1951–52 Challenge Cup

The 1951–52 Challenge Cup was the 51st staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup.[1]

1951–52 Challenge Cup
Duration5 rounds
Winners Workington Town
Runners-up Featherstone Rovers

First round

edit

First leg

edit
First round, first leg scores
Date Home Score Away
9 Feb 1952 Batley 9–9 Bramley
9 Feb 1952 Bradford Northern 6–5 Doncaster
9 Feb 1952 Cardiff 7–7 Dewsbury
9 Feb 1952 Castleford 4–5 Swinton
9 Feb 1952 Huddersfield 5–13 Halifax
9 Feb 1952 Hull FC 8–6 Oldham
9 Feb 1952 Leeds 44–14 Hull Kingston Rovers
9 Feb 1952 Leigh 11–4 Keighley
9 Feb 1952 Rochdale Hornets 7–8 Featherstone Rovers
9 Feb 1952 St Helens 6–5 Belle Vue Rangers
9 Feb 1952 Salford 13–6 Hunslet
9 Feb 1952 Wakefield Trinity 18–13 Wigan
9 Feb 1952 Warrington 28–4 Liverpool
9 Feb 1952 Whitehaven 16–0 Rylands Recs
9 Feb 1952 Widnes 5–5 Barrow
9 Feb 1952 York 7–18 Workington Town

Second leg

edit
First round, second leg scores
Date Home Score Away
16 Feb 1952 Barrow 8–2 Widnes
16 Feb 1952 Belle Vue Rangers 4–9 St Helens
16 Feb 1952 Bramley 0–9 Batley
16 Feb 1952 Dewsbury 16–0 Cardiff
16 Feb 1952 Doncaster 4–7 Bradford Northern
16 Feb 1952 Featherstone Rovers 17–2 Rochdale Hornets
16 Feb 1952 Halifax 5–5 Huddersfield
16 Feb 1952 Hull Kingston Rovers 3–5 Leeds
16 Feb 1952 Hunslet 6–3 Salford
16 Feb 1952 Keighley 0–8 Leigh
16 Feb 1952 Liverpool 6–6 Warrington
16 Feb 1952 Oldham 24–0 Hull FC
16 Feb 1952 Rylands Recs[a] 9–9 Whitehaven
16 Feb 1952 Swinton 2–9 Castleford
16 Feb 1952 Wigan 40–3 Wakefield Trinity
16 Feb 1952 Workington Town 42–5 York
  1. ^ Match played at Warrington's ground, Wilderspool

Second round

edit
Second round scores
Date Home Score Away
1 Mar 1952 Batley 4–11 Featherstone Rovers
1 Mar 1952 Castleford 6–7 Leigh
1 Mar 1952 Leeds 12–9 Oldham
1 Mar 1952 Salford 6–11 Barrow
1 Mar 1952 Warrington 26–9 Dewsbury
1 Mar 1952 Whitehaven 7–5 Halifax
1 Mar 1952 Wigan 28–12 Bradford Northern
8 Mar 1952 Workington Town 15–4 St Helens

Quarter-finals

edit
Quarter-final scores
Date Home Score Away
15 Mar 1952 Featherstone Rovers 14–11 Wigan
15 Mar 1952 Leigh 9–5 Leeds
15 Mar 1952 Whitehaven 2–10 Barrow
15 Mar 1952 Workington Town 14–0 Warrington

Semi-finals

edit
Semi-final scores
Date Home Score Away
29 Mar 1952 Barrow 2–5 Workington Town
29 Mar 1952 Featherstone Rovers 6–2 Leigh

Final

edit

Workington Town beat Featherstone Rovers 18–10 in the final played at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 19 April 1952 in front of a crowd of 72,093. Workington full-back and captain-coach Gus Risman became the oldest player to appear in a Cup final at age 41.[2] Three Australians, Tony Paskins, John Mudge and Bevan Wilson came up with decisive plays to help relative newcomers Workington to victory.[3] It was the club's first Challenge Cup win in their first appearance in the final.[4] Billy Ivison, Workington Town's loose forward, was awarded the Lance Todd Trophy for man-of-the-match.

19 April 1952
Workington Town 18 – 10 Featherstone Rovers
Try Lawrenson (2), Mudge, Wilson
Goals Risman (3)
[5]
Try Batten, Evans
Goals Miller (2)
Wembley, London
Attendance: 72,093
Referee: Charles F Appleton (Warrington)
Player of the Match: Billy Ivison
1 Gus Risman (c)
2 Johnny H. Lawrenson
3 Tony Paskins
4 Eppie Gibson
5 George Wilson
6 John H. Thomas
7 Albert Pepperell
8 Jimmy Hayton
9 Vince McKeating
10 Jimmy Wareing
11 Rupert Mudge
12 Bevan Wilson
13 Billy Ivison
Coach:
Gus Risman
1 Freddie Miller
2 Eric Batten (c)
3 Donald Metcalfe
4 Alan Tennant
5 Norman Mitchell
6 Ray Cording
7 Ray Evans
8 Ken Welburn
9 Bill Bradshaw
10 John Daly
11 Laurie Gant
12 Fred Hulme
13 Cliff Lambert
Coach:
Eric Batten

References

edit
  1. ^ "Challenge Cup 1951/52". Rugby League Project.
  2. ^ news.bbc.co.uk (11 May 2004). "Cup final facts". BBC Sport. UK: BBC. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  3. ^ AAP (London) (1952-04-21). "Australians star in Cup Final". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2023-12-27 – via Trove.
  4. ^ "RFL Challenge Cup Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  5. ^ "Workington's Speed Tells". The Manchester Guardian. No. 32, 915. 21 April 1952. p. 8 – via newspapers.com.