1939–40 Yorkshire Cup

April 2022 1939–40 Yorkshire Cup Regional knockout championship Featherstone Rovers Winners Wakefield Trinity 1938–39 Yorkshire Cup 1938–39 1940–41 Yorkshire Cup 1940–41 12 The 1939–40 Yorkshire Cup was the thirty-second occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. The 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 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, as was the case with this season) Due to the start of the Second World War, the competition was delayed until early 1940. This season's competition is classed as a "Wartime Emergency Competition" and therefore the results did not count as an official competition win. However, this aside, there was a new winner for this season's trophy, Featherstone Rovers winning the trophy by beating Wakefield Trinity by the score of 12–9 in the final. The match was played at Odsal in the City of Bradford, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 7,077 and receipts were £403 Unlike the 1939–40 Lancashire Cup, the Yorkshire cup was played on a straightforward knock-out basis, and not on a two-legged basis. Preamble to changes Prior to the declaration of war on 3 September 1939, most clubs had played two or three fixtures (on Saturday 26th, Thursday 31 August and Saturday 2 September). During the following week, the Northern Rugby League decided, after publicity from the Government, to suspend the championship. They almost immediately inaugurated two regional (Lancashire and Yorkshire), Wartime Emergency Leagues, with the winner of each league meeting in a play-off final to decide the overall winner. The Challenge Cup and both County Cups were suspended. There was to be no Yorkshire Cup competition in 1939. But later in the season both County Cups were resurrected. The Yorkshire Cup started on Saturday 25 May/1 June and was played on consecutive weekends. Each and every match was played on a knock-out basis. Background Batley, Bramley and Keighley, (the three clubs who finishing as the bottom three in the Yorkshire League) did not appear to enter this year's competition. All had competed in the league programme, and all competed again next season The number of teams entering this year’s competition therefore decreased by three reducing the total number of entrants to twelve. This in turn resulted in four byes in the first round. Competition and results Rugby League Project http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/competitions/yorkshire-cup/results.html Jack Winstanley and Malcolm Ryding John Player Yearbook 1975-76 1991 Queen Anne Press Round 1 Involved 4 matches (with four byes) and 12 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueRef1Sat 25 May 1940Dewsbury23–14YorkCrown Flatt2Sat 1 Jun 1940Bradford Northern22–3LeedsOdsal3Sat 1 Jun 1940Castleford17–10HunsletWheldon Road 4Sat 1 Jun 1940Featherstone Rovers18–2HalifaxPost Office Road5Huddersfieldbyebyes Batley, Bramley and Keighley, (the three clubs who finishing as the bottom three in the Yorkshire League) did not appear to enter this year's competition6HullbyebyesHULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results http://www.hullfc.com/first-team/matches/19387Hull Kingston Roversbyebyes8Wakefield Trinitybyebyes Round 2 - quarterfinals Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueRef1Sat 8 Jun 1940Castleford6–12Hull Kingston RoversWheldon Road 2Sat 8 Jun 1940Featherstone Rovers21–6Bradford NorthernPost Office Road3Sat 8 Jun 1940Huddersfield9–23DewsburyFartown4Sat 8 Jun 1940Wakefield Trinity27–3HullBelle Vue Round 3 – semifinals Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueRef1Sat 15 Jun 1940Featherstone Rovers15–11DewsburyPost Office Road2Sat 15 Jun 1940Hull Kingston Rovers5–5Wakefield TrinityCraven Park (1) Semifinal - replays Involved 1 match and 2 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueRefRWed 19 Jun 1940Wakefield Trinity8–7Hull Kingston RoversBelle Vue Final Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttRecNotesRefSaturday 22 June 1940Featherstone Rovers12–9Wakefield TrinityOdsal7,077£403 J. C. Lindley and D. W. Armitage 100 Years of Rugby. The History of Wakefield Trinity 1873-1973 1973 Wakefield Trinity Centenary Committee 0 35617852 8Raymond Fletcher and David Howes Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992 1991 Queen Anne Press 0 35617852 8Raymond Fletcher and David Howes Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991 1990 Queen Anne Press 0 35617851 X Teams and scorers Featherstone RoversNo.Wakefield Trinity teams John Haley1William "Billy" TeallAlbany Longley2Reg JenkinsonWalter Tennant3Horace TurnerBill Hughes4Robert "Bob" OliverJack Blackburn5George Henry "Mick" ExleyRay Hamer6Sam HerbertsHarold Moxon7Herbert "Harry" GoodfellowFrank Hemingway8Harry WilkinsonJoe Golby9Victor "Vic" DarlisonJohn "Jack" Dyson10Harry NicholsonWilf Pearson11Sandy OrfordGeorge Taylor12Alan FlowersBill Sherwood13Leonard "Len" MarsonxBilly WilliamsCoach?? 12score93HT7 Scorers Tries 2THorace Turner (1)T Goals 3GWilliam "Billy" Teall (3)G Drop Goals DGRefereeunknown Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points The road to success First round Second round Semifinals Final Featherstone Rovers 18 Halifax 2 Bradford Northern 22 Leeds 3 Huddersfield bye Dewsbury 23 York 14 Castleford 17 Hunslet 10 Hull Kingston Rovers bye Wakefield Trinity bye Hull bye Featherstone Rovers 21 Bradford Northern 6 Huddersfield 9 Dewsbury 23 Castleford 6 Hull Kingston Rovers 12 Wakefield Trinity 3 Hull Featherstone Rovers 15 Dewsbury 11 Hull Kingston Rovers 5 (7) Wakefield Trinity 5 (8) Featherstone Rovers 12 Wakefield Trinity 9 See also 1939–40 Northern Rugby Football League Wartime Emergency League season Rugby league county cups Notes References External links Saints Heritage Society https://web.archive.org/web/20120302024842/http://www.saints.org.uk/saints.org.uk/home/viewpage.php?page_id=9 2 March 2012 1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season at wigan.rlfans.com https://web.archive.org/web/20140202123900/http://wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/index.php?page_id=319 2 February 2014 Hull&Proud Fixtures & Results 1896/1897 Widnes Vikings - One team, one passion Season In Review - 1896-97 The Northern Union at warringtonwolves.org Category:RFL Yorkshire Cup Yorkshire Cup