1918–19 Yorkshire Cup

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.

1918–19 Yorkshire Cup
StructureRegional knockout championship
Teams13
WinnersHuddersfield
Runners-upDewsbury

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
1Sat 12 Apr 1919Hull Kingston Rovers18-0HalifaxCraven Street (off Holderness Road)
2Sat 12 Apr 1919Wakefield Trinity18-9Bradford NorthernBelle Vue
3Sat 26 Apr 1919Hull6-0LeedsBoulevard[3]
4Sat 26 Apr 1919Hunslet5-16HuddersfieldParkside
5Sat 26 Apr 1919York0-2BramleyClarence Street1
6Batley0bye
7Dewsbury0bye
8Featherstone Rovers0bye2

Round 2 - Quarter Finals

Involved 4 matches and 8 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Sat 3 May 1919Dewsbury7-2BatleyCrown Flatt
2Sat 3 May 1919Hull31-4BramleyBoulevard[3]
3Sat 3 May 1919Hull Kingston Rovers4-19HuddersfieldCraven Street (off Holderness Road)
4Sat 3 May 1919Wakefield Trinity14-3Featherstone RoversBelle Vue2

Round 3 – Semi-Finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Sat 10 May 1919Dewsbury3-2Wakefield TrinityCrown Flatt
2Sat 10 May 1919Huddersfield23-13HullFartown[3]

Final
Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Saturday 17 May 1919Huddersfield14-8DewsburyHeadingley2150013093[4][5]

Teams and Scorers
Huddersfield № Dewsbury
teams
Major Holland1Billy Rhodes
George Todd2Joe Lyman
Tom Gleeson3W. S. Mosby
Albert Rosenfeld4Price
Stan Moorhouse5G. Sharples
Johnny Rogers6R. Birch
Robert Habron7E. Rogers
Douglas Clark8Percy Brown
Ben Gronow9A. Dixon
John Higson10J. Leake
Aaron Lee11T. Craven
Herbert Sherwood12R. Robertshaw
Arthur Swinden13Frank Gallagher
??Coach??
14score8
7HT0
Scorers
Tries
Tom Gleeson (1)TJoe Lyman (1)
Robert Habron (1)TG. Sharples (1)
Goals
Ben Gronow (4)GJoe Lyman (1)
Drop Goals
DG
RefereeF. 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 Semi Finals 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. "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
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