1951–52 Lancashire Cup

1951–52 Lancashire Cup
StructureRegional knockout championship
Teams14
WinnersWigan
Runners-upLeigh

The 1951–52 Lancashire Cup was the thirty-ninth occasion on which rugby league's Lancashire Cup competition was held. It was won by Wigan who defeated Leigh in the final.

Background

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Overall, the number of teams entering this year's competition remained the same as last year's total of 14. The same pre-war fixture format was retained. This season saw no bye but one "blank" or "dummy" fixture in the first round. There was also one bye but no "blank" fixture" in the second round. As last season, all the first round matches of the competition will be played on the basis of two legged, home and away, ties – and the remainder of the rounds remaining on straight forward knock-out basis.

Competition and results

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Round 1 – first leg

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Involved 7 matches (with no bye and one "blank" fixture) and 14 clubs.[1]

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 01 Sep 1951 Barrow 52–5 Liverpool City Craven Park
2 Sat 01 Sep 1951 Rochdale Hornets 7–8 Oldham Athletic Grounds
3 Sat 01 Sep 1951 St. Helens 4–8 Belle Vue Rangers Knowsley Road 15,000 [2]
4 Sat 01 Sep 1951 Salford 7–14 Leigh The Willows
5 Sat 01 Sep 1951 Swinton 16–28 Wigan Station Road [3]
6 Sat 01 Sep 1951 Warrington 6–16 Workington Town Wilderspool [4]
7 Sat 01 Sep 1951 Widnes 14–6 Whitehaven Naughton Park [5]
8 blank blank

Round 1 – second leg

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Involved 7 matches (with no bye and one "blank" fixture) and 14 clubs. These are the reverse fixture from the first leg.

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Thu 06 Sep 1951 Liverpool City 5–30 Barrow Mill Yard, Knotty Ash 10–82
2 Tue 04 Sep 1951 Oldham 21–5 Rochdale Hornets Watersheddings 29–12
3 Thu 06 Sep 1951 Belle Vue Rangers 2–2 St. Helens Belle Vue Stadium 10–6 5,000 [2]
4 Wed 12 Sep 1951 Leigh 15–9 Salford Kirkhall Lane 29–16
5 Wed 12 Sep 1951 Wigan 15–5 Swinton Central Park 43–21 [3]
6 Mon 03 Sep 1951 Workington Town 20–3 Warrington Borough Park 36–9 [4]
7 Wed 05 Sep 1951 Whitehaven 11–9 Widnes Recreation Ground 14–23 [5]
8 blank blank

Round 2 – quarterfinals

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Involved 3 matches (with one bye) and 7 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Mon 24 Sep 1951 Oldham 17–9 Widnes Watersheddings [5]
2 Wed 26 Sep −1951 Belle Vue Rangers 12–2 Workington Town Belle Vue Stadium
3 Thu 27 Sep 1951 Barrow 12–16 Leigh Craven Park
4 Wigan bye [3]

Round 3 – semifinals

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Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Mon 15 Oct 1951 Wigan 22–9 Belle Vue Rangers Central Park [3]
2 Tue 16 Oct 1951 Oldham 10–14 Leigh Watersheddings

Final

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Wigan won the trophy by beating Leigh by the score of 14–6. The match was played at Station Road, Pendlebury, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 33,230 and receipts were £5,432. This was the sixth (and last) in Wigan's record breaking run of six consecutive Lancashire Cup victories.

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref
Saturday 27 October 1951 Wigan 14–6 Leigh Station Road 33,230 £5,432 1 [3][6]

Teams and scorers

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Wigan No. Leigh
Teams
Jack Cunliffe 1 Jimmy Ledgard
Gordon Ratcliffe 2 Bill Kindon
George Roughley 3 Trevor Allan
Ernie Ashcroft 4 Norman Harris
Brian Nordgren 5 Frank Morgan
Jack Broome 6 Edward Kerwick
Johnny Alty 7 Ken Baxter
Ken Gee 8 Harry Edden
Ronald Mather 9 Joe Egan (c)
Frank Barton 10 Jeff Burke
Nat Silcock, Jr. 11 Charlie Pawsey
Jack Large 12 Walt Tabern
Harry Street 13 Peter Foster
Coach Joe Egan
14 score 6
3 HT 0
Scorers
Tries
Brian Nordgren (2) T Harris (1)
Jack Broome (1) T Morgan (1)
Jack Large (1) T
Goals
Ken Gee (1) G
Referee Albert Dobson, Pontefract

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

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The road to success

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All the first round ties were played on a two leg (home and away) basis.

The first club named in each of the first round ties played the first leg at home.

the scores shown in the first round are the aggregate score over the two legs.

First round Second round Semifinals Final
            
Swinton 41
Wigan 43
Wigan
bye
blank
blank
Wigan 22
Belle Vue Rangers 9
St. Helens 6
Belle Vue Rangers 10
Belle Vue Rangers 12
Workington Town 2
Warrington 9
Workington Town 36
Wigan 14
Leigh 6
Rochdale Hornets 12
Oldham 29
Oldham 17
Widnes 9
Widnes 23
Whitehaven 14
Oldham 10
Leigh 14
Barrow 30
Liverpool City 5
Barrow 12
Leigh 16
Salford 16
Leigh 29

Notes and comments

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1 * Station Road was the home ground of Swinton from 1929 to 1932 and at its peak was one of the finest rugby league grounds in the country and it boasted a capacity of 60,000. The actual record attendance was for the Challenge Cup semi-final on 7 April 1951 when 44,621 watched Wigan beat Warrington 3–2

See also

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References

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