1905 Lancashire Cup

The 1905 Lancashire Cup was the inaugural year for the rugby league Lancashire Cup competition. The cup was won by Wigan who beat Leigh in a replay at Wheater's Field, Broughton, Salford by a score of 8-0.

1905 Lancashire Cup
Structure	Regional knockout championship
Teams	14
Winners	Wigan
Runners-up	Leigh

Background

Following the great schism of 1895 which led to the formation of rugby league there was an interest in a competitive competition for clubs based in Lancashire. Prior to the breakaway from rugby union this was something that had been discouraged as it was feared that competition would lead to professionalism, as had happened in other sports like Association Football.

There appears to be very little, if any, details of how this came about, or any details of any of the instigators or of any campaign, but the County Cups became the last part of what would become known as the four cups.

The competitions were played on the same basis as was the Challenge Cup, i.e. a free draw with matches played on a sudden death straight knock-out basis, and with the final played (usually) on a neutral ground.

Competition and results

Round 1

Involved 6 matches (with two byes) and 14 Clubs.[1]

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 14 October 1905	Barrow		11-0		Chadderton	Canendish Park			1
2	Sat 14 October 1905	Leigh		8-0		Runcorn	Frog Hall Field, Mather Lane
3	Sat 14 October 1905	Morecambe		0-5		Widnes	Moss Lane				[2]
4	Sat 14 October 1905	Rochdale Hornets		0-10		Warrington	Athletic Grounds				[3]
5	Sat 14 October 1905	Salford		3-0		Swinton	The Willows
6	Sat 14 October 1905	Wigan		18-0		St. Helens	Central Park	8,000			[4][5]
7		Broughton Rangers				bye
8		Oldham				bye

Round 2 – Quarter-finals

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 28 October 1905	Salford		0-10		Oldham	The Willows
2	Sat 28 October 1905	Warrington		2-5		Leigh	Wilderspool				[3]
3	Sat 28 October 1905	Widnes		9-0		Barrow	Lowerhouse Lane				[2]
4	Sat 28 October 1905	Wigan		4-3		Broughton Rangers	Central Park				[4]

Round 3 – Semi-Finals

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 18 November 1905	Oldham		7-11		Wigan	Watersheddings				[4]
2	Wed 22 November 1905	Leigh		6-2		Widnes	Frog Hall Field, Mather Lane				[2]

Final

The attendance was 10,000 and receipts £200. The initial final (which had taken place 9 days earlier at the same venue) had ended in a 0-0 draw before a crowd estimated at 16.000 and receipts of £400.

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
	Saturday 2 December 1905	Leigh		0-0		Wigan	Wheater's Field	16000	£400-0-0	2	[4][6]
Replay	Monday 11 December 1905	Wigan		8-0		Leigh	Wheater's Field	10000	£200-0-0	2	[4][6]

Teams and Scorers

Wigan[4]	№	Leigh
	teams
Reuben Collier	1 Prop	team unknown
Frank Watkins	2 Hooker
Anthony Little	3 Prop
Jack Barton	4 Lock
Thomas Whittaker	5 Lock
Richard Tyrer	6 Flanker
J. R. "Jack" Hilton	7 Flanker
Sam Moores	8 Number 8
Johnny Thomas	9 Scrum Half
William "Billy" Anderson	10 Fly Half
Harry Lowe	11 Winger
W. G. "Naddy" Jones	12 Centre
Bert Jenkins	13 Centre
Jim Leytham	14 Winger
Jack Mason	15 Full Back
0	score	0
0	HT	0
	Referee
	Replay
	teams
Reuben Collier	1 Prop	team unknown
Frank Watkins	2 Hooker
Peter Vickers	3 Prop
Jack Barton	4 Lock
Tom Whittaker	5 Lock
Richard Tyrer	6 Flanker
J. R. "Jack" Hilton	7 Flanker
Sam Moores	8 Number 8
Johnny Thomas	9 Scrum Half
Billy Anderson	10 Fly Half
Harry Lowe	11 Winger
Naddy Jones	12 Centre
Bert Jenkins	13 Centre
Jim Leytham	14 Winger
Jack Mason	15 Full Back
8	score	0
3	HT	0
	Scorers
	Tries
Bert Jenkins	T
Johnny Thomas	T
	Goals
Jim Leytham	G
	Referee

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

The road to success

	First Round					Second Round					Semi Finals					Final
	Salford		3
	Swinton		0
						Salford		0
						Oldham		10
	Oldham
	bye
											Oldham		7
											Wigan		11
	Wigan		18
	St. Helens		0
						Wigan		4
						Broughton Rangers		3
	Broughton Rangers
	bye
																Wigan		0 (8)
																Leigh		0 (0)
	Rochdale Hornets		0
	Warrington		10
						Warrington		2
						Leigh		5
	Leigh		8
	Runcorn		0
											Leigh		6
											Widnes		2
	Morecambe		0
	Widnes		5
						Widnes		9
						Barrow		0
	Barrow		11
	Chadderton		0

Notes and comments

1 * Chadderton was a junior (or amateur) club from Oldham

2 * Wheater's Field was the home ground of Broughton Rangers with a capacity of 20,000

See also

• 1905–06 Northern Rugby Football Union season

References

1. "Rugby League Project - Lancashire Cup".
2. "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1905–1906".
3. "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1905".
4. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
5. "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1905–06".
6. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.