1944–45 Yorkshire Cup

1944–45 Yorkshire Cup
1944–45 Yorkshire Cup
Structure	Regional knockout championship
Teams	17
Winners	Hunslet
Runners-up	Halifax
	← 1943–44 1945–46 →

The 1944–45 Yorkshire Cup was the 37th occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held.

The Second World War was continuing and the Yorkshire Cup remained in the early part of the 1944–45 Northern Rugby Football League Wartime Emergency League season calendar

Halifax won the trophy by beating Hunslet in a two-legged final by an aggregate score of 14-3.

Hunslet played the first leg match at home (at Parkside, Hunslet, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire) and lost 3-12. The attendance was 11,213 and receipts were £744. Halifax were at home (at Thrum Hall) for the second leg match and duly won 2-0. The attendance at the second leg match was 9,800 and receipts £745.

Change in Club participation

Hull Kingston Rovers – The club dropped out of the wartime Lancashire league after the ‘first (1939–40) season. They did not return to league competition until 1945–46 peacetime season.
Bramley – withdrew after the third wartime season (1941–42) had finished and did not rejoin until the 1945–46 season.
Castleford – withdrew after the third wartime season (1941–42) had finished and did not participate for two seasons, re-joining for this 1944–45 season.
Hunslet – withdrew after the third wartime season (1941–42) had finished and did not participate for one season, and re-joined in time for the 1943–44 Northern Rugby Football League Wartime Emergency League season
Wigan - This club entered the Yorkshire Cup competition for the fifth successive season
Oldham - The club, as Wigan, also entered the Yorkshire Cup competition and for the fifth successive season
St. Helens - The club, as Wigan and Oldham, also entered the Yorkshire Cup competition and for their third successive season
Barrow – withdrew after the end of the first (1939–40) season finished and did not rejoin the league, including the Yorkshire Cup until the 1943–44 Northern Rugby Football League Wartime Emergency League season.
Dewsbury - had a relatively successful time during the war years. Managed by Eddie Waring, and with the side boosted by the inclusion of a number of big-name guest players, the club won the Wartime Emergency League in 1941–42 and again the following season 1942–43 (though that championship was declared null and void when it was discovered they had played an ineligible player). They were also runners-up in the Championship in 1943–44, Challenge Cup winners in 1943 and Yorkshire Cup final appearances in this season 1940–41 and winners in 1942–43.

Background

This season there were no junior/amateur clubs taking part, Castleford rejoined after two seasons' absence, and with the Lancashire presence with the quartet of Wigan, Oldham, St. Helens and Barrow, this increased the entries by one, bringing the total up to seventeen.

This in turn resulted in no byes in the first round, and also the addition of one fixture in a preliminary round.

For the third successive year all the ties (this season including the actual final) were played on a two-legged home and away basis.

Competition and results

Preliminary round – first leg

Involved 1 match and 2 clubs
The preliminary round tie was played on a two-legged home and away basis

Game No	Fixture date	Home team		Score		Away team	Venue	agg	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
	Sat 7 Oct 1944	Wakefield Trinity		3-12		Halifax	Belle Vue

Preliminary round – second leg

Involved 1 match and 2 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
	Sat 14 Oct 1944	Halifax		8-3		Wakefield Trinity	Thrum Hall	20-6

Round 1 – first leg

Involved 8 matches (with no byes) and 16 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	Ref
1	Sat 21 Oct 1944	Dewsbury	6-4	Keighley	Crown Flatt
2	Sat 21 Oct 1944	Featherstone Rovers	6-0	Leeds	Post Office Road
3	Sat 21 Oct 1944	Halifax	14-2	Batley	Thrum Hall
4	Sat 21 Oct 1944	Huddersfield	23-19	Hull	Fartown	^[1]
5	Sat 21 Oct 1944	Hunslet	6-3	Castleford	Parkside
6	Sat 21 Oct 1944	Oldham	5-18	Wigan	Watersheddings	^[2]
7	Sat 21 Oct 1944	St. Helens	8-22	Barrow	Knowsley Road	^[3]
8	Sat 21 Oct 1944	York	0-10	Bradford Northern	Clarence Street

Round 1 – second leg

Involved 8 matches (with no byes) and 16 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	Ref
1	Sat 28 Oct 1944	Keighley	5-5	Dewsbury	Lawkholme Lane	9-11
2	Sat 28 Oct 1944	Leeds	5-3	Featherstone Rovers	Headingley	5-9
3	Sat 28 Oct 1944	Batley	0-12	Halifax	Mount Pleasant	2-26
4	Sat 28 Oct 1944	Hull	21-2	Huddersfield	Boulevard	40-25	^[1]
5	Sat 28 Oct 1944	Castleford	2-8	Hunslet	Wheldon Road	5-14
6	Sat 28 Oct 1944	Wigan	39-2	Oldham	Central Park	57-7	^[2]
7	Sat 28 Oct 1944	Barrow	21-8	St. Helens	Craven Park	43-16	^[3]
8	Sat 28 Oct 1944	Bradford Northern	45-5	York	Odsal	55-5

Round 2 – quarterfinals – first leg

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	Ref
1	Sat 04 Nov 1944	Dewsbury	0-0	Hull	Crown Flatt	^[1]
2	Sat 04 Nov 1944	Featherstone Rovers	0-12	Hunslet	Post Office Road
3	Sat 04 Nov 1944	Halifax	10-0	Bradford Northern	Thrum Hall
4	Sat 04 Nov 1944	Wigan	9-5	Barrow	Central Park	^[2]

Round 2 – second leg

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	Ref
1	Sat 11 Nov 1944	Hull	5-7	Dewsbury	Boulevard	5-7	^[1]
2	Sat 11 Nov 1944	Hunslet	15-0	Featherstone Rovers	Parkside	27-0
3	Sat 11 Nov 1944	Bradford Northern	5-5	Halifax	Odsal	5-15
4	Sat 11 Nov 1944	Barrow	5-2	Wigan	Craven Park	10-11	^[2]

Round 3 – semifinals – first leg

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	Sat 18 Nov 1944	Hunslet		9-0		Dewsbury	Parkside
2	Sat 18 Nov 1944	Wigan		5-6		Halifax	Central Park					^[2]

Semifinal – second leg

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	Sat 25 Nov 1944	Dewsbury		0-2		Hunslet	Crown Flatt	0-11
2	Sat 25 Nov 1944	Halifax		9-7		Wigan	Thrum Hall	15-12				^[2]

Final

First leg

The final was played on a two-legged home and away basis this season. Receipts for the first leg were £744.^[4]^[5]

2 December 1944

Hunslet	3 – 12	Halifax
Tries: Stansfield		Tries: Meek, Dixon Goals: Lockwood (2), Rule

Parkside
Attendance: 11,213
Referee: S. Adams (Hull)

Hunslet	No.	Halifax
	Teams
Longley	1	Hubert Lockwood
Arthur Thurling	2	Jim Bevan
Ernest Winter	3	Friend Taylor
Frank Watson	4	George Todd
Freddie Williamson	5	Alan Prescott
Burnell	6	Fred Rule
Fletcher	7	Tommy McCue^[a]
Cyril Plenderleith	8	Morgan
Joe Britton	9	Jones^[a]
Doug Billings	10	Hudson Irving
Des Clarkson	11	Mel Meek
Colin Stansfield	12	Hughie McDowell^[a]
Ken Traill	13	Jack Dixon

	Coach

Second leg

Halifax won the Yorkshire Cup with an aggregate score of 14–3. Receipts for the second leg were £745.^[4]^[5]

9 December 1944

Halifax	2 – 0	Hunslet
Goals: Lockwood

Thrum Hall
Attendance: 9,800
Referee: J. E. Taylor (Wakefield)

Halifax	No.	Hunslet
	Teams
Hubert Lockwood	1	Jack Walkington
Jim Bevan	2	Arthur Thurling
Friend Taylor	3	Ernest Winter
George Todd	4	Frank Watson
Alan Prescott	5	Freddie Williamson
Fred Rule	6	Burnell
Tommy McCue^[a]	7	Fletcher
Hughie McDowell^[a]	8	Cyril Plenderleith
Jones^[a]	9	Joe Britton
Hudson Irving	10	Doug Billings
Mel Meek	11	Colin Stansfield
Harry Millington^[a]	12	Des Clarkson
Jack Dixon	13	Ken Traill

	Coach