The 1953–54 Lancashire Cup was the forty-first occasion on which the RFL Lancashire Cup competition was held.
1953–54 Lancashire Cup | |
---|---|
Structure | Regional knockout championship |
Teams | 14 |
Winners | St. Helens |
Runners-up | Wigan |
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
editOverall, 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
editRound 1 – first leg
editInvolved 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
editInvolved 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
editInvolved 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
editInvolved 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
editGame 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
editSt. 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
The road to success
editAll 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
edit1 * 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
editReferences
edit- ^ "Rugby League Project".
- ^ a b c d e f "Saints Heritage Society – History – Season 1896–97".
- ^ a b c d e f "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
- ^ a b c d "Warrington Wolves – Results Archive – 1897". Archived from the original on 6 July 2010.
- ^ a b "Widnes Vikings – History – Season In Review – 1896–97".
- ^ Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.