1919–20 Yorkshire Cup

The 1919–20 Yorkshire Cup was the twelfth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. This season saw the junior/amateur club Featherstone Rovers being invited again, and this, together with the restart-up of Keighley after the wartime close-down, resulted in an increase of one bringing the total entries up to fourteen. This in turn resulted in two byes in the first round.

1919–20 Yorkshire Cup
Structure	Regional knockout championship
Teams	14
Winners	Huddersfield
Runners-up	Leeds

This year saw the cup holders retain the trophy after winning for the fourth successive time, with Huddersfield winning the trophy by beating Leeds by the score of 24-5 in the final. The match was played at Thrum Hall, Halifax, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 24,935 and receipts were ££2,096. This was Huddersfield's seventh appearance in what had been seven appearances in eight consecutive finals between 1909 and this season (which included four successive victories and six in total), and who knows, but for the intervention of the First World War and suspension of the competition, it may have been more. It was also the fourth consecutive win.

Background

The Rugby Football League's 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)

Competition and Results

[1][2]

Round 1

Involved 6 matches (with two byes) and 14 Clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 18 Oct 1919	Bradford Northern		3-5		Batley	Birch Lane
2	Sat 18 Oct 1919	Bramley		18-5		Hull Kingston Rovers	Barley Mow
3	Sat 18 Oct 1919	Featherstone Rovers		15-4		Keighley	Post Office Road			1
4	Sat 18 Oct 1919	Halifax		4-9		Huddersfield	Thrum Hall
5	Sat 18 Oct 1919	Leeds		8-5		Dewsbury	Headingley
6	Sat 18 Oct 1919	York		10-5		Hunslet	Clarence Street
7		Hull				bye					[3]
8		Wakefield Trinity				bye

Round 2 - Quarter Finals

Involved 4 matches and 8 Clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 1 Nov 1919	Batley		12-2		Featherstone Rovers	Mount Pleasant
2	Sat 1 Nov 1919	Huddersfield		33-8		Hull	Fartown				[3]
3	Sat 1 Nov 1919	Leeds		14-4		Bramley	Headingley
4	Sat 1 Nov 1919	Wakefield Trinity		4-3		York	Belle Vue

Round 3 – Semi-Finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 15 Nov 1919	Huddersfield		15-5		Wakefield Trinity	Fartown
2	Sat 15 Nov 1919	Leeds		16-5		Batley	Headingley

Final

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
	Saturday 29 November 1919	Huddersfield		24-5		Leeds	Thrum Hall	24935	£2,096	2	[4][5]

Teams and Scorers

Huddersfield	№	Leeds
	teams
Major Holland	1	J. H. Roberts
Albert "Rozzi" Rosenfeld	2	Jim Bacon
Tom Gleeson	3	William Davies
Harold Wagstaff	4	John Campbell
Stan Moorhouse	5	Squire Stockwell
Johnny Rogers	6	Joe Brittain
Robert Habron	7	A. E. Jenkinson
Aaron Lee	8	F. Mirfield
Arthur Swinden	9	F. Godward
Herbert Sherwood	10	W. N. Whiting
Ben Gronow	11	Billy Ward
G. Naylor	12	Fred Webster
Douglas Clark	13	Fred Carter
??	Coach	??
24	score	5
13	HT	0
	Scorers
	Tries
Stan Moorhouse (4)	T	W. N. Whiting (1)
R Habron (1)	T
Albert "Rozzi" Rosenfeld (1)	T
	Goals
Ben Gronow (3)	G	F. Mirfield (1)
	Drop Goals
	DG
Referee		B. Ennion (Wigan)

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

[3][6]

The road to success

	First Round					Second Round					Semi Finals					Final
	Halifax		4
	Huddersfield		9
						Huddersfield		33
						Hull		8
	Hull
	bye
											Huddersfield		15
											Wakefield Trinity		5
	Wakefield Trinity
	bye
						Wakefield Trinity		4
						York		3
	York		10
	Hunslet		5
																Huddersfield		24
																Leeds		5
	Leeds		8
	Dewsbury		5
						Leeds		14
						Bramley		4
	Bramley		18
	Hull Kingston Rovers		5
											Leeds		16
											Batley		5
	Bradford Northern		3
	Batley		5
						Batley		12
						Featherstone Rovers		2
	Featherstone Rovers		15
	Keighley		4

Notes

1 * Featherstone Rovers were at the time a junior/amateur club. They eventually joined the League for season 1921-22

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

• 1919–20 Northern Rugby Football Union 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. "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
4. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
5. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.
6. "Huddersfield RL Heritage 1919-20" (PDF).

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