1944 Yorkshire Cup

1944-45 Yorkshire Cup

Structure	Regional knockout championship
Number of teams	17
Winners	Hunslet
Runners-up	Halifax
< 1943 Seasons 1945 >

1944 Yorkshire Cup

The 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 1944–45 Northern Rugby Football League Wartime Emergency League season calendar

1944 was the thirty-seventh occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held.
Halifax won the trophy by beating Hunslet in a two-legged final by an aggregate score of 14-3
Hunslet played the first leg match at home (at Parkside, Hunslet, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire) and lost 3-12. The attendance was 11,213 and receipts were £744.
Halifax were at home (at Thrum Hall) for the second leg match and duly won 2-0. The attendance at the second leg match was 9,800 and receipts £745.

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 this 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 the 1943–44 Northern Rugby Football League Wartime Emergency League season
Wigan - This club entered the Yorkshire Cup competition for the fifth successive season
Oldham - The club, as Wigan, also entered the Yorkshire Cup competition and for the fifth successive season
St Helens - The club, as Wigan and Oldham, also entered the Yorkshire Cup competition and for their third 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 the 1943–44 Northern Rugby Football League Wartime Emergency League 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, Castleford rejoined after two seasons' absence, and with the Lancashire presence with the quartet of Wigan, Oldham, St Helens and Barrow, this increased the entries by one, bringing the total up to senenteen.
This in turn resulted in no byes in the first round, and also the addition of one fixture in a preliminary 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

Preliminary Round - First Leg

Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs
The preliminary round tie was played on a two-legged home and away basis

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	agg	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
	Sat 07 Oct 1944	Wakefield Trinity		3-12		Halifax	Belle Vue

Preliminary Round - Second Leg

Involved 1 match and 2 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
	Sat 14 Oct 1944	Halifax		8-3		Wakefield Trinity	Thrum Hall	20-6

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
1	Sat 21 Oct 1944	Dewsbury		6-4		Keighley	Crown Flatt
2	Sat 21 Oct 1944	Featherstone Rovers		6-0		Leeds	Post Office Road
3	Sat 21 Oct 1944	Halifax		14-2		Batley	Thrum Hall
4	Sat 21 Oct 1944	Huddersfield		23-19		Hull	Fartown
5	Sat 21 Oct 1944	Hunslet		6-3		Castleford	Parkside
6	Sat 21 Oct 1944	Oldham		5-18		Wigan	Watersheddings
7	Sat 21 Oct 1944	St Helens		8-22		Barrow	Knowsley Road
8	Sat 21 Oct 1944	York		0-10		Bradford Northern	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	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 28 Oct 1944	Keighley		5-5		Dewsbury	Lawkholme Lane	9-11
2	Sat 28 Oct 1944	Leeds		5-3		Featherstone Rovers	Headingley	5-9
3	Sat 28 Oct 1944	Batley		0-12		Halifax	Mount Pleasant	2-26
4	Sat 28 Oct 1944	Hull		21-2		Huddersfield	Boulevard	40-25
5	Sat 28 Oct 1944	Castleford		2-8		Hunslet	Wheldon Road	5-14
6	Sat 28 Oct 1944	Wigan		39-2		Oldham	Central Park	57-7
7	Sat 28 Oct 1944	Barrow		21-8		St Helens	Craven Park	43-16
8	Sat 28 Oct 1944	Bradford Northern		45-5		York	Odsal	55-5

Round 2 - Quarter Finals - 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	agg	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 04 Nov 1944	Dewsbury		0-0		Hull	Crown Flatt
2	Sat 04 Nov 1944	Featherstone Rovers		0-12		Hunslet	Post Office Road
3	Sat 04 Nov 1944	Halifax		10-0		Bradford Northern	Thrum Hall
4	Sat 04 Nov 1944	Wigan		9-5		Barrow	Central Park

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	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 11 Nov 1944	Hull		5-7		Dewsbury	Boulevard	5-7
2	Sat 11 Nov 1944	Hunslet		15-0		Featherstone Rovers	Parkside	27-0
3	Sat 11 Nov 1944	Bradford Northern		5-5		Halifax	Odsal	5-15
4	Sat 11 Nov 1944	Barrow		5-2		Wigan	Craven Park	10-11

Round 3 – Semi-Finals - 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	agg	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 18 Nov 1944	Hunslet		9-0		Dewsbury	Parkside
2	Sat 18 Nov 1944	Wigan		5-6		Halifax	Central Park

Semi-Final - 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	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 25 Nov 1944	Dewsbury		0-2		Hunslet	Crown Flatt	0-11
2	Sat 25 Nov 1944	Halifax		9-7		Wigan	Thrum Hall	15-12

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 2 December 1944	Hunslet		3-12		Halifax	Parkside		11213	744	1

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 9 December 1944	Halifax		2-0		Hunslet	Thrum Hall	14-3	9800	745	2

Teams and Scorers

Hunslet	№	Halifax
	teams
	1
	2
	3
	4
	5
	6
	7
	8
	9
	10
	11
	12
	13
??	Coach	??
3	score	12
	HT
	Scorers
	Tries
	T
	T
	Goals
	G
	Drop Goals
	DG
Referee		unknown ()
Second Leg
Hunslet	teams	Halifax
	1
	2
	3
	4
	5
	6
	7
	8
	9
	10
	11
	12
	13
	Coach
2	Score	0
	HT
	Scorers
	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					Semi Finals					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 * Parkside was the home ground of Hunslet from 1888 to 1973. The club were struggling financially when in 1971 fire destroyed the stand, greatly reducing the ground attendance capacity, the record for which stood at the 24,700 for a third round Challenge Cup match in 1924. After the fire the directors sold the ground and wound up the club.
2 * Thrum Hall was the home ground of Halifax with a final capacity of 9,832 (The attendance record of 29,153 was set on 21 March 1959 for a third round Challenge Cup tie v Wigan). The club finally moved out in 1998 to take part ownership and ground-share with Halifax Town FC at The Shay Stadium.

See also

• 1944-45 Northern Rugby Football League Wartime Emergency League season
• Rugby league county cups

External links

• Saints Heritage Society
• 1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season at wigan.rlfans.com
• Hull&Proud Fixtures & Results 1896/1897
• Widnes Vikings - One team, one passion Season In Review - 1896-97
• The Northern Union at warringtonwolves.org