1945–46 Yorkshire Cup

The 1945–46 Yorkshire Cup was the thirty-eighth occasion on which the competition had been held.

1945–46 Yorkshire Cup
Structure	Regional knockout championship
Teams	15
Winners	Bradford Northern
Runners-up	Wakefield Trinity

In this, the first peacetime Cup final for five years, there is a new name on the trophy. Bradford Northern who previously won the trophy in 1940–41, 1941–42 and 1943–44, can now lay claim to a genuine trophy (The wartime competitions were not counted officially in the records) Bradford Northern won the trophy by beating Wakefield Trinity by the score of 5-2

The match was played at Thrum Hall, Halifax, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 24,252 and receipts were £1,934

Background

The Second World War was now over, and things were beginning to return to normal, although still a long way to go. Hull Kingston Rovers and Bramley re-joined the competition and the four Lancashire clubs returned to their own competition. This season there were no junior/amateur clubs taking part, and these changes resulted in the number of entrants falling by two, and leaving a total number of entries at fifteen.

This in turn resulted in one bye in the first round.

The competition reverted to original formula of a knock-out tournament, with the exception of the first round which was still played on a two-legged home and away basis.

Competition and Results

[1][2]

Round 1 - First Leg

Involved 7 matches (with one bye) and 15 Clubs

All first round ties are played on a two-legged home and away basis

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	agg	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 6 Oct 1945	Batley		5-21		Hunslet	Mount Pleasant
2	Sat 6 Oct 1945	Bramley		14-22		Keighley	Barley Mow
3	Sat 6 Oct 1945	Halifax		18-5		Hull	Thrum Hall					[3]
4	Sat 6 Oct 1945	Hull Kingston Rovers		5-4		Dewsbury	Craven Park (1)
5	Sat 6 Oct 1945	Leeds		11-4		Castleford	Headingley
6	Sat 6 Oct 1945	Wakefield Trinity		20-5		Huddersfield	Belle Vue					[4]
7	Sat 6 Oct 1945	York		?		Featherstone Rovers	Clarence Street
8		Bradford Northern				bye

Round 1 - Second Leg

Involved 7 matches (with one bye) and 15 Clubs

All first round ties are played on a two-legged home and away basis

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	agg	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 13 Oct 1945	Hunslet		19-0		Batley	Parkside	40-5
2	Sat 13 Oct 1945	Keighley		17-15		Bramley	Lawkholme Lane	39-29
3	Sat 13 Oct 1945	Hull		30-5		Halifax	Boulevard	35-23				[3]
4	Sat 13 Oct 1945	Dewsbury		20-4		Hull Kingston Rovers	Crown Flatt	24-9
5	Sat 13 Oct 1945	Castleford		11-10		Leeds	Wheldon Road	15-21
6	Sat 13 Oct 1945	Huddersfield		7-32		Wakefield Trinity	Fartown	12-52				[4]
7	Sat 13 Oct 1945	Featherstone Rovers		24-5		York	Post Office Road	?
8		Bradford Northern				bye

Round 2 - Quarter Finals

Involved 4 matches and 8 Clubs

All second round ties are played on a two-legged home and away basis

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	agg	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Tue 16 Oct 1945	Dewsbury		10-3		Keighley	Crown Flatt
2	Wed 17 Oct 1945	Wakefield Trinity		34-7		Hull	Belle Vue				1	[3][4]
3	Wed 17 Oct 1945	Bradford Northern		8-0		Hunslet	Odsal
4	Wed 17 Oct 1945	Leeds		11-4		Featherstone Rovers	Headingley

Round 3 – Semi-Finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs

Both semi-final ties are played on a two-legged home and away basis

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	agg	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Tue 23 Oct 1945	Dewsbury		2-7		Bradford Northern	Crown Flatt
2	Wed 24 Oct 1945	Wakefield Trinity		14-7		Leeds	Belle Vue					[4]

Final

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	agg	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
	Saturday 3 November 1945	Bradford Northern		5-2		Wakefield Trinity	Thrum Hall		24252	£1,934	2	[4][5][6]

Teams and Scorers

Bradford Northern	No.	Wakefield Trinity
	teams
George Carmichael	1	William "Billy" Teall
Eric Batten	2	Ronnie Copley
Jack Kitching	3	William "Billy" Stott
Ernest Ward	4	Johnny Jones
Walter Best	5	Dennis Baddeley
George Bennett	6	Ronald "Ron" Rylance
Donald Ward	7	Herbert "Harry" Goodfellow
Frank Whitcombe	8	Harry Wilkinson
Vic Darlison	9	Leonard "Len" Marson
Leonard Higson	10	James "Jim" Higgins
Laurie Roberts	11	Harry Murphy
Alf Marklew	12	Frank Moore
William Hutchinson	13	Leonard "Len" Bratley
Dai Rees	Coach	James "Jim" Croston
5	score	2
0	HT	2
	Scorers
	Tries
Frank Whitcombe	T
	Goals
George Carmichael	G	William "Billy" Stott
Referee		unknown

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

[4]

The road to success

All the ties in the first round were played on a two leg (home and away) basis.

For the first round ties, the first club named in each of the ties played the first leg at home.

For the first round ties, the scores shown are the aggregate score over the two legs.

	First Round					Second Round					Semi Finals					Final
	Hull Kingston Rovers		9
	Dewsbury		24
						Dewsbury		10
						Keighley		3
	Bramley		29
	Keighley		39
											Dewsbury		2
											Bradford Northern		7
	Bradford Northern
	bye
						Bradford Northern		8
						Hunslet		0
	Batley		5
	Hunslet		40
																Bradford Northern		5
																Wakefield Trinity		2
	Wakefield Trinity		52
	Huddersfield		12
						Wakefield Trinity		34
						Hull		7
	Halifax		23
	Hull		35
											Wakefield Trinity		14
											Leeds		7
	Leeds		21
	Castleford		15
						Leeds		11
						Featherstone Rovers		4
	York		L
	Featherstone Rovers		W

Notes and comments

1 * The date is given by RUGBYLEAGUEprojec[1] as Tuesday 16 October, but by the official Hull F.C. archives[3] as Wednesday 17 Oct

2 * Thrum Hall was the home ground of Halifax with a final capacity of 9,832 (The attendance record of 29,153 was set on 21 March 1959 for a third round Challenge Cup tie v Wigan). The club finally moved out in 1998 to take part ownership and ground-share with Halifax Town FC at The Shay Stadium.

General information for those unfamiliar

The Rugby League 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 Rugby League season always (until the onset of "Summer Rugby" in 1996) ran from around August-time through to around May-time and this 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)

See also

• 1945–46 Northern Rugby Football League season
• Rugby league county cups

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. J C Lindley and D W Armitage (1973). 100 Years of Rugby. The History of Wakefield Trinity 1873-1973. Wakefield Trinity Centenary Committee. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
5. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
6. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.

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