1922–23 Yorkshire Cup

The 1922–23 Yorkshire Cup was the fifteen occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. For the third year in succession, the name of yet another new club appeared on the trophy. This year, York won the trophy by beating Batley by the score of 5-0 in the final. The match was played at Headingley, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 33,719 and receipts were £2,414.

1922–23 Yorkshire Cup
Structure	Regional knockout championship
Teams	14
Winners	York
Runners-up	Batley

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, two junior clubs were invited to enter bringing the total number taking part up to a "full house" of sixteen, which in turn removed the necessity to have any byes.[1][2]

Round 1

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 14 Oct 1922	Bradford Northern		13-3		Keighley	Birch Lane
2	Sat 14 Oct 1922	Bramley		2-7		Dewsbury	Barley Mow
3	We 18 Oct 1922	Sharlston Rovers		11-32		Batley	Mount Pleasant			1 2
4	Sat 21 Oct 1922	Featherstone Rovers		9-17		Leeds	Post Office Road
5	Sat 21 Oct 1922	Huddersfield		5-0		Halifax	Fartown
6	Sat 21 Oct 1922	Hull Kingston Rovers		14-2		Hull	Craven Park (1)			3	[3]
7	Sat 21 Oct 1922	Hunslet		11-13		Wakefield Trinity	Parkside
8	Sat 21 Oct 1922	York		24-2		Elland Wanderers	Clarence Street			4

Round 2 - Quarter Finals

Involved 4 matches and 8 Clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 4 Nov 1922	York		4-3		Huddersfield	Clarence Street
2	Sat 4 Nov 1922	Batley		15-3		Hull Kingston Rovers	Mount Pleasant
3	Sat 4 Nov 1922	Leeds		22-3		Bradford Northern	Headingley
4	Sat 4 Nov 1922	Wakefield Trinity		?		Dewsbury	check venue			5

Round 3 – Semi-Finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 18 Nov 1922	Leeds		0-28		Batley	Headingley
2	Sat 18 Nov 1922	Wakefield Trinity		2-4		York	Belle Vue

Final

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
	Saturday 2 December 1922	York		5-0		Batley	Headingley	33,719	£2414	6 7 8	[4][5]

Teams and Scorers

York	№	Batley
	teams
Edward Owen	1	Joseph "Joe" Robinson
L. Farrar	2	Albert Carter
A. Corsi	3	Harry Rees
John "Jack" Corsi	4	Brinley Williams
S. Boston	5	Hugh "Bob" Murray
S. Short	6	Ike Fowler
J. McEwan	7	William "Willie" Scott
H. Brown	8	George Ramsbottom
F. Mirfield	9	James "Jim" Sykes
J. Bettridge	10	Allen Mortimer
W. Whiting	11	George Douglas
G. S. Reynolds	12	Norman Gardiner
J. A. Ashton	13	Fred Carter
T. Goulden	Coach	??
5	score	0
3	HT	0
	Scorers
	Tries
L. Farrar (1)	T
	Goals
J. McEwan (DG)	G
Referee		Mr B. Ennion (Wigan)

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

The road to success

	First Round					Second Round					Semi Finals					Final
	Hunslet		11
	Wakefield Trinity		13
						Wakefield Trinity		w
						Dewsbury
	Bramley		2
	Dewsbury		7
											Wakefield Trinity		2
											York		4
	York		24
	Elland Wanderers		2
						York		4
						Huddersfield		3
	Huddersfield		5
	Halifax		0
																York		5
																Batley		0
	Featherstone Rovers		9
	Leeds		17
						Leeds		22
						Bradford Northern		3
	Bradford Northern		13
	Keighley		3
											Leeds		0
											Batley		28
	Sharlston Rovers		11
	Batley		32
						Batley		15
						Hull Kingston Rovers		3
	Hull Kingston Rovers		14
	Hull		2

See also

• 1922–23 Northern Rugby Football League season
• Rugby league county cups

Notes

1 * Sharlston Rovers are a junior (or amateur) club from Wakefield [6]

2 * Sharlston Rovers forgo ground advantage for a better ground/higher receipts

3 * The first Yorkshire Cup match to be played at the new stadium

4 * Elland Wanderers were a Junior/amateur club from Elland (Halifax)

5 * cannot locate any reference to this fixture, but both Wakefield Trinity and Dewsbury won their first round tie and Wakefield Trinity proceed to the semi-final. The venue and score are both unknown

6 * The attendance was at the time, a record, and this for, arguably, possibly two of the least glamorous teams in the competition. The record was not to be bettered until 1949, and then only the once.

7 * The receipts of £2,414 were also a record and this would stand for almost 25 years until broken in 1946 with a new record of £3,718

8 * Headingley, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire

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. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991–1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
5. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990–1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.
6. "Sharlston Rovers ARLFC".

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