Craig Lingard: Batley Bulldogs boss proud of maiden Wembley visit to face Halifax in 1895 Cup final

AB Sundecks 1895 Cup final: Batley v Halifax

Venue: Wembley Stadium Date: Saturday, 12 August Kick-off: 17:30 BST Coverage: Live commentary on BBC Radio Leeds

Head coach Craig Lingard is proud his Batley Bulldogs squad will make history in Saturday’s 1895 Cup final against Halifax Panthers with a first Wembley appearance in their 143-year history.

The Gallant Youth have three Challenge Cups, but they all came long before the move to Wembley in 1929.

Halifax have been seven times, the last in 1988, and won five cups.

“To be the first to take this club to Wembley is an incredible achievement,” Lingard told BBC Radio Leeds.

“They won three of the first five Challenge Cups but they were at Headingley, not at Wembley.

“For us to do this with this group of players is a great reward.”

The 1895 Cup was devised and brought in in 2019 to give clubs outside the Super League a chance to make it to Wembley.

Semi-finalists are drawn from the four clubs in Championship and League One who make it furthest in the Challenge Cup early rounds, thus offering further incentive to progress in that competition.

Adding new heroes at Fax

Fax’s team of 1987 which last brought success back from Wembley, in the Challenge Cup, remains a big part of folklore at the Shay.

The memories of days at Thrum Hall, and the success of Chris Anderson’s Championship-winning team of the year previous remain strong.

Head coach Simon Grix would like to see his group of players afforded similar affection for their achievements.

“You look around our stadium it’s littered with players of yesteryear, they’re all revered for doing good things a long time ago,” he told BBC Radio Leeds.

“We’ve got some pretty handy players now and have done over the last decade or so, but because we’re not quite at the pinnacle of our sport we probably don’t view them the same as a fan-group,

“We’ve got some good lads who have put some great service into the club that have been there a long while and done some good stuff and hopefully we can put a few nice pictures of them around the place after this one.”

Heritage research gives Lingard unique perspective

Lingard has had a long-standing association as a player and coach at Batley, and has also been involved heavily in the research of the club as part of a Heritage Project.

That appreciation of the history at Mount Pleasant has heightened his understanding of what a Wembley win would mean, and he is channelling his efforts into ensuring the squad is prepared accordingly.

“There’s no point in getting to a final unless you’re going to win it,” Lingard added. “If we just go down there and enjoy the occasion the game will pass us by.

“We have to enjoy the week and build-up but we need our workheads on.

“In the half hour we get to walk round Wembley on the Friday I’m going to try to prep the players as best we can, show them where they walk out and where their families are sitting, so they can do the waves as they walk out and then they can flick the switch for 80 minutes and it’s business time.”

Smash and grab

The last meeting between the two finalists in the Championship saw Batley thrash Halifax 42-0 in July, with on-loan Leeds full-back Luke Hooley scoring a hat-trick.

Halifax coach Grix described that afternoon as “one of those freak games”, but is not looking into that performance too much in Saturday’s preparation.

“We won’t be focusing on that too much,” he added.

“It’s a one-off, it’s a winner takes all, smash and grab kind of day. If you win by one or win by 40 it doesn’t matter.”