TICKETS for York City Knights' trip to Wembley will go on sale to season ticket holders tomorrow at 9am.

York face Featherstone Rovers in the 1895 Cup final on July 17 before Castleford Tigers face St Helens in the Challenge Cup final.

The double-header has been chosen to be part of the Government’s Events Research Programme, which explores ways to attend a range of events safely as lockdown restrictions ease.

An exact crowd-number limit has yet to be finalised but Mark Foster of the Rugby Football League has said it could be as much as half of the 90,000-capacity national stadium.

Both the Knights and Featherstone have been given an initial allocation of 2,500, while both Challenge Cup finalists will receive 10,000.

Tickets are sold by the RFL, not clubs, and are priced at £55 for adults, £40 for concessions and £25 for under-16s for all areas.

From Tuesday until 5pm on Thursday, season ticket holders will have exclusive access to tickets. Each holder can purchase up to five additional tickets for friends and family from eticketing.co.uk/rugbyleague/Common/CustomPage/Index/4.

All player sponsors will be contacted by the club and do not need to purchase their tickets through the RFL’s ticketing system. 

Supporters who require wheelchair tickets should email ticketing@rfl.co.uk.

Coach travel is available through York Pullman on air-conditioned coaches leaving from York Racecourse (pick-up point TBC) at 6.15am and will return from Wembley 30 minutes after the final whistle.

Adults cost £40 per seat and children £25 per seat. There is a maximum of two children with one paying adult. Face masks must be worn at all times when on board.

To book, phone 01904622992 between 9am and 5pm between Monday and Friday.

As the event is part of the Event Research Programme, all attendees on the day will need to have a NHS Covid pass to prove they have either had both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine at least 14 days before or a negative lateral flow test within 48 hours of the event.

Details of how to provide the Covid pass will be given to ticket purchasers next week. Anyone unable to provide this on the day will be refused entry.

Every ticket purchaser will be contacted next week to provide the name and contact details of everyone that they have purchased a ticket for, with all attendees also needing to opt in to the Government’s Event Research Programme.

Any tickets where the name and contact details are not provided or who have not opted in to the Events Research Programme will be cancelled and refunds given.

On revealing that the double-header would feature in the Events Research Programme, chief commercial officer Foster said: “We are still working through the full details, and have further work to do in the next 24 hours with the Events Research Programme as well as Wembley Stadium and Brent Council, but the indications are that we will be working to a 50 per cent capacity, which is around 40,000 to 45,000.

“This is fantastic news for the sport as a whole, and especially for the tens of thousands of supporters of Castleford Tigers, St Helens, Featherstone Rovers and York City Knights, who will now be able to attend Rugby League Challenge Cup final day - one of the country’s traditional sporting highlights.

“We would like to place on record our thanks to all at DCMS (the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport), Public Health England, Wembley Stadium and Brent Council who have helped to get us to this stage.

“We fully expect that a form of Covid certification will be required for all who attend on the day. This will consist of either having had both doses of the vaccine at least 14 days before the event, or proof of a negative lateral flow test, which can be taken at home or at a recognised centre free of charge, within 48 hours of the event.”

Sports Minister Nigel Huddlestone added: “Our phenomenal vaccine rollout and increasing uptake of the NHS app means the Challenge Cup final and the 1895 Cup final will now take place in front of tens of thousands of fans at Wembley Stadium, which is a very positive sign ahead of the Rugby League World Cup later this year.

"These highlights of the rugby league calendar will be an important part of the Events Research Programme, helping to explore how we can safely return fans to sporting and cultural venues at ever greater numbers.”