffield Eagles	5	3	0	2	6
7	Toulouse Olympique	3	2	0	1	4
8	Batley Bulldogs	5	2	0	3	4
9	Whitehaven	2	1	0	1	2
10	Bradford Bulls	4	1	0	3	2
11	Featherstone Rovers	5	1	0	4	2
12	Widnes Vikings	1	0	0	1	0
13	York City Knights	1	0	0	1	0
14	Oldham	2	0	0	2	0
15	Toronto Wolfpack	2	2	0	0	4
16	Hunslet	1	1	0	0	2
17	Hull Kingston Rovers	1	1	0	0	2
18	Workington Town	2	1	0	1	2
19	Rochdale Hornets	3	1	0	2	2
20	Barrow Raiders	2	0	0	2	0
21	Doncaster	1	0	0	1	0

Venues

	City	Stadium	Years
1	Blackpool	Bloomfield Road	2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

Attendances

Year	City	Stadium	Attendance
2015	Blackpool	Bloomfield Road	15,671
2016			15,912
2017			16,444
2018			11,805
2019			15,070

Highest single day attendance

Year	City	Stadium	Attendance
2017	Blackpool	Bloomfield Road	11,557

Lowest single day attendance

Year	City	Stadium	Attendance
2018	Blackpool	Bloomfield Road	3,928

Highest weekend attendance

Year	City	Stadium	Attendance
2017	Blackpool	Bloomfield Road	16,444

Lowest weekend attendance

Year	City	Stadium	Attendance
2018	Blackpool	Bloomfield Road	11,805