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
StructureRegional knockout championship
Teams15
WinnersBradford Northern
Runners-upWakefield 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

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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

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[1][2]

Round 1 – first leg

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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

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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 – quarterfinals

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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 – semifinals

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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

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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

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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

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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 Semifinals 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

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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

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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

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Rugby League Project".
  2. ^ Jack Winstanley & Malcolm Ryding (1991). John Player Yearbook 1975–76. Queen Anne Press.
  3. ^ a b c d "HULL&PROUD – Stats – Fixtures & Results".
  4. ^ a b c d e f 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.
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