1953 Yorkshire Cup

1953-54 Yorkshire Cup
Structure Regional knockout championship
Number of teams 16
Winners Bradford Northern
Runners-up Hull
< 1952 Seasons 1954 >

1953 Yorkshire Cup

1953 was the forty-sixth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held.

Bradford Northern won the trophy by beating Hull by the score of 7-2
The match was played at Headingley, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 22,147 and receipts were £3,833

Background

This season no junior/amateur clubs were invited to take part, there were no new additions and no club "dropped out", and so the number of entrants remained at the same as last season's total number of sixteen.
This in turn resulted in no byes in the first round.
The competition again followed the original formula of a knock-out tournament, with the exception of the first round which was still played on a two-legged home and away basis.

Competition and results[1][2]

[3][4]

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 agg Att Rec Notes Ref

1Sat 5 Sep 1953Batley10-34Bradford NorthernMount Pleasant
2Sat 5 Sep 1953Castleford0-11HalifaxWheldon Road
3Sat 5 Sep 1953Featherstone Rovers7-21LeedsPost Office Road
4Sat 5 Sep 1953Huddersfield47-9Wakefield TrinityFartown16,137[4][5]
5Sat 5 Sep 1953Hull30-14BramleyBoulevard[6]
6Sat 5 Sep 1953Hunslet27-13Hull KRParkside
7Sat 5 Sep 1953Keighley11-6DewsburyLawkholme Lane
8Mon 7 Sep 1953York19-2DoncasterClarence 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 Att Rec Notes Ref

1Wed 9 Sep 1953Bradford Northern15-18BatleyOdsal49-28
2Mon 7 Sep 1953Halifax9-3CastlefordThrum Hall20-3
3Wed 9 Sep 1953Leeds32-7Featherstone RoversHeadingley53-14
4Wed 9 Sep 1953Wakefield Trinity20-7HuddersfieldBelle Vue29-546,222[4][5]
5Tue 8 Sep 1953Bramley9-17HullBarley Mow23-47[6]
6Wed 9 Sep 1953Hull KR7-11HunsletCraven Park (1)20-38
7Tue 8 Sep 1953Dewsbury2-0KeighleyCrown Flatt8-11
8Thu 10 Sep 1953Doncaster2-21YorkBentley Road Stadium/Tattersfield4-401

Round 2 - Quarterfinals

Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs
All second round ties are played on a knock-out basis

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref

1Wed 23 Sep 1953Bradford Northern27-9LeedsOdsal
2Wed 23 Sep 1953Huddersfield19-7YorkFartown9,425[4]
3Wed 23 Sep 1953Hunslet11-2KeighleyParkside
4Mon 28 Sep 1953Hull16-4HalifaxBoulevard[6]

Round 3 – Semifinals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
Both semi-final ties are played on a knock-out basis

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref

1Wed 30 Sep 1953Huddersfield10-11Bradford NorthernFartown15,438[4]
2Wed 21 Oct 1953Hunslet2-3HullParkside2[6]

Round 3 – Semifinals - replay

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
Both semi-final ties are played on a knock-out basis

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref

RThu 22 Oct 1953Hunslet5-9HullParkside[6]

Final

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref

Saturday 31 October 1953Bradford Northern7-2HullHeadingley22,147£3,8333[6][7][8]

Teams and scorers

Bradford Northern Hull
teams
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Dai ReesCoachRoy Francis
7score2
7HT0
Scorers
Tries
T
Goals
G
G
Refereeunknown ()

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

The road to success

All the ties in the first round were played on a two leg (home and away) basis.
For the first round ties, the first club named in each of the ties played the first leg at home.
For the first round ties, the scores shown are the aggregate score over the two legs.

First Round Second Round Semi Finals Final
            
Huddersfield 54
Wakefield Trinity 29
Huddersfield 19
York 7
York 40
Doncaster 4
Huddersfield 10
Bradford Northern 11
Batley 28
Bradford Northern 49
Bradford Northern 27
Leeds 9
Featherstone Rovers 14
Leeds 53
Bradford Northern 7
Hull 2
Hunslet 38
Hull KR 20
Hunslet 11
Keighley 2
Keighley 11
Dewsbury 8
Hunslet 5
Hull 9
Hull 47
Bramley 23
Hull 16
Halifax 4
Castleford 3
Halifax 20

Notes and comments

1 * The first Yorkshire Cup match played by Doncaster at their new Bentley Road Stadium - soon to be renamed "Tatters field" (ot Tattersfield) after the former chairman Len Tattersfield.
2 * Match abandoned after 32 minutes due to fog.
3 * Headingley, Leeds, is the home ground of Leeds RLFC with a capacity of 21,000. The record attendance was 40,175 for a league match between Leeds and Bradford Northern on 21 May 1947.

General information for those unfamiliar

The Rugby League 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 Rugby League season always (until the onset of "Summer Rugby" in 1996) ran from around August-time through to around May-time and this 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)

See also

References

  1. "Rugby League Project".
  2. Jack Winstanley & Malcolm Ryding (1991). John Player Yearbook 1975-76. Queen Anne Press.
  3. HC&AC committee (1954). Fartown Rugby League Year Book 1954. HC&AC Supporters' Club.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "Fartown Rugby League Yearbook 1954" (PDF).
  5. 5.0 5.1 J C Lindley and D W Armitage (1973). 100 Years of Rugby. The History of Wakefield Trinity 1873-1973. Wakefield Trinity Centenary Committee. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
  7. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
  8. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.

External links