1926–27 Lancashire Cup

The 1926–27 Lancashire Cup was the nineteenth competition in the history of this regional rugby league contest and another new name was added to the trophy. It was the turn of St. Helens, one of the founding members of the Northern Union, to lift the trophy and until this year had never even reached the final of the competition. In a local derby match St. Helens beat very near neighbours St Helens Recs by 10–2. The match was played at Wilderspool, Warrington. The attendance was 19,439 and receipts £1192.

1926–27 Lancashire Cup
Structure	Regional knockout competition
Teams	14
Champions	St. Helens
Runners-up	St Helens Recs

For the first time in the competition, both semi-finals resulted in draws and required replays.

Background

The number of teams entering this year's competition increased by one to 14 which resulted in 2 byes in the first round. The additional team were amateur side Pemberton Rovers.

Competition and results

[1]

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	Wed 6 October 1926	Wigan Highfield		10-11		Rochdale Hornets	Tunstall Lane
2	Thu 7 October 1926	St. Helens		51-8		Pemberton Rovers	Knowsley Road			1	[2]
3	Sat 9 October 1926	Barrow		24-2		Broughton Rangers	Little Park, Roose
4	Sat 9 October 1926	Oldham		2-3		Salford	Watersheddings
5	Sat 9 October 1926	St Helens Recs		21-3		Leigh	City Road
6	Sat 9 October 1926	Wigan		6-10		Swinton	Central Park				[3]
7		Warrington				bye					[4]
8		Widnes				bye					[5]

Round 2 - Quarter Finals

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Mon 18 October 1926	Warrington		9-16		Widnes	Wilderspool				[4][5]
2	Wed 20 October 1926	St Helens Recs		26-2		Rochdale Hornets	City Road
3	Wed 20 October 1926	Salford		6-5		Barrow	The Willows
4	Thu 21 October 1926	St. Helens		29-18		Swinton	Knowsley Road				[2]

Round 3 – Semi-Finals

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Thu 4 November 1926	Widnes		3-3		St. Helens	Lowerhouse Lane				[2][5]
2	Wed 10 November 1926	St Helens Recs		8-8		Salford	City Road
Replays
3	Mon 8 November 1926	St. Helens		17-0		Widnes	Knowsley Road				[2][5]
4	Fri 12 November 1926	Salford		0-14		St Helens Recs	The Willows

Final

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
	Saturday 20 November 1926	St. Helens		10-2		St Helens Recs	Wilderspool	19439	£1,192	2	[2][6]

Teams and scorers

St. Helens[2]	No.	St Helens Recs
	teams
Charlie Crooks	1	team unknown
George Cotton	2
Alf Frodsham	3
George Lewis	4
Alf Ellaby	5
Les Fairclough	6
Walter Groves	7
Bob Atkin	8
Albert Simm	9
Louis Houghton	10
Bill Clarey	11
Fred Roffey	12
Ernie Shaw	13
10	score	2
10	HT	2
	Scorers
	Tries
Alf Ellaby (1)	T
Les Fairclough (1)	T
	Goals
George Lewis (2)	G
	Drop Goals
	DG
Referee

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
	Warrington
	bye
						Warrington		9
						Widnes		16
	Widnes
	bye
											Widnes		3(0)
											St. Helens		3(17)
	St. Helens		51
	Pemberton Rovers		8
						St. Helens		29
						Swinton		18
	Wigan		6
	Swinton		10
																St. Helens		10
																St Helens Recs		2
	St Helens Recs		21
	Leigh		3
						St Helens Recs		26
						Rochdale Hornets		2
	Wigan Highfield		10
	Rochdale Hornets		11
											St Helens Recs		8(14)
											Salford		8(0)
	Oldham		2
	Salford		3
						Salford		6
						Barrow		5
	Barrow		24
	Broughton Rangers		2

See also

• 1926–27 Northern Rugby Football League season

Notes

• 1 Pemberton Rovers were a Junior (amateur) club from Wigan.
• 2 Wilderspool was the home ground of Warrington from 1883 to the end of the 2003 Summer season.

References

1. "Rugby League Project".
2. "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1926–27".
3. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
4. "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1926".
5. "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1926–27".
6. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.