1923–24 Lancashire Cup

The 1923–24 Lancashire Cup competition was the sixteenth competition for this regional rugby league tournament. The trophy was won by St Helens Recs who beat Swinton in the final at Central Park, Wigan, by a score of 17-0. The attendance was a new record for the competition final at the time, being 25,656 and receipts £1,450. The triumph by St Helens Recs was the first time the club had won the competition and also the first time that winning club were not one of the original clubs who formed the Northern Union.

1923–24 Lancashire Cup
Structure	Regional knockout competition
Teams	13
Winners	St Helens Recs
Runners-up	Swinton

Background

The number of teams entering this year’s competition remained at 13, with again no junior/amateur team being admitted. This resulted in 3 byes in the first round.

The quarter-final match between Warrington and Widnes took three matches to finally decide, the second replay being held at Central Park.

Competition and Results

[1]

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 13 October 1923	Rochdale Hornets		7-3		Wigan Highfield	Athletic Grounds
2	Sat 13 October 1923	St. Helens		5-0		Salford	Knowsley Road				[2]
3	Sat 13 October 1923	Warrington		15-2		Barrow	Wilderspool				[3]
4	Sat 13 October 1923	Widnes		5-3		Leigh	Lowerhouse Lane				[4]
5	Sat 13 October 1923	Wigan		11-6		Broughton Rangers	Central Park				[5]
6		Oldham				bye
7		St Helens Recs				bye
8		Swinton				bye

Round 2 - Quarter Finals

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 27 October 1923	Oldham		15-5		Wigan	Watersheddings				[5]
2	Sat 27 October 1923	St Helens Recs		21-0		Rochdale Hornets	City Road
3	Sat 27 October 1923	St. Helens		5-5		Swinton	Knowsley Road				[2]
4	Sat 27 October 1923	Warrington		6-6		Widnes	Wilderspool				[3][4]
1st Replays
5	Wed 31 October 1923	Swinton		21-8		St. Helens	Chorley Road ground				[2]
6	Thu 1 November 1923	Widnes		5-5		Warrington	Lowerhouse Lane				[3][4]
2nd Replay
7	Mon 5 November 1923	Warrington		13-2		Widnes	Central Park				[3][4]

Round 3 – Semi-Finals

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 10 November 1923	St Helens Recs		13-11		Oldham	City Road
2	Sat 10 November 1923	Swinton		19-7		Warrington	Chorley Road ground	14,000			[3]

Final

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
	Saturday 24 November 1923	St Helens Recs		17-0		Swinton	Central Park	25,656	£1,450	1	[6]

Teams and scorers

St Helens Recs	№	Swinton
	teams
Tommy Dingsdale	1	Frank Pearson
Gormley	2	Frank Evans
Jim Owen	3	Hector Halsall (c)
Pyke	4	Jack Evans
McCormas	5	Chris Brockbank
Fred Halton	6	Albert Jenkins
Johnny Greenall (c)	7	Bryn Evans
Ramsdale	8	Miller Strong
Hughes	9	Henry Blewer
Harry Grundy	10	Harold Worsley
Tommy Smith	11	Harry Powell
Albert Fildes	12	Tom McCormick
William "Billy" Mulvanney	13	Stan Howarth
J. Bate (reserve to travel)	14
F. Leyland (reserve to travel)	15
17	score	0
4	HT	0
	Scorers
	Tries
	T
	T
	T
	T
	Goals
	G
	G
	Drop Goals
	DG
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
	St Helens Recs
	bye
						St Helens Recs		21
						Rochdale Hornets		0
	Rochdale Hornets		7
	Wigan Highfield		3
											St Helens Recs		13
											Oldham		11
	Oldham
	bye
						Oldham		15
						Wigan		5
	Wigan		11
	Broughton Rangers		6
																St Helens Recs		17
																Swinton		0
	St. Helens		5
	Salford		0
						St. Helens		5(8)
						Swinton		5(21)
	Swinton
	bye
											Swinton		19
											Warrington		7
	Warrington		15
	Barrow		2
						Warrington		6(5)(13)
						Widnes		6(5)(2)
	Widnes		5
	Leigh		3

See also

• 1923–24 Northern Rugby Football League season

Notes

• 1 Central Park was the home ground of Wigan

References

1. "Rugby League Project".
2. "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1923–24".
3. "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1923".
4. "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1923–24".
5. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
6. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.