1920–21 Yorkshire Cup

The 1920–21 Yorkshire Cup was the thirteenth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. This year saw a new name on the trophy, when previously twice beaten finalists (1906 and 1911), Hull Kingston Rovers won the trophy at the third attempt by beating close neighbours and fierce rivals Hull F.C. by the score of 2-0 in the final. The match was played at Headingley, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 20,000 and receipts were £1,926. This was the first of only three meetings between the teams which would take place in the finals in the long history of the tournament

1920–21 Yorkshire Cup
Structure	Regional knockout championship
Teams	13
Winners	Hull Kingston Rovers
Runners-up	Hull

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 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).

Competition and Results

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 thirteen. This in turn resulted in three byes in the first round.[1][2]

Round 1

Involved 5 matches (with three byes) and 13 Clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 16 Oct 1920	Batley		10-3		York	Mount Pleasant
2	Sat 16 Oct 1920	Halifax		15-3		Bramley	Thrum Hall
3	Sat 16 Oct 1920	Huddersfield		5-5		Dewsbury	Fartown
4	Sat 16 Oct 1920	Hull Kingston Rovers		12-3		Bradford Northern	Craven Street (off Holderness Road)
5	Sat 16 Oct 1920	Leeds		14-2		Wakefield Trinity	Headingley
6		Hull				bye					[3]
7		Hunslet				bye
8		Keighley				bye

Round 1 - Replays

Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
R	Tue 19 Oct 1920	Dewsbury		7-0		Huddersfield	Crown Flatt

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 30 Oct 1920	Dewsbury		3-2		Halifax	Crown Flatt	26584		1
2	Sat 30 Oct 1920	Hunslet		10-9		Batley	Parkside
3	Sat 30 Oct 1920	Keighley		5-18		Hull	Lawkholme Lane				[3]
4	Sat 30 Oct 1920	Leeds		2-8		Hull Kingston Rovers	Headingley

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 13 Nov 1920	Hull		31-5		Hunslet	Boulevard				[3]
2	Sat 13 Nov 1920	Hull Kingston Rovers		8-5		Dewsbury	Craven Street (off Holderness Road)

Final

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
	Saturday 27 November 1920	Hull Kingston Rovers		2-0		Hull	Headingley	20000	£1,926	2	[3][4][5]

Teams and Scorers

Hull Kingston Rovers	№	Hull
teams unknown	teams	teams unknown
	1
	2
	3
	4
	5
	6
	7
	8
	9
	10
	11
	12
	13
??	Coach	Sid Melville (trainer)
2	score	0
0	HT	0
	Scorers
	Goals
	G
	Drop Goals
	DG
Referee		unknown

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

The road to success

	First Round					Second Round					Semi Finals					Final
	Leeds		14
	Wakefield Trinity		2
						Leeds		2
						Hull Kingston Rovers		8
	Hull Kingston Rovers		12
	Bradford Northern		3
											Hull Kingston Rovers		8
											Dewsbury		5
	Huddersfield		5 (0)
	Dewsbury		5 (7)
						Dewsbury		3
						Halifax		2
	Halifax		15
	Bramley		3
																Hull Kingston Rovers		2
																Hull		0
	Keighley
	bye
						Keighley		5
						Hull		18
	Hull
	bye
											Hull		31
											Hunslet		5
	Hunslet
	bye
						Hunslet		10
						Batley		9
	Batley		10
	York		3

Notes

1 * the attendance was a never to be bettered ground record

2 * 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.

See also

• 1920–21 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.

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