1943–44 Yorkshire Cup

1943–44 Yorkshire Cup
1943–44 Yorkshire Cup
Structure	Regional knockout championship
Teams	16
Winners	Bradford Northern
Runners-up	Keighley
	← 1942–33 1944–45 →

The 1943–44 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 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)

The Second World War was continuing and the Yorkshire Cup remained in the early part of the 1943–44 Northern Rugby Football League Wartime Emergency League season

1943–44 was the thirty-sixth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held.

Bradford Northern won the trophy by beating Keighley over two legs by an aggregate score of 10-7

Bradford Northern played the first leg match at home (at Odsal) and won 5–2. The attendance was 10,251 and receipts were £757.

Keighley were at home (at Lawkholme Lane) for the second leg match and drew 5–5. The attendance at the second leg match was 8,993 and receipts £634.

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 the 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 this season.

Wigan – This club entered the Yorkshire Cup competition for the fourth successive season

Oldham – The club, as Wigan, also entered the Yorkshire Cup competition and for the fourth successive season

St. Helens – The club, as Wigan and Oldham}, also entered the Yorkshire Cup competition and for their second 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 this 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, Hunslet rejoined after one season's absence, and with Barrow adding to the previous Lancashire presence of Wigan, Oldham and St. Helens, this increased the entries by two, bringing the total up to sixteen.

This in turn resulted in no byes in the first 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

^[1]^[2]

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	Notes	Ref

1	Sat 16 Oct 1943	Barrow	15-8	Oldham	Craven Park	1
2	Sat 16 Oct 1943	Batley	2-19	Featherstone Rovers	Mount Pleasant
3	Sat 16 Oct 1943	Bradford Northern	8-0	Dewsbury	Odsal
4	Sat 16 Oct 1943	Halifax	22-10	Wakefield Trinity	Thrum Hall
5	Sat 16 Oct 1943	Hull	6-12	Huddersfield	Boulevard		^[3]
6	Sat 16 Oct 1943	Leeds	18-5	Hunslet	Headingley
7	Sat 16 Oct 1943	St. Helens	9-14	Wigan	Knowsley Road		^[4]^[5]
8	Sat 16 Oct 1943	York	5-5	Keighley	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 23 Oct 1943	Oldham	11-10	Barrow	Watersheddings	19-25
2	Sat 23 Oct 1943	Featherstone Rovers	10-11	Batley	Post Office Road	29-13
3	Sat 23 Oct 1943	Dewsbury	2-7	Bradford Northern	Crown Flatt	2-15
4	Sat 23 Oct 1943	Wakefield Trinity	9-9	Halifax	Belle Vue	19-31
5	Sat 23 Oct 1943	Huddersfield	20-2	Hull	Fartown	32-8	^[3]
6	Sat 23 Oct 1943	Hunslet	8-13	Leeds	Parkside	13-31
7	Sat 23 Oct 1943	Wigan	20-10	St. Helens	Central Park	34-19	^[4]^[5]
8	Sat 23 Oct 1943	Keighley	30-7	York	Lawkholme Lane	35-12

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 30 Oct 1943	Barrow	17-8	Wigan	Craven Park	^[4]
2	Sat 30 Oct 1943	Halifax	17-20	Keighley	Thrum Hall
3	Sat 30 Oct 1943	Huddersfield	7-5	Featherstone Rovers	Fartown
4	Sat 30 Oct 1943	Leeds	2-5	Bradford Northern	Headingley

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 06 Nov 1943	Wigan	10-7	Barrow	Central Park	18-24	^[4]
2	Sat 06 Nov 1943	Keighley	8-2	Halifax	Lawkholme Lane	28-19
3	Sat 06 Nov 1943	Featherstone Rovers	5-9	Huddersfield	Post Office Road	10-16
4	Sat 06 Nov 1943	Bradford Northern	26-0	Leeds	Odsal	31-2

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

1	Sat 13 Nov 1943	Barrow	3-6	Bradford Northern	Craven Park
2	Sat 13 Nov 1943	Keighley	21-0	Huddersfield	Lawkholme Lane

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

1	Sat 20 Nov 1943	Bradford Northern	12-11	Barrow	Odsal	18-14
2	Sat 20 Nov 1943	Huddersfield	13-4	Keighley	Fartown	13-25

Final - First leg

The final was played on a two-legged home and away basis this season

Game No	Fixture date	Home team		Score		Away team	Venue	agg	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref

	Saturday 27 November 1943	Bradford Northern		5-2		Keighley	Odsal		10,251	£757	HT ??	^[6]^[7]

Final - Second Leg

The final was played on a two-legged home and away basis this season

Game No	Fixture date	Home team		Score		Away team	Venue	agg	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref

	Saturday 4 December 1943	Keighley		5-5		Bradford Northern	Lawkholme Lane	7-10	8,993	£634	HT ??	^[6]^[7]

Teams and scorers

Bradford Northern	No.	Keighley

	teams
George Carmichael	1
Eric Batten	2
?. James (1st leg), E Billington (2nd leg)	3
Ernest Ward	4
Emlyn Walters	5
Willie Davies	6
Donald Ward	7
Laurie Roberts	8
Vic Darlison	9
Leonard Higson	10
Frank Murray	11
Trevor Foster	12
William Hutchinson	13
Dai Rees	Coach	??

5	score	2
	HT

	Scorers
	Tries
	T
	Goals
	G
	Drop Goals
	DG
Referee		unknown ()


Second Leg


Bradford Northern	teams	Keighley
	1
	2
	3
	4
	5
	6
	7
	8
	9
	10
	11
	12
	13
	Coach

5	Score	5
	HT

	Scorers
	Tries
	Goals
	G
Referee		unknown ()

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

The road to success

All the ties (including the final itself) were played on a two leg (home and away) basis.

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

The scores shown are the aggregate score over the two legs.

First round		Second round		Semifinals		Final

Barrow	25

Oldham	19
		Barrow	24

		Wigan	18
St. Helens	19

Wigan	34
				Barrow	14

				Bradford Northern	18
Leeds	31

Hunslet	13
		Leeds	2

		Bradford Northern	32
Bradford Northern	15

Dewsbury	2
						Bradford Northern	10

						Keighley	7
Halifax	31

Wakefield Trinity	19
		Halifax	19

		Keighley	28
York	12

Keighley	35
				Keighley	25

				Huddersfield	13
Hull	8

Huddersfield	32
		Huddersfield	16

		Featherstone Rovers	10
Batley	13

Featherstone Rovers	29

Notes and comments

1 * The first Yorkshire Cup match to be played by Barrow and also the first to be played at Craven Park

References

^ "Rugby League Project".
^ Jack Winstanley & Malcolm Ryding (1991). John Player Yearbook 1975-76. Queen Anne Press.
^ ^a ^b "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
^ ^a ^b "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
^ ^a ^b Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
^ ^a ^b Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.

External links

[RLP.orgMisc-1] "Rugby League Project".

[JP1975-76Misc-2] Jack Winstanley & Malcolm Ryding (1991). John Player Yearbook 1975-76. Queen Anne Press.

[HullMisc-3] "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".

[CherryMisc-4] "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".

[SaintsMisc-5] "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".

[Roth1991-92Misc-6] Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.

[Roth1990-91Misc-7] Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.

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