1918–19 Yorkshire Cup

Rugby league competition

1918–19 Yorkshire Cup
StructureRegional knockout championship
Teams13
WinnersHuddersfield
Runners-upDewsbury
← 1914–15
1919–20 →

The 1918–19 Yorkshire Cup was the eleventh occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. This quickly arranged competition was won by the cup holder who would make it a hat trick of wins, taking up where they left off before the start of the World War. Huddersfield beat Dewsbury by the score of 14–8 in the final. The match was played at Headingley, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 21,500 and receipts were £1,309.

The shortened 1918–19 (February–May) season began less than three months after the end of the hostilities and the armistice of Compiègne. The country was still suffering from the aftermath of the long and bitter struggle. The 1918–19 (January) Northern Rugby Football Union Wartime Emergency League season had been operating since September 1918. This was cancelled, and the programme started tailing off in January 1919. The only club to be "lost" to the Yorkshire League was Keighley who closed down for the duration of the War and did not recommence playing until the start of the 1919–20 season. This season saw an invitation to junior/amateur club Featherstone Rovers which, with the temporary loss of Keighley, resulted in the total entries remaining the same as in the previous competition held before the outbreak of the war at thirteen. This in turn resulted in three byes in the first round.

This was Huddersfield's sixth appearance in what would be seven appearances in eight consecutive finals between 1909 and 1919 (which included four successive victories and six in total), and who knows, but for the intervention of the First World War and suspension of the competition, it may have been more. It was also the third of the four consecutive wins.

Background

The Rugby Football League's Yorkshire Cup competition was a knock-out competition between (mainly professional) rugby league clubs from the county of Yorkshire. The actual area was at times increased to encompass other teams from outside the county such as Newcastle, Mansfield, Coventry, and even London (in the form of Acton & Willesden. The competition always took place early in the season, in the Autumn, with the final taking place in (or just before) December (The only exception to this was when disruption of the fixture list was caused during, and immediately after, the two World Wars).

Competition and results

[1][2]

Round 1

Involved 5 matches (with three byes) and 13 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 12 Apr 1919 Hull Kingston Rovers 18–0 Halifax Craven Street (off Holderness Road)
2 Sat 12 Apr 1919 Wakefield Trinity 18–9 Bradford Northern Belle Vue
3 Sat 26 Apr 1919 Hull 6–0 Leeds Boulevard [3]
4 Sat 26 Apr 1919 Hunslet 5–16 Huddersfield Parkside
5 Sat 26 Apr 1919 York 0–2 Bramley Clarence Street 1
6 Batley 0 bye
7 Dewsbury 0 bye
8 Featherstone Rovers 0 bye 2

Round 2 – quarterfinals

Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 3 May 1919 Dewsbury 7–2 Batley Crown Flatt
2 Sat 3 May 1919 Hull 31–4 Bramley Boulevard [3]
3 Sat 3 May 1919 Hull Kingston Rovers 4–19 Huddersfield Craven Street (off Holderness Road)
4 Sat 3 May 1919 Wakefield Trinity 14–3 Featherstone Rovers Belle Vue 2

Round 3 – semifinals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 10 May 1919 Dewsbury 3–2 Wakefield Trinity Crown Flatt
2 Sat 10 May 1919 Huddersfield 23–13 Hull Fartown [3]

Final

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Saturday 17 May 1919 Huddersfield 14–8 Dewsbury Headingley 21500 1309 3 [4][5]

Teams and scorers

Huddersfield Dewsbury
teams
Major Holland 1 Billy Rhodes
George Todd 2 Joe Lyman
Tom Gleeson 3 W. S. Mosby
Albert Rosenfeld 4 Price
Stan Moorhouse 5 G. Sharples
Johnny Rogers 6 R. Birch
Robert Habron 7 E. Rogers
Douglas Clark 8 Percy Brown
Ben Gronow 9 A. Dixon
John Higson 10 J. Leake
Aaron Lee 11 T. Craven
Herbert Sherwood 12 R. Robertshaw
Arthur Swinden 13 Frank Gallagher
?? Coach ??
14 score 8
7 HT 0
Scorers
Tries
Tom Gleeson (1) T Joe Lyman (1)
Robert Habron (1) T G. Sharples (1)
Goals
Ben Gronow (4) G Joe Lyman (1)
Drop Goals
DG
Referee F. Renton (Hunslet)

Scoring – Try = three (3) points – Goal = two (2) points – Drop goal = two (2) points

[6][7]

The road to success

First round Second round Semifinals Final
            
Hull Kingston Rovers 18
Halifax 0
Hull Kingston Rovers 4
Huddersfield 19
Hunslet 5
Huddersfield 16
Huddersfield 23
Hull 13
Hull 6
Leeds 0
Hull 31
Bramley 4
York 0
Bramley 2
Huddersfield 14
Dewsbury 8
Dewsbury
bye
Dewsbury 7
Batley 2
Batley
bye
Dewsbury 3
Wakefield Trinity 2
Wakefield Trinity 18
Bradford Northern 9
Wakefield Trinity 14
Featherstone Rovers 3
Featherstone Rovers
bye

Notes

1 * Bramley entered the Yorkshire Cup competition in the inaugural year of 1905, and have competed in each tournament since, but this was the first cup match won by them.

2 * Featherstone Rovers were at the time a junior/amateur club. They eventually joined the League for season 1921–22

3 * Headingley, Leeds, is the home ground of Leeds RLFC with a capacity of 21,000. The record attendance was 40,175 for a league match between Leeds and Bradford Northern on 21 May 1947.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Rugby League Project".
  2. ^ Jack Winstanley & Malcolm Ryding (1991). John Player Yearbook 1975–76. Queen Anne Press.
  3. ^ a b c "HULL&PROUD – Stats – Fixtures & Results".
  4. ^ Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991–1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
  5. ^ Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.
  6. ^ "Huddersfield RL Heritage 1918–19" (PDF).
  7. ^ Irvin Saxton (publish date tbc) "History of Rugby League – № 24 – 1918–19". Rugby Leaguer ISBN n/a

External links

  • Saints Heritage Society
  • 1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season at wigan.rlfans.com
  • Hull&Proud Fixtures & Results 1896/1897
  • Widnes Vikings – One team, one passion Season In Review – 1896–97
  • The Northern Union at warringtonwolves.org
  • v
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  • e
Lancashire Cup
(1905–1992)
Yorkshire Cup
(1905–1992)