The draw for the inaugural Northern Rail Nines competition which will be played at Fylde RUFC, the home of Blackpool Panthers, on the weekend of 11 and 12 July has been made.

All English sides from The Co-operative Championships with the exception of Barrow Raiders and Widnes Vikings – the two sides who will contest the Northern Rail Cup Final at Blackpool’s Bloomfield Road – were entered into the draw which was made on BBC Radio Manchester’s Rugby League Extra Show.

The draw saw all 18 teams drawn into five groups - three consisting of four teams (A, B and C) and two groups of three teams (D and E) and was as follows:

Group A

Swinton Lions

Rochdale Hornets

Blackpool Panthers

Dewsbury Rams

Group B

Batley Bulldogs

Keighley Cougars

Hunslet Hawks

Doncaster

Pool C

London Skolars

Leigh Centurions

Gateshead Thunder

York City Knights

Pool D

Whitehaven

Workington Town

Featherstone Rovers

Pool E

Oldham

Sheffield Eagles

Halifax RLFC

Each participating side in the Northern Rail Nines will be entering full strength squads of 15 players and on the first day of competition will play three games in the group stages.

Teams in Pools A, B and C will play round robin format against each team in their group.  The top two sides from each group will progress to Sunday’s Northern Rail Nines Trophy competition whilst the bottom two will enter the Plate competition.

Meanwhile teams in Pool D will play each team in Pool E with the top side from each group qualifying for the Trophy competition and the remaining teams contesting the Plate.

All the knock-out stages of both the Northern Rail Nines Trophy and Plate competitions, except the finals, will be played at Fylde RUFC.

The finals of both the 9’s trophy and plate competitions will be played as curtain raisers to the 13-a-side Northern Rail Cup Final at Blackpool’s Bloomfield Road on July 12.

Weekend tickets for the Northern Rail 9s event which runs on 11 and 12 July at Fylde RUFC are only available from Co-operative Championship clubs and are priced at £9 for adults and £5 for concessions.

Should supporters wish to upgrade to a Northern Rail Cup Final ticket prior to the event they should contact the RFL ticket office where there will be an additional £5 (Adults) and £2 (Concessions) charge.

Tickets for the Northern Rail Cup Final which takes place on 12 July at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool are now available from £12 or £5 for concessions from the two finalists - Barrow and Widnes.

The Widnes Vikings ticket hotline is 0844 249 5113

The Barrow ticket hotline is 01229 824454

To help fans source accommodation in the town over the weekend of Rugby, Visit Blackpool have set up a website portal specifically for the Northern Rail Cup and Northern Rail 9s which can be accessed via https://www.conferencebookings.co.uk/delegate/BCTRUGBY2009