1947–48 Lancashire Cup

1947–48 Lancashire Cup
StructureRegional knockout championship
Teams14
WinnersWigan
Runners-upBelle Vue Rangers

The 1947–48 Lancashire Cup was the thirty-fifth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup competition had been held.

Wigan won the trophy by beating Belle Vue Rangers by the score of 10–7

The match was played at Wilderspool, Warrington, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 23,310 and receipts were £3,043.

This was the second of Wigan's record breaking run of six consecutive Lancashire Cup victories.

It was also to be the second of two consecutive finals to be competed for by these two teams.

Background

Overall, the number of teams entering this year's competition increased by one with the invitation to Lancashire Amateurs (a junior/amateur club) bringing the total up to 14.

The same pre-war fixture format was retained. This season saw no bye but one "blank" or "dummy" fixture in the first round. There was also one bye but no "blank" fixture" in the second round.

As last season, all the first round matches of the competition will be played on the basis of two legged, home and away ties. However this year, the second round becomes a straightforward knock-out basis.

Competition and results

[1]

Round 1

Involved 7 matches (with no bye and one "blank" fixture) and 14 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 30 Aug 1947 Barrow 14–12 Belle Vue Rangers Craven Park
2 Sat 30 Aug 1947 Lancashire Amateurs 5–16 Rochdale Hornets Watersheddings 1
3 Sat 30 Aug 1947 Leigh 0–15 St. Helens Kirkhall Lane 16,000 2 3 [2]
4 Sat 30 Aug 1947 Liverpool Stanley 3–26 Oldham Stanley Greyhound Stadium
5 Sat 30 Aug 1947 Swinton 2–19 Workington Town Station Road
6 Sat 30 Aug 1947 Widnes 4–8 Salford Naughton Park [3]
7 Sat 30 Aug 1947 Wigan 16–13 Warrington Central Park [4][5]
8 blank blank

Round 1 – second leg

Involved 7 matches (with no bye and one "blank" fixture) and 14 clubs. These are the reverse fixture from the first leg

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Wed 10 Sep 1947 Belle Vue Rangers 37–2 Barrow Belle Vue Stadium 49–16
2 Tue 2 Sep 1947 Rochdale Hornets 7–2 Lancashire Amateurs Athletic Grounds 23–7 1
3 Thu 4 Sep 1947 St. Helens 31–5 Leigh Knowsley Road 46–5 17,000 [2]
4 Tue 2 Sep 1947 Oldham 16–3 Liverpool Stanley Watersheddings 42–6
5 Wed 3 Sep 1947 Workington Town 15–12 Swinton Borough Park 34–14
6 Wed 3 Sep 1947 Salford 9–4 Widnes The Willows 17–8 [3]
7 Wed 3 Sep 1947 Warrington 10–15 Wigan Wilderspool 23–31 [4][5]
8 blank blank

Round 2 – quarterfinals – first leg

Involved 3 matches (with one bye) and 7 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Tue 23 Sep 1947 Oldham 3–13 Workington Town Watersheddings
2 Mon 29 Sep 1947 St. Helens 7–8 Wigan Knowsley Road [4][2]
3 Wed 1 Oct 1947 Belle Vue Rangers 10–5 Salford Belle Vue Stadium
4 Rochdale Hornets bye

Round 3 – semifinals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Wed 8 Oct 1947 Belle Vue Rangers 15–8 Workington Town Belle Vue Stadium
2 Wed 8 Oct 1947 Wigan 27–3 Rochdale Hornets Central Park [4]

Final

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref
Saturday 1 November 1947 Wigan 10–7 Belle Vue Rangers Wilderspool 23,110 £3,043 4 [4][6]

Teams and scorers

Wigan No. Belle Vue Rangers
teams
Martin Ryan 1 W. Ratchford
Gordon Ratcliffe 2 Harry Pimblett
Ted Ward 3 Mel Tierney
George Roughley [1] 4 Stan McCormick
Brian Nordgren 5 S. Jolley
Ernie Ashcroft 6 Ray Price
Tommy Bradshaw 7 Billy Watkins
Ken Gee 8 D. Thomas
Joe Egan 9 W. Flanagan
George Banks 10 Elwyn Gwyther
Les White 11 Doug Phillips
Billy Blan 12 Jack Fearnley
Jack Blan [2] 13 Dick Manning
10 score 7
5 HT 2
Scorers
Tries
Gordon Ratcliffe (1) T Flanagan (1)
Brian Nordgren (1) T
Goals
Ted Ward (2) G D. Thomas (2)
Referee S. Manley (Hull)

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

[4]

The road to success

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

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

the scores shown in the first round are the aggregate score over the two legs.

First round Second round Semifinals Final
            
Leigh 5
St. Helens 46
St. Helens 7
Wigan 8
Wigan 31
Warrington 23
Wigan 27
Rochdale Hornets 3
Lancashire Amateurs 7
Rochdale Hornets 23
Rochdale Hornets
bye
blank
blank
Wigan 10
Belle Vue Rangers 7
Barrow 16
Belle Vue Rangers 49
Belle Vue Rangers 10
Salford 5
Widnes 8
Salford 17
Belle Vue Rangers 15
Workington Town 8
Liverpool Stanley 6
Oldham 42
Oldham 3
Workington Town 13
Swinton 14
Workington Town 34

Notes and comments

1 * Lancashire Amateurs were a junior (or amateur) club from Lancashire. The match was played at Watersheddings, Oldham

2 * The official St. Helens archive show as attendance of 16,000 (with 17,000 for the second leg at home) RUGBY LEAGUE projects[1] show it as 17,000

3 * Leigh's first Lancashire Cup match at the newly completed purpose build stadium

4 * Wilderspool was the home ground of Warrington from 1883 to the end of the 2003 Summer season when they moved into the new purpose-built Halliwell Jones Stadium. Wilderspool remained as a sports/Ruugby League ground and is/was used by Woolston Rovers/Warrington Wizards junior club.

The ground had a final capacity of 9,000 although the record attendance was set in a Challenge cup third round match on 13 March 1948 when 34,304 spectators saw Warrington lose to Wigan 10–13.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Rugby League Project".
  2. ^ a b c "Saints Heritage Society – History – Season 1896–97".
  3. ^ a b "Widnes Vikings – History – Season In Review – 1896–97".
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
  5. ^ a b "Warrington Wolves – Results Archive – 1897". Archived from the original on 6 July 2010.
  6. ^ Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.