1955–56 Yorkshire Cup

1955–56 was the forty-eighth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held.

1955–56 Yorkshire Cup
Structure	Regional knockout championship
Teams	16
Winners	Halifax
Runners-up	Hull F.C.
← 1954–55 1956–57 →

This year's final was a repeat of last years' final and between cup holder Halifax and last season runner-up Hull F.C. with the same outcome (albeit via a replay).

Halifax won the trophy by beating Hull F.C. by the score of 10-10 in a replayed final.

The original final, which ended in a 10-10 draw, was played at Headingley, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 23,520 and receipts were £4,385.

The replay was played 11 days later at Odsal in the City of Bradford, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 14,000 and receipts were £2,439.

This was the second of Halifax's two successive victories, both against Hull FC, for whom it was their third successive cup final defeat.

Background

This season there were no junior/amateur clubs taking part, no new entrants and no "leavers" and so the total of entries remained the same at sixteen.

This in turn resulted in no byes in the first round.

This season saw a continuation of the simple knock-out formulas, there was to be no return to the two-legged ties.

Competition and results

^[1][2][3][4]

Round 1

Involved 8 matches (with no byes) and 16 clubs

Game No	Fixture date	Home team		Score		Away team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 27 Aug 1955	Batley		13-25		Hull F.C.	Mount Pleasant				[5]
2	Sat 27 Aug 1955	Bradford Northern		27-23		Hunslet	Odsal
3	Sat 27 Aug 1955	Bramley		16-13		Doncaster	Barley Mow
4	Sat 27 Aug 1955	Castleford		29-8		Dewsbury	Wheldon Road
5	Sat 27 Aug 1955	Featherstone Rovers		26-9		Huddersfield	Post Office Road	9,000			[4]
6	Sat 27 Aug 1955	Hull Kingston Rovers		21-13		Keighley	Craven Park (1)
7	Sat 27 Aug 1955	Leeds		13-31		Wakefield Trinity	Headingley
8	Wed 31 Aug 1955	York		5-13		Halifax	Clarence Street

Round 2 - quarterfinals

Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs

Game No	Fixture date	Home team		Score		Away team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Mon 5 Sep 1955	Hull F.C.		12-5		Featherstone Rovers	Boulevard				[5]
2	Fri 9 Sep 1955	Bramley		5-12		Bradford Northern	Barley Mow
3	Wed 14 Sep 1955	Castleford		17-0		Hull Kingston Rovers	Wheldon Road
4	Thu 15 Sep 1955	Wakefield Trinity		4-21		Halifax	Belle Vue

Round 3 – semifinals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No	Fixture date	Home team		Score		Away team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Tue 20 Sep 1955	Hull F.C.		23-16		Bradford Northern	Boulevard				[5]
2	Wed 28 Sep 1955	Castleford		8-24		Halifax	Wheldon Road

Final

Game No	Fixture date	Home team		Score		Away team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
	Saturday 22 October 1955	Halifax		10-10		Hull F.C.	Headingley	23,520	£4,385	1	[5][6][7]

Final - replay

Game No	Fixture date	Home team		Score		Away team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
	Wednesday 2 November 1955	Halifax		7-0		Hull F.C.	Odsal	14,000	£2,439	2	[5][6][7]

Teams and scorers

Halifax	№	Hull F.C.
	teams
	1	Jack Watkinson
	2	Keith Bowman
	3	Carl R. Turner
	4	William "Bill" Riches
	5	Ivor Watts
Ken Dean	6	Rowley Moat
	7	Tommy Finn
	8	Mick Scott (c)
Alvin Ackerley (c)	9	Tommy Harris
	10	Bob Coverdale
	11	Harry Markham
	12	Bill Drake
	13	Johnny Whiteley
??	Coach	Roy Francis
10	score	10
7	HT	0
	Scorers
	Tries
	T
	T
	Goals
	G
	G
	Drop Goals
	DG
Referee		G.S. Phillips (Widnes)
Replay
	teams
	1	Colin Hutton
	2	Keith Bowman
	3	William "Bill" Riches
	4	Carl R. Turner
	5	Ivor Watts
Ken Dean	6	Rowley Moat
	7	Tommy Finn
	8	Mick Scott (c)
Alvin Ackerley (c)	9	Tommy Harris
	10	Bob Coverdale
	11	Harry Markham
	12	Bill Drake
	13	Johnny Whiteley
	Coach	Roy Francis
7	score	0
2	HT	0
	Scorers
	Tries
	T
	Goals
	G
	G
	Drop Goals
	DG
Referee		N.T. Railton (Wigan)

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

The road to success

	First round					Second round					Semifinals					Final
	Castleford		29
	Dewsbury		8
						Castleford		17
						Hull Kingston Rovers		0
	Hull Kingston Rovers		21
	Keighley		13
											Castleford		8
											Halifax		24
	Leeds		13
	Wakefield Trinity		31
						Wakefield Trinity		4
						Halifax		21
	York		5
	Halifax		13
																Halifax		10 (0)
																Hull F.C.		10 (7)
	Batley		13
	Hull F.C.		25
						Hull F.C.		12
						Featherstone Rovers		5
	Featherstone Rovers		26
	Huddersfield		9
											Hull F.C.		23
											Bradford Northern		16
	Bramley		16
	Doncaster		13
						Bramley		5
						Bradford Northern		12
	Bradford Northern		27
	Hunslet		23

Notes and comments

1 * 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.

2 * Odsal is the home ground of Bradford Northern from 1890 to 2010 and the current capacity is in the region of 26,000, The ground is famous for hosting the largest attendance at an English sports ground when 102,569 (it was reported that over 120,000 actually attended as several areas of boundary fencing collapse under the sheer weight of numbers) attended the replay of the Challenge Cup final on 5 May 1954 to see Halifax v Warrington

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

• 1955–56 Northern Rugby Football League season
• Rugby league county cups

References

1. "Rugby League Project".
2. Jack Winstanley & Malcolm Ryding (1991). John Player Yearbook 1975-76. Queen Anne Press.
3. HC&AC Committee (1956). Fartown Rugby League Year Book 1956. HC&AC Supporters' Club.
4. "Fartown Rugby League Yearbook 1956" (PDF).
5. "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
6. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
7. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.

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