1955–56 Lancashire Cup

1955–56 was the forty-third occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion had been held.
Leigh won the trophy by beating Widnes by the score of 26-9.
The match was played at Central Park, Wigan, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 26,504 and receipts were £4,090.

1955–56 Lancashire Cup
Structure	Regional knockout championship
Teams	15
Winners	Leigh
Runners-up	Widnes

Background

The end of last season saw the demise of Belle Vue Rangers. With this and the retention of the invitation to juniors, Lancashire Amateurs the number of clubs was reduced by one to a total of 15.
The same pre-war fixture format was retained, and due to reduction in the number of clubs this resulted in one bye in the first round.
The whole tournament was again played on a knock-out basis, and there would be no return to the two legged fixtures during the life of the competition.

Competition and results

[1]

Round 1

Involved 7 matches (with one bye but no “blank” fixture) and 15 clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 27 Aug 1955	Barrow		18-12		St. Helens	Craven Park	9,732			[2]
2	Sat 27 Aug 1955	Blackpool Borough		8-18		Oldham	St Anne's Road Greyhound Stadium
3	Sat 27 Aug 1955	Leigh		71-14		County Amateurs	Kirkhall Lane
4	Sat 27 Aug 1955	Rochdale Hornets		26-17		Whitehaven	Athletic Grounds
5	Sat 27 Aug 1955	Salford		8-33		Widnes	The Willows				[3]
6	Sat 27 Aug 1955	Wigan		15-16		Warrington	Central Park				[4][5]
7	Sat 27 Aug 1955	Workington Town		24-10		Liverpool City	Borough Park
8		Swinton				bye

Round 2 - Quarter Finals

Involved 4 matches (with no bye) and 8 clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Tue 06 Sep 1955	Barrow		24-10		Workington Town	Craven Park
2	Tue 06 Sep 1955	Rochdale Hornets		12-26		Warrington	Athletic Grounds				[5]
3	Wed 07 Sep 1955	Oldham		11-13		Leigh	Watersheddings
4	Thu 08 Sep 1955	Widnes		9-3		Swinton	Naughton Park				[3]

Round 3 – Semi-Finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue width=30 abbr="Att" |Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Thu 22 Sep 1955	Barrow		7-11		Leigh	Craven Park
2	Thu 22 Sep 1955	Widnes		11-6		Warrington	Naughton Park			[3][5]

Final

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
	Saturday 15 October 1955	Leigh		26-9		Widnes	Central Park	26,504	£4,090	1	[3][6]

Teams and scorers

Leigh	№	Widnes
	teams
	1	John Sale
	2	Gordon Williamson
	3	Harold 'Lal' Kinsey
	4	Tommy Galligan
	5	Peter Ratcliffe
	6	Roy Butler
	7	Percy Davies
Bill Robinson (position uncertain)	8	Ron Rowbottom
	9	Jack Hayes/J. J. Hayes
	10	Harold Tomlinson
	11	Derek Smith/Tom Smith/Vin Smith
	12	Gordon Murray
	13	George Kemel
26	score	9
8	HT	4
	Scorers
	Tries
	T	Gordon Williamson (1)
	T
	T
	T
	T
	Goals
	G	John Sale (3)
	G
	Drop Goals
	DG
Referee

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

[3]

The road to success

	First Round					Second Round					Semi Finals					Final
	Barrow		18
	St. Helens		12
						Barrow		24
						Workington Town		10
	Workington Town		24
	Liverpool City		10
											Barrow		7
											Leigh		11
	Blackpool Borough		8
	Oldham		18
						Oldham		11
						Leigh		13
	Leigh		71
	County Amateurs		14
																Leigh		26
																Widnes		9
	Salford		8
	Widnes		33
						Widnes		9
						Swinton		3
	Swinton
	bye
											Widnes		11
											Warrington		6
	Rochdale Hornets		26
	Whitehaven		17
						Rochdale Hornets		12
						Warrington		26
	Wigan		15
	Warrington		16

Notes and comments

1 * Central Park was the home ground of Wigan with a final capacity of 18,000, although the record attendance was 47,747 for Wigan v St Helens 27 March 1959

See also

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

References

1. "Rugby League Project".
2. "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
3. "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
4. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
5. "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2010-07-06.
6. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.

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