1952–53 Lancashire Cup

The 1952–53 Lancashire Cup was the fortieth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup competition was held.

1952–53 Lancashire Cup
StructureRegional knockout championship
Teams14
WinnersLeigh
Runners-upSt. Helens

Leigh won the trophy by beating St. Helens by the score of 22–5.
The match was played at Station Road, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 34,785 and receipts were £5,793.

Background

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Overall, the number of teams entering this year's competition remained the same as last year's total of 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 – and the remainder of the rounds remaining on straight forward knock-out basis.

Competition and results

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[1]

Round 1 – first leg

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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 1952 Barrow 21–24 St. Helens Craven Park 12,000 [2]
2 Sat 30 Aug 1952 Oldham 25–6 Swinton Watersheddings
3 Sat 30 Aug 1952 Liverpool City 14–58 Workington Town Mill Yard, Knotty Ash
4 Sat 30 Aug 1952 Rochdale Hornets 21–16 Belle Vue Rangers Athletic Grounds
5 Sat 30 Aug 1952 Salford 17–19 Warrington The Willows [3]
6 Sat 30 Aug 1952 Whitehaven 4–15 Leigh Recreation Ground
7 Sat 30 Aug 1952 Widnes 15–24 Wigan Naughton Park [4][5]
8 blank blank

Round 1 – second leg

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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 03 Sep 1952 St. Helens 23–5 Barrow Knowsley Road 47–26 19,000 [2]
2 Wed 03 Sep 1952 Swinton 18–19 Oldham Station Road 24–44
3 Mon 01 Sep 1952 Workington Town 29–18 Liverpool City Borough Park 87–32
4 Mon 01 Sep 1952 Belle Vue Rangers 7–17 Rochdale Hornets Belle Vue Stadium 23–38
5 Wed 03 Sep 1952 Warrington 30–8 Salford Wilderspool 49–25 [3]
6 Wed 03 Sep 1952 Leigh 43–2 Whitehaven Kirkhall Lane 58–6
7 Wed 03 Sep 1952 Wigan 38–5 Widnes Central Park 62–20 [4][5]
8 blank blank

Round 2 – quarterfinals

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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 Mon 22 Sep 1952 Leigh 19–8 Wigan Kirkhall Lane [4]
2 Tue 23 Sep 1952 St. Helens 31–7 Rochdale Hornets Knowsley Road 16,957 [2]
3 Wed 24 Sep 1952 Workington Town 13–10 Oldham Borough Park
4 Warrington bye [3]

Round 3 – semifinals

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Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Mon 13 Oct 1952 Workington Town 9–13 Leigh Borough Park
2 Tue 14 Oct 1952 Warrington 10–17 St. Helens Wilderspool 28,800 [2][3]

Final

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Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref
Saturday 29 November 1952 Leigh 22–5 St. Helens Station Road 34,785 £5,793 1 2 [2][6]

Teams and scorers

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Leigh St. Helens
teams
Jimmy Ledgard 1 Jimmy Lowe
Brian Chadwick 2 Steve Llewellyn
Trevor Allan 3 Doug Greenall
Edward Kerwick 4 Don Gullick
Frank Kitchen 5 Stan McCormick
Ken Baxter 6 Jimmy Honey
Tommy Bradshaw 7 George Langfield
Harry Edden 8 Alan Prescott
Joe Egan 9 Reg Blakemore
Stan Owen 10 Bill Whittaker
Charlie Pawsey 11 George Parsons
Rex Mossop 12 Bill Bretherton
Peter Foster 13 Ray Cale
Joe Egan coach
22 score 5
15 HT 2
Scorers
Tries
T Don Gullick (1)
T
T
T
Goals
G George Langfield (1)
G
Drop Goals
DG
Referee

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

[2]

The road to success

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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
            
Liverpool City 32
Workington Town 87
Workington Town 13
Oldham 10
Oldham 44
Swinton 24
Workington Town 9
Leigh 13
Whitehaven 6
Leigh 58
Leigh 19
Wigan 8
Widnes 20
Wigan 62
Leigh 22
St. Helens 5
Salford 25
Warrington 45
Warrington
bye
blank
blank
Warrington 10
St. Helens 17
Barrow 26
St. Helens 47
St. Helens 31
Rochdale Hornets 7
Rochdale Hornets 38
Belle Vue Rangers 23

Notes and comments

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1 * Attendance given in official St. Helens archives as 34,541 – data given in Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991[6] as 34,785
2 * Station Road was the home ground of Swinton from 1929 to 1932 and at its peak was one of the finest rugby league grounds in the country and it boasted a capacity of 60,000. The actual record attendance was for the Challenge Cup semi-final on 7 April 1951 when 44,621 watched Wigan beat Warrington 3–2

See also

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References

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