1955–56 Yorkshire Cup

1955–56 Yorkshire Cup
StructureRegional knockout championship
Teams16
WinnersHalifax
Runners-upHull F.C.

1955–56 was the forty-eighth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held.

This year's final was a repeat of last years' final and between cup holder Halifax and last season runner-up Hull F.C. with the same outcome (albeit via a replay).

Halifax won the trophy by beating Hull F.C. by the score of 10-10 in a replayed final.

The original final, which ended in a 10-10 draw, was played at Headingley, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 23,520 and receipts were £4,385.

The replay was played 11 days later at Odsal in the City of Bradford, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 14,000 and receipts were £2,439.

This was the second of Halifax's two successive victories, both against Hull FC, for whom it was their third successive cup final defeat.

Background

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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 sixteen.

This in turn resulted in no byes in the first round.

This season saw a continuation of the simple knock-out formulas, there was to be no return to the two-legged ties.

Competition and results

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[1][2][3][4]

Round 1

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Involved 8 matches (with no byes) and 16 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 27 Aug 1955 Batley 13-25 Hull F.C. Mount Pleasant [5]
2 Sat 27 Aug 1955 Bradford Northern 27-23 Hunslet Odsal
3 Sat 27 Aug 1955 Bramley 16-13 Doncaster Barley Mow
4 Sat 27 Aug 1955 Castleford 29-8 Dewsbury Wheldon Road
5 Sat 27 Aug 1955 Featherstone Rovers 26-9 Huddersfield Post Office Road 9,000 [4]
6 Sat 27 Aug 1955 Hull Kingston Rovers 21-13 Keighley Craven Park (1)
7 Sat 27 Aug 1955 Leeds 13-31 Wakefield Trinity Headingley
8 Wed 31 Aug 1955 York 5-13 Halifax Clarence Street

Round 2 - quarterfinals

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Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Mon 5 Sep 1955 Hull F.C. 12-5 Featherstone Rovers Boulevard [5]
2 Fri 9 Sep 1955 Bramley 5-12 Bradford Northern Barley Mow
3 Wed 14 Sep 1955 Castleford 17-0 Hull Kingston Rovers Wheldon Road
4 Thu 15 Sep 1955 Wakefield Trinity 4-21 Halifax Belle Vue

Round 3 – semifinals

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Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Tue 20 Sep 1955 Hull F.C. 23-16 Bradford Northern Boulevard [5]
2 Wed 28 Sep 1955 Castleford 8-24 Halifax Wheldon Road

Final

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Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Saturday 22 October 1955 Halifax 10-10 Hull F.C. Headingley 23,520 £4,385 1 [5][6][7]

Final - replay

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Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Wednesday 2 November 1955 Halifax 7-0 Hull F.C. Odsal 14,000 £2,439 2 [5][6][7]

Teams and scorers

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Halifax Hull F.C.
teams
1 Jack Watkinson
2 Keith Bowman
3 Carl R. Turner
4 William "Bill" Riches
5 Ivor Watts
Ken Dean 6 Rowley Moat
7 Tommy Finn
8 Mick Scott (c)
Alvin Ackerley (c) 9 Tommy Harris
10 Bob Coverdale
11 Harry Markham
12 Bill Drake
13 Johnny Whiteley
?? Coach Roy Francis
10 score 10
7 HT 0
Scorers
Tries
T
T
Goals
G
G
Drop Goals
DG
Referee G.S. Phillips (Widnes)
Replay
teams
1 Colin Hutton
2 Keith Bowman
3 William "Bill" Riches
4 Carl R. Turner
5 Ivor Watts
Ken Dean 6 Rowley Moat
7 Tommy Finn
8 Mick Scott (c)
Alvin Ackerley (c) 9 Tommy Harris
10 Bob Coverdale
11 Harry Markham
12 Bill Drake
13 Johnny Whiteley
Coach Roy Francis
7 score 0
2 HT 0
Scorers
Tries
T
Goals
G
G
Drop Goals
DG
Referee N.T. Railton (Wigan)

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

The road to success

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First round Second round Semifinals Final
            
Castleford 29
Dewsbury 8
Castleford 17
Hull Kingston Rovers 0
Hull Kingston Rovers 21
Keighley 13
Castleford 8
Halifax 24
Leeds 13
Wakefield Trinity 31
Wakefield Trinity 4
Halifax 21
York 5
Halifax 13
Halifax 10 (0)
Hull F.C. 10 (7)
Batley 13
Hull F.C. 25
Hull F.C. 12
Featherstone Rovers 5
Featherstone Rovers 26
Huddersfield 9
Hull F.C. 23
Bradford Northern 16
Bramley 16
Doncaster 13
Bramley 5
Bradford Northern 12
Bradford Northern 27
Hunslet 23

Notes and comments

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1 * 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.

2 * Odsal is the home ground of Bradford Northern from 1890 to 2010 and the current capacity is in the region of 26,000, The ground is famous for hosting the largest attendance at an English sports ground when 102,569 (it was reported that over 120,000 actually attended as several areas of boundary fencing collapse under the sheer weight of numbers) attended the replay of the Challenge Cup final on 5 May 1954 to see Halifax v Warrington

General information for those unfamiliar

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The Rugby League 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)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Rugby League Project".
  2. ^ Jack Winstanley & Malcolm Ryding (1991). John Player Yearbook 1975-76. Queen Anne Press.
  3. ^ HC&AC Committee (1956). Fartown Rugby League Year Book 1956. HC&AC Supporters' Club.
  4. ^ a b "Fartown Rugby League Yearbook 1956" (PDF).
  5. ^ a b c d e "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
  6. ^ a b Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
  7. ^ a b Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.
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