1930–31 Yorkshire Cup

The 1930–31 Yorkshire Cup was the twenty-third occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. Leeds won the trophy by beating Huddersfield in the final by the score of 10-2. This was Leeds' second of six victories in a period of ten years, during which time they won every Yorkshire Cup final in which they appeared.

1930–31 Yorkshire Cup
Structure	Regional knockout championship
Teams	15
Winners	Leeds
Runners-up	Huddersfield

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 fifteen. This in turn resulted in one bye in the first round.[1][2]

Round 1

Involved 7 matches (with one bye) and 15 Clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 11 Oct 1930	Bradford Northern		5-5		Featherstone Rovers	Birch Lane
2	Sat 11 Oct 1930	Bramley		4-9		Castleford	Barley Mow
3	Sat 11 Oct 1930	Dewsbury		6-8		Huddersfield	Crown Flatt
4	Sat 11 Oct 1930	Hull		18-5		Hunslet	Boulevard				[3]
5	Sat 11 Oct 1930	Leeds		22-2		Keighley	Headingley
6	Sat 11 Oct 1930	Wakefield Trinity		14-0		Hull Kingston Rovers	Belle Vue
7	Sat 11 Oct 1930	York		2-2		Halifax	Clarence Street
8		Batley				bye

Round 1 - replays

Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
R	Mon 13 Oct 1930	Halifax		9-6		York)	Thrum Hall
R	Wed 15 Oct 1930	Featherstone Rovers		49-12		Bradford Northern	Post Office Road

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	Tue 21 Oct 1930	Batley		2-12		Wakefield Trinity	Mount Pleasant
2	Wed 22 Oct 1930	Huddersfield		8-6		Featherstone Rovers	Fartown
3	Wed 22 Oct 1930	Leeds		2-2		Halifax	Headingley
4	Thu 23 Oct 1930	Hull		12-8		Castleford	Boulevard				[3]

Round 2 - Replays

Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
R	Mon 27 Oct 1930	Halifax		2-12		Leeds	Thrum Hall

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	Mon 3 Nov 1930	Huddersfield		9-5		Wakefield Trinity	Fartown
2	Thu 6 Nov 1930	Hull		4-9		Leeds	Boulevard				[3]

Final

The final was played at Thrum Hall, Halifax, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 17,812 and receipts were £1,405.

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
	Saturday 22 November 1930	Leeds		10-2		Huddersfield	Thrum Hall	17,812	1,405	1	[4][5]

Teams and scorers

Leeds	№	Huddersfield
team unknown	teams	team unknown
	1
	2
	3
Frank O'Rourke (position uncertain)	4	Leonard Bowkett
	5
	6
	7
Arthur Thomas (position uncertain)	8
	9
	10
	11
	12
	13
	14
	15
?	Coach	?
10	score	2
2	HT	2
	Scorers
	Tries
	T
	T
	Goals
	G	Leonard Bowkett (1)
	G
	Drop Goals
	DG
Referee		unknown

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

[6]

The road to success

	First Round					Second Round					Semi Finals					Final
	Hull		18
	Hunslet		5
						Hull		12
						Castleford		8
	Bramley		4
	Castleford		9
											Hull		4
											Leeds		9
	Leeds		22
	Keighley		2
						Leeds		2 (12)
						Halifax		2 (2)
	York)		2 (6)
	Halifax		2 (9)
																Leeds		10
																Huddersfield		2
	Dewsbury		6
	Huddersfield		8
						Huddersfield		8
						Featherstone Rovers		6
	Bradford Northern		5 (12)
	Featherstone Rovers		5 (49)
											Huddersfield		9
											Wakefield Trinity		5
	Batley
	bye
						Batley		2
						Wakefield Trinity		12
	Wakefield Trinity		14
	Hull Kingston Rovers		0

Notes

1 * 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

• 1930–31 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. "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 1930–31" (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