1919–20 Yorkshire Cup

1919–20 Yorkshire Cup
StructureRegional knockout championship
Teams14
WinnersHuddersfield
Runners-upLeeds

The 1919–20 Yorkshire Cup was the twelfth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. This season saw the junior/amateur club Featherstone Rovers being invited again, and this, together with the restart-up of Keighley after the wartime close-down, resulted in an increase of one bringing the total entries up to fourteen. This in turn resulted in two byes in the first round.

This year saw the cup holders retain the trophy after winning for the fourth successive time, with Huddersfield winning the trophy by beating Leeds by the score of 24–5 in the final. The match was played at Thrum Hall, Halifax, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was, 24,935 and receipts were ££2,096. This was Huddersfield's seventh appearance in what had been seven appearances in eight consecutive finals between 1909 and this season (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 fourth consecutive win.

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 6 matches (with two byes) and 14 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Ref
1 Sat 18 Oct 1919 Bradford Northern 3–5 Batley Birch Lane
2 Sat 18 Oct 1919 Bramley 18–5 Hull Kingston Rovers Barley Mow
3 Sat 18 Oct 1919 Featherstone Rovers[a] 15–4 Keighley Post Office Road
4 Sat 18 Oct 1919 Halifax 4–9 Huddersfield Thrum Hall
5 Sat 18 Oct 1919 Leeds 8–5 Dewsbury Headingley
6 Sat 18 Oct 1919 York 10–5 Hunslet Clarence Street
7 Hull bye [3]
8 Wakefield Trinity bye

Round 2 – quarterfinals

Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Ref
1 Sat 1 Nov 1919 Batley 12–2 Featherstone Rovers Mount Pleasant
2 Sat 1 Nov 1919 Huddersfield 33–8 Hull Fartown [3]
3 Sat 1 Nov 1919 Leeds 14–4 Bramley Headingley
4 Sat 1 Nov 1919 Wakefield Trinity 4–3 York Belle Vue

Round 3 – semifinals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Ref
1 Sat 15 Nov 1919 Huddersfield 15–5 Wakefield Trinity Fartown
2 Sat 15 Nov 1919 Leeds 16–5 Batley Headingley

Final

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Ref
Saturday 29 November 1919 Huddersfield 24–5 Leeds Thrum Hall[b] 24935 £2,096 [4][5]

Teams and scorers

Huddersfield № Leeds
teams
Major Holland 1 J. H. Roberts
Albert Rosenfeld 2 Jim Bacon
Tom Gleeson 3 William Davies
Harold Wagstaff 4 John Campbell
Stan Moorhouse 5 Squire Stockwell
Johnny Rogers 6 Joe Brittain
Robert Habron 7 A. E. Jenkinson
Aaron Lee 8 F. Mirfield
Arthur Swinden 9 F. Godward
Herbert Sherwood 10 W. N. Whiting
Ben Gronow 11 Billy Ward
G. Naylor 12 Fred Webster
Douglas Clark 13 Fred Carter
?? Coach ??
24 score 5
13 HT 0
Scorers
Tries
Stan Moorhouse (4) T W. N. Whiting (1)
R Habron (1) T
Albert "Rozzi" Rosenfeld (1) T
Goals
Ben Gronow (3) G F. Mirfield (1)
Drop Goals
DG
Referee B. Ennion (Wigan)

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

[3][6]

The road to success

First round Second round Semifinals Final
            
Halifax 4
Huddersfield 9
Huddersfield 33
Hull 8
Hull
bye
Huddersfield 15
Wakefield Trinity 5
Wakefield Trinity
bye
Wakefield Trinity 4
York 3
York 10
Hunslet 5
Huddersfield 24
Leeds 5
Leeds 8
Dewsbury 5
Leeds 14
Bramley 4
Bramley 18
Hull Kingston Rovers 5
Leeds 16
Batley 5
Bradford Northern 3
Batley 5
Batley 12
Featherstone Rovers 2
Featherstone Rovers 15
Keighley 4

See also

Notes

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

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 1919–20" (PDF).