1924–25 Yorkshire Cup

The 1924–25 Yorkshire Cup was the seventeenth occasion on which the competition was held. This year's final was between two local rivals, Wakefield Trinity, who won the trophy by beating Batley by the score of 9-8. The match was played at Headingley, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 25,546 and receipts were £1,912.

1924–25 Yorkshire Cup
Structure	Regional knockout championship
Teams	16
Winners	Wakefield Trinity
Runners-up	Batley
← 1923–24 1925–26 →

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 again two junior/amateur clubs taking part, Wyke and Castleford. The number of entries remained at last year's "full house" total of sixteen again obviating the necessity of having byes.^[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 11 Oct 1924	Bramley		5-9		Dewsbury	Barley Mow
2	Sat 11 Oct 1924	Huddersfield		18-18		Batley	Fartown
3	Sat 11 Oct 1924	Hull Kingston Rovers		45-0		Halifax	Craven Park (1)
4	Sat 11 Oct 1924	Hunslet		2-11		York	Parkside
5	Sat 11 Oct 1924	Keighley		13-0		Bradford Northern	Lawkholme Lane
6	Sat 11 Oct 1924	Leeds		24-10		Castleford	Headingley			1
7	Sat 11 Oct 1924	Wakefield Trinity		20-8		Hull	Belle Vue				^[3]^[4]
8	Sat 11 Oct 1924	Wyke		3-19		Featherstone Rovers	venue unknown			2

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 14 Oct 1924	Batley		12-3		Huddersfield	Mount Pleasant

Round 2 – quarterfinals

Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs

Game No	Fixture date	Home team		Score		Away team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 25 Oct 1924	Featherstone Rovers		2-13		Batley	Post Office Road
2	Sat 25 Oct 1924	Hull Kingston Rovers		16-0		York	Craven Park (1)
3	Sat 25 Oct 1924	Keighley		5-8		Wakefield Trinity	Lawkholme Lane				^[4]
4	Sat 25 Oct 1924	Leeds		24-4		Dewsbury	Headingley

Round 3 – semifinals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No	Fixture date	Home team		Score		Away team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 08 Nov 1924	Hull Kingston Rovers		8-10		Batley	Craven Park (1)
2	Sat 08 Nov 1924	Leeds		4-5		Wakefield Trinity	Headingley				^[4]

Final

Game No	Fixture date	Home team		Score		Away team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
	Saturday 22 November 1924	Wakefield Trinity		9-8		Batley	Headingley	25,546	£1,912	3	^[4]^[5]^[6]

Teams and scorers

Wakefield Trinity	№	Batley
	teams
Len Abraham(s)	1	Joseph "Joe" Robinson
C. A. "Charlie" Pollard	2	John Cyril Stacey
Billy Batten	3	George Davidge
Peter Reid	4	Harry Rees
Edward "Ned" Thomas	5	J. Kirkby
Thomas "Tommy" Pickup	6	William "Willie" Scott
Jonathan "Jonty" Parkin (c)	7	Isaac "Ike" John Fowler
Bernard P Gould	8	Alonza Brook
Robert "Bob" White	9	Jack Leeming
Ernest W. Blower	10	Jack W. Smith
Thomas Gibson	11	Fred Carter
William "Bill" Horton	12	George Douglas
C H "Charlie" Glossop	13	Frank Gallagher
??	Coach	??
9	score	8
5	HT	8
	Scorers
	Tries
Jonathan "Jonty" Parkin (1)	T	2
	T
	Goals
C. A. "Charlie" Pollard (2)	G	1
Jonathan "Jonty" Parkin (1)	G
	Drop Goals
	DG
Referee		unknown

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

^[4]

The road to success

	First round					Second round					Semifinals					Final
	Leeds		24
	Castleford		10
						Leeds		24
						Dewsbury		4
	Bramley		5
	Dewsbury		9
											Leeds		4
											Wakefield Trinity		5
	Keighley		13
	Bradford Northern		0
						Keighley		5
						Wakefield Trinity		8
	Wakefield Trinity		20
	Hull		8
																Wakefield Trinity		9
																Batley		8
	Hull Kingston Rovers		45
	Halifax		0
						Hull Kingston Rovers		16
						York		0
	Hunslet		2
	York		11
											Hull Kingston Rovers		8
											Batley		10
	Wyke		3
	Featherstone Rovers		19
						Featherstone Rovers		2
						Batley		13
	Huddersfield		18 (3)
	Batley		18 (12)

Notes

1 * Castleford were at that time a junior club. They joined the league for season 1926–27

2 * Wyke are a junior/amateur club from Wyke, near Bradford http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/wykearlfc/a/history-7698.html

3 * 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.

4 * The initial is given as "A Davidge" in the book "100 Years of Rugby. The History of Wakefield Trinity 1873–1973"^[4]

See also

• 1924–25 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. J C Lindley and D W Armitage (1973). 100 Years of Rugby. The History of Wakefield Trinity 1873–1973. Wakefield Trinity Centenary Committee. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
5. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991–1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
6. 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
• Widnes Vikings - One team, one passion Season In Review - 1896-97