Wikipedia

1953–54 Lancashire Cup

The 1953–54 Lancashire Cup was the forty-first occasion on which the RFL Lancashire Cup competition was held.

1953–54 Lancashire Cup
StructureRegional knockout championship
Teams14
WinnersSt. Helens
Runners-upWigan

St. Helens won the trophy by beating Wigan by the score of 16–8.

The match was played at Station Road, Pendlebury, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 42,793 and receipts were £6,918.

The attendance was again a record, albeit only beating the previous record by about 250.

Sport in general was now at its height of popularity, brought about by the ending of the Second World War, the new peace, the new affluence and more free time. Rugby League was no exception and this particular attendance record would never be broken.

Background

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Overall, the number of teams entering that 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 05 Sep 1953 Barrow 14–13 St. Helens Craven Park 11,921 [2]
2 Sat 05 Sep 1953 Liverpool City 2–14 Swinton Mill Yard, Knotty Ash
3 Sat 05 Sep 1953 Rochdale Hornets 7–12 Workington Town Athletic Grounds
4 Sat 05 Sep 1953 Salford 12–7 Wigan The Willows [3]
5 Sat 05 Sep 1953 Warrington 28–7 Belle Vue Rangers Wilderspool [4]
6 Sat 05 Sep 1953 Whitehaven 13–12 Oldham Recreation Ground
7 Sat 05 Sep 1953 Widnes 9–14 Leigh Naughton Park [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 09 Sep 1953 St. Helens 21–17 Barrow Knowsley Road 34–31 20,100 [2]
2 Wed 09 Sep 1953 Swinton 20–4 Liverpool City Station Road 34–6
3 Wed 09 Sep 1953 Workington Town 10–5 Rochdale Hornets Borough Park 22–12
4 Mon 07 Sep 1953 Wigan 28–2 Salford Central Park 35–14 [3]
5 Tue 08 Sep 1953 Belle Vue Rangers 14–17 Warrington Belle Vue Stadium 21–46 [4]
6 Mon 07 Sep 1953 Oldham 45–6 Whitehaven Watersheddings 57–19
7 Wed 09 Sep 1953 Leigh 25–5 Widnes Kirkhall Lane 39–14 [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 Wed 23 Sep 1953 St. Helens 38–9 Swinton Knowsley Road 19,000 [2]
2 Wed 23 Sep 1953 Wigan 10–7 Workington Town Central Park [3]
3 Thu 24 Sep 1953 Warrington 12–11 Oldham Wilderspool [4]
4 Leigh bye

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 28 Sep 1953 Wigan 11–6 Leigh Central Park [3]
2 Thu 01 Oct 1953 St. Helens 17–10 Warrington Knowsley Road 23,184 [2][4]

Final

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Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref
Saturday 24 October 1953 St. Helens 16–8 Wigan Station Road 42,793 £6,918 1 2 [2][3][6]

Teams and scorers

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St. Helens No. Wigan
teams
Glyn Moses 1 Jack Cunliffe
Steve Llewellyn 2 Brian Nordgren
Doug Greenall 3 Jack Broome
Don Gullick 4 Ernie Ashcroft
Stan McCormick 5 Ronnie Hurst [1]
Peter Metcalfe 6 Jack Fleming
Jimmy Honey [2] 7 Johnny Alty [3]
Alan Prescott 8 Ken Gee
Reg Blakemore 9 Ronald Mather
George Parr [4] 10 Nat Silcock, Jr.
George Parsons 11 Frank Collier
Bill Bretherton [5][6] 12 Tommy Horrocks [7]
Vince Karalius 13 Harry Street
16 score 8
4 HT 8
Scorers
Tries
Jimmy Honey (1) T Jack Fleming (1)
Glyn Moses (1) T Harry Street (1)
Goals
Peter Metcalfe (5) G Ken Gee (1)
Referee M. Coates, Pudsey

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

[2][3]

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
            
Barrow 31
St. Helens 34
St. Helens 38
Swinton 9
Liverpool City 6
Swinton 34
St. Helens 17
Warrington 10
Warrington 46
Belle Vue Rangers 21
Warrington 12
Oldham 11
Whitehaven 19
Oldham 57
St. Helens 16
Wigan 8
Salford 14
Wigan 35
Wigan 10
Workington Town 7
Rochdale Hornets 12
Workington Town 22
Wigan 11
Leigh 6
Widnes 14
Leigh 39
Leigh
bye
blank
blank

Notes and comments

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1 * The attendance of 42,793 was again a record, albeit only beating the previous record by about 250 This attendance record would never ever be equalled or beaten.
The receipts were also a new record, but this would only stand for 5 years.
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 40,000. 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 e f "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
  4. ^ a b c d "Warrington Wolves – Results Archive – 1897". Archived from the original on 6 July 2010.
  5. ^ a b "Widnes Vikings – History – Season In Review – 1896–97".
  6. ^ Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
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