The first Rugby League Challenge Cup competition was held in 1897, and although much has been written about the final, there is a dearth of information about the competition as a whole.
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Many Rugby players had found it difficult, if not impossible, to play regularly as it meant missing a days work, with the consequence of the loss in a days earning. "Broken Time"[1] payments was a possible answer to compensate for this loss of income. Generally the southern clubs did not have quite as serious a problem and were less sympathetic.
In 1892 charges of professionalism were made by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) against clubs in Bradford and Leeds, after they compensated players for missing work. The hypocrisy behind this is that the RFU was allowing other players to be paid (e.g. the 1888 British Isles team that toured Australia).[2]
In 1893 many Yorkshire clubs complained that southern clubs were dominating the RFU committee, and as all the committee meetings were held in London, this made it difficult, expensive and generally inconvenient for the Yorkshire members to attend. In effect they were arguing that there was a bias by the few southern clubs with "gentlemen" players against the many northern clubs with more "working class" players over the issue of "Broken Time" payments.
The Yorkshire clubs had put forward a proposal that would allow players to receive up to six shillings (30 new pence) if and when they lost a full days work/pay because of match commitments. The RFU voted against this and widespread suspensions of Yorkshire clubs began.
These clubs met to discussed a break away, a very courageous and desperate action, maybe encouraged by the success of the similar action taken in 1888 by the Northern Association football teams
This meeting was held on Tuesday, 20 August 1895, at a meeting at the Mitre Hotel,[3] Leeds, when the 12 clubs agreed they should form a Northern Union, not as a complete breakaway, but with ties to the RFU. A five-man panel met a sub-committee of the Yorkshire Union to discus a scheme to settle the 'dispute'. The Union however immediately rejected the proposal out of hand.
On 27 August 1895 an emergency meeting was held by 9 Lancashire clubs (Broughton Rangers, Leigh, Oldham, Rochdale Hornets, St Helens, Tyldesley, Warrington, Widnes and Wigan) in Manchester resulting in their support of their Yorkshire counterparts if they decided to break away.
Two days later representatives of 21 top northern clubs met in The George Hotel, Huddersfield in the West Riding of Yorkshire, a setting which was to become famous (or infamous) in the world of rugby. These 21 clubs were Batley (established 1880), Bradford 1863, Brighouse Rangers 1878, Broughton Rangers 1877, Dewsbury 1875, Halifax 1873, Huddersfield 1864, Hull 1865, Hunslet 1883, Leeds 1864, Leigh 1878, Liversedge 1877, Manningham 1876, Oldham 1876, Rochdale Hornets 1871, St Helens 1873, Tyldesley 1879, Wakefield Trinity 1873, Warrington 1875, Widnes 1875, Wigan 1872. The reperesentative of the Cheshire club, Stockport, had been unable to attend but had telegraphed the meeting requesting admission to the new organisation and was duly accepted.
The meeting was to discus, debate and vote on their future. Twenty clubs agreed to resign from the Rugby Union; only Dewsbury felt unable to comply with the decision. A second Cheshire club, Runcorn (1895) were admitted at the next meeting, becoming the 22nd member in the inaugural season's league.
The following day the Huddersfield Examiner reported:[3] "On Thursday night, a meeting of the representatives of the Senior Clubs of Lancashire and Yorkshire was held at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, to consider the question of the formation of a northern Football Union. The meeting was held in private and lasted close on three hours. At the conclusion, representatives of the press were informed the following men had been present at the meeting: Mr H H Waller (Brighouse), Mr J Platt (Oldham), Mr J Nicholl (Halifax), Mr H Sewell (Leeds), Mr F Lister (Bradford), Mr C A Brewer (Hull), Mr J Clifford (Huddersfield), Mr J L Whittaker (Hunslet), Mr J H Fallas (Wakefield), Mr F Wright (Widnes), Mr E Gresty (Broughton Rangers), Mr J Goodall (Batley), Mr F Dennett (St Helens), Mr J Quirk (Leigh), Mr J Warren (Warrington), Mr G Taylor (Tyldesley), Mr E Wardle (Wigan), Mr A Fattorini (Manningham), Mr W Brierley (Rochdale Hornets), Mr J H Hampshire (Liversedge) and Mr C Holdsworth (Dewsbury). Mr Waller was elected to the chair and Mr Platt was elected secretary. The first resolution adopted was: "The clubs here represented decide to form a Northern Rugby Football Union, and pledge themselves to push forward without delay its establishment on the principle of payment for bona fide broken time only."
And so the "Northern Rugby Football Union"[4] (usually termed Northern Union or NU) came into existence.
The RFU authorities took immediate drastic action against clubs, officials and players from the breakaway clubs, together with anyone who played with or against them.
The NRFU became the Northern Rugby Football League[5] in the summer of 1922
Eventually the "Northern" was dropped from its name in the summer of 1980.
During the first season the clubs competed in one league. For the second season, with the expansion by 8 new clubs to 30, the clubs competed in two separate regional leagues (Lancashire/Cheshire & Yorkshire).[6]
During this second season, the Northern Rugby Football Union Challenge Cup was introduced by the Northern Union. In 1896 Fattorini's of Bradford were commissioned to manufacture the Challenge Cup at a cost of just £60. (Fattorini's also supplied winners' medals, (15-carat gold medals £3 3s apiece).
The first competition was held at the end of this 1896-97 season with 56 clubs entering. The first final was held at Headingley in Leeds, on 24 April 1897. Batley defeated St Helens 10-3[7] in front of a crowd of 13,492
Involved 20 matches, 12 byes and 52 Clubs
| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | League Area | League Pos | Score | Away Team | League Area | League Pos | Att | Notes | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20/03/1897 | Hunslet | Y | 4 | 75-5 | Broughton Recreation | ,2 | ||||||
| 2 | 20/03/1897 | Runcorn | L | 4 | 65-0 | Warrington Loco | 3,4 | [8] | |||||
| 3 | 20/03/1897 | Wigan | L | 11 | 3-0 | Radcliffe | 5,6,7 | [9] | |||||
| 4 | 209/03/1897 | Manningham | Y | 2 | Dukinfield | 8,9,10 | 2 | ||||||
| 5 | 20/03/1897 | Leeds | Y | 12 | 11-0 | Rochdale St Clements | 11,12 | 3 | |||||
| 6 | 20/03/1897 | St Helens | L | 9 | 66-0 | Lees | 13,14 | [10] | |||||
| 7 | 20/03/1897 | Leigh | L | 8 | 0-0 | Wakefield Trinity | Y | 8 | [6] | ||||
| 8 | 20/03/1897 | Widnes | L | 10 | 55-0 | Atherton H | 15,16 | [11] | |||||
| 9 | 20/03/1897 | Broughton Rangers | L | 1 | 0-0 | Warrington | L | 7 | 17 | [12] | |||
| 10 | 20/03/1897 | ?????? | Latchford Rangers | 4,8 | [8] | ||||||||
| 11 | 20/03/1897 | Tyldesley | L | 3 | ?????? | 8,18 | |||||||
| 12 | Brighouse Rangers | Y | 1 | ?????? | 8 | ||||||||
| 13 | Castleford | Y | 9 | ?????? | 8 | [13] | |||||||
| 14 | 20/03/1897 | Hull | Y | 5 | 9-0 | Walkden | 19 | [14] | |||||
| 15 | Holbeck | Y | 15 | ?????? | 8,20 | ||||||||
| 16 | Bradford Church Hill | ?????? | 8,21 | ||||||||||
| 17 | Batley | Y | 6 | ?????? | 8 | ||||||||
| 18 | Swinton | L | 6 | ?????? | 8 | ||||||||
| 19 | Halifax | Y | 3 | ?????? | 8 | ||||||||
| 20 | Liversedge | Y | 11 | ?????? | 8 | ||||||||
| ? | ?????? | Warrington St Mary's | 4,8 | [8] | |||||||||
| bye1 | Crompton | 22 | |||||||||||
| bye2 | Bradford | Y | 7 | 23 | |||||||||
| bye3 | ?????? | Y | 11 | 24 | |||||||||
| bye4 | ?????? | Y | 11 | 24 | |||||||||
| bye5 | Huddersfield | Y | 10 | ||||||||||
| bye6 | Lancaster | ||||||||||||
| bye7 | ?????? | 24 | |||||||||||
| bye8 | Morecambe | L | 14 | ||||||||||
| bye9 | Oldham | L | 2 | ||||||||||
| bye10 | Rochdale Hornets | L | 12 | ||||||||||
| bye11 | Salford | 24 | |||||||||||
| bye12 | Stockport | L | 5 | ||||||||||
| ? | Leeds Parish Church | Y | 13 | 25 | |||||||||
| ? | Bramley | L | 12 | 25 | |||||||||
| ? | Heckmondwike | 25 |
League area L = Lancashire League Y = Yorkshire League
League Pos The position that club finished in it's league
Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs
| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Att | Notes | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wakefield Trinity | 13-4 | Leigh | [6] | |||||
| 2 | 24/03/1897 | Warrington | 3-0 | Broughton Rangers | 26 | [12] |
Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs
| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Att | Notes | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crompton | 26-0 | Bradford Church Hill | 21,22 | |||||
| 2 | Wigan | 7-0 | Manningham | 10,27 | [9] | ||||
| 3 | Tyldesley | 9-3 | Leeds | 18 | |||||
| 4 | Brighouse Rangers | 13-4 | Wakefield Trinity | [6] | |||||
| 5 | 27/03/1897 | St Helens | 17-3 | Castleford | 28 | [10][13] | |||
| 6 | 27/03/1897 | Widnes | 11-0 | Hull | 29 | [11][14] | |||
| 7 | 27/03/1897 | Warrington | 24-0 | Holbeck | 20 | [12] | |||
| 8 | Runcorn | ?????? | 30 | ||||||
| 9 | Batley | ?????? | 31 | ||||||
| 10 | Halifax | ?????? | 32 | ||||||
| 11 | Liversedge | ?????? | 33 | ||||||
| 12 | Swinton | ?????? | 34 | ||||||
| 13 | Rochdale Hornets | ?????? | 35 | ||||||
| 14 | Hunslet | ?????? | 36 | ||||||
| 15 | ?????? | ?????? | 37 | ||||||
| 16 | ?????? | ?????? | 37 |
Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs
| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Att | Notes | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Halifax | 56-0 | Crompton | 22 | |||||
| 2 | 03/04/1897 | St Helens | 11-0 | Wigan | 5,000 | 38 | [9][10] | ||
| 3 | 03/04/1897 | Widnes | 14-6 | Runcorn | 39 | [11] | |||
| 4 | 03/04/1897 | Warrington | 6-0 | Liversedge | 39 | [12] | |||
| 5 | Tyldesley | ?????? | 18,40 | ||||||
| 6 | Batley | ?????? | 21 | ||||||
| 7 | 03/04/1897 | Rochdale Hornets | 3-3 | Swinton | [15] | ||||
| 8 | ?????? | 6-0 | ?????? | 37 | |||||
| 9 | ?????? | Brighouse Rangers | 8 |
Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs
| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Att | Notes | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swinton | 56-0 | Rochdale Hornets | 41 | [15] |
Involved 4 matches and 8 Clubs
| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Att | Notes | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10/04/1897 | St Helens | 12-0 | Tyldesley | 18 | [10] | |||
| 2 | 10/04/1897 | Batley | 10-0 | Widnes | [11] | ||||
| 3 | 10/04/1897 | Warrington | 10-8 | Halifax | 42 | [12] | |||
| 4 | Swinton | ?????? | 24 |
Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs
| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Att | Venue | Notes | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Batley | 6-0 | Warrington | Fartown | 43 | [12][16] | ||||
| 2 | St Helens | 7-0 | Swinton | 20000 | Broughton | 43 | [10][16] |
Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs
| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Att | Venue | Notes | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24/04/1897 | Batley | 10-3 | St Helens | 13492 | Headingley | 44 | [10][16] |
1 -- At the time, this was a record score in the Northern Union
2 -- Broughton Recreation was an amateur club from Broughton, Greater Manchester
3 -- Described in a report as "Runcorn demolished Warrington Loco".
4 -- Warrington Loco, Warrington St Mary's and Latchford Rangers were Warrington junior sides.[8]
5 -- Radcliffe was a smaller amateur club from Bury who would join the Lancashire Senior League for season 1901.
6 -- Points value - Try = 3 points. Conversion = 2 points. Drop Goal = 4 points. Penalty = 3 points. Goal from Mark = 4 points.[9]
7 -- Wigan scorer Winstanley 1 Penalty.[9]
8 -- Neither the score nor the venue known
9 -- Described in a report as "Manningham cruised past Dunkinfield" - a misprint which should have read "Dukinfield", an area of Greater Manchester
10 -- Manningham became Bradford City AFC on 29 May 1903 - on the 23rd annual meeting of Manningham FC[17]
11 -- Rochdale St Clements was an amateur club from Rochdale.
12 -- Leeds scorers - tries @ 3 pts Clarkson, W Smith, Carys, Goals @ 2 pts Glover
13 -- Lees was an amateur club from Oldham
14 -- St Helens scorers Tries Briers 2, Doherty 3, Foulkes 1, Jacques 1, Sutton 1, Traynor 5 - goals Jacques 8.[10]
15 -- Atherton H was an amateur club from Leigh.
16 -- Widnes scorers - tries Drummond 2, Rispan 2, Weate 2, Brennan 2, Alford 2, Batey, Peacock, Donnelly, Leyshon , Acton (Joe) - goals - Batey 3, Drummond 2.[11]
17—replay (24/03/1897).[12]
18 -- Tyldesley - In 1911 [1] were the first club to successfully apply to re-join the RFU after cost prove to much a burden in the "Professional" game.[18]
19 -- Walkden was an amateur club from Salford.
20 -- Holbeck, a suburb of Leeds, were the original owners of Elland Road Stadium. After they folded in 1904, the ground was rented by the newly formed Leeds City AFC
21 -- Bradford Church Hill was an amateur club from Bradford
22 -- Crompton, near Oldham. The Lancashire Pennine village team, went further than any other juniors.
23 -- Bradford became Bradford Park Avenue AFC in 1907, in what is known as "The Great Betrayal" when a small majority of members decided to abandon the Northern Union game and change code to Association football. They played at the Park Avenue ground[13]
24—Club unknown
25—Unable to find any reference regarding this club entering the competition - but as they took part in the full league programme, it is assumed that the club entered
26 -- Warrington scorer try Swift 1.[12]
27 -- Wigan scorer Blackburn 1T, Walkden 1GM (goal from mark).[9]
28 -- St Helens scorers - Try Briers 2, Doherty 1, O'Hara 2 - goal Jacques 1.[10]
29 -- Widnes scorers - tries Nevitt Alford goals - Drummond 2.[11]
30 -- Runcorn won (neither score, opponent nor venue known) - but Runcorn appear in a later round
31 -- Batley won (neither score, opponent nor venue known) - but Batley appear in a later round
32 -- Halifax won (neither score, opponent nor venue known) - but Halifax appear in a later round
33 -- Liversedge won (neither score, opponent nor venue known) - but Liversedge appear in a later round
34 -- Swinton won (neither score, opponent nor venue known) - but Swinton appear in a later round
35 -- Rochdale Hornets won (neither score, opponent nor venue known) - but Rochdale Hornets appear in a later round
36—It is assumed Hunslet played as they won their previous round match - (neither result, score, opponent nor venue known) -
37—Neither club, venue or score known
38 -- St Helens scorers - try Doherty 1, Doherty 1 - goals Jacques 1.[10]
39 -- Widnes scorers - tries Rispan Alford . Drop Goals - Rispan Drummond.[11]
40 -- Tyldesley won (neither score, opponent nor venue known) - but Tyldesley appear in a later round
41—Scorers not known
42—This match played in four quarters of 20 minutes each instead of 2 halves because of a very strong wind.[19]
43—Semi-final venues Batley v Warrington, Fartown Huddersfield - St Helens v Swinton, Wheater’s Field, home of Broughton Rangers (attendance 20,000) -- This information extracted from "The 50 Greatest _Challenge Cup Moments", an article by Richard de la Rivière, published in "Thirteen" (a now defunct rugby league magazine) in 2005.[16]
44—Final - Venue Headingley, Leeds, (att 13,492 and receipts £624.17.7d)[20] - scorers Batley - try Googall 1 (1st cup final try), Muns 1 - Drop goal Oakland 1 (1st cup final goal/score) - St Helens try Dave "Red" Traynor—These details extracted from "The 50 Greatest Challenge Cup Moments", an article by Richard de la Rivière, published in "Thirteen" (a now defunct rugby league magazine) in 2005.[16]