1931–32 Lancashire Cup

The 1931–32 Lancashire Cup was the twenty-fourth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup competition had been held. Once again a new name was to be added to the trophy this year as it was the turn of Salford, who won the trophy for the first time by beating neighbours and close rivals Swinton in the final by 10-8.

1931-32 Lancashire Cup
Structure	Regional knockout championship
Teams	13
Winners	Salford
Runners-up	Swinton

Background

At the time of the great schism in 1895, Salford had initially remained loyal to the Rugby Football Union but in April 1896 the board met and only three members opposed the motion to switch to the new code. The change of heart was partly brought about by the sudden lack of “interesting” or derby fixtures for the club.

Competition and results

The number of teams entering this year’s competition remained at 13 but from this season the fixture format was changed. There was only one bye in the first round but now also a “blank” or “dummy” fixture. This also resulted in one bye in the second round.[1]

Round 1

Involved 6 matches (with one bye and one “blank” fixture) and 13 clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 10 Oct 1931	Broughton Rangers		8-13		Wigan	The Cliff				[2]
2	Sat 10 Oct 1931	Oldham		13-13		Barrow	Watersheddings
3	Sat 10 Oct 1931	Wigan Highfield		7-7		Leigh	Tunstall Lane
4	Sat 10 Oct 1931	Salford		16-5		St. Helens	The Willows				[3]
5	Sat 10 Oct 1931	Warrington		11-2		St Helens Recs	Wilderspool				[4]
6	Sat 10 Oct 1931	Widnes		10-3		Rochdale Hornets	Lowerhouse Lane				[5]
7		Swinton				bye
8		blank				blank

Round 1 – Replays

Involved 2 matches

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Wed 14 Oct 1931	Leigh		11-7		Wigan Highfield	Mather Lane
2	Thu 15 Oct 1931	Barrow		27-9		Oldham	Craven Park			1

Round 2 - Quarter Finals

Involved 3 matches (with one bye) and 7 clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Wed 21 Oct 1931	Leigh		7-37		Swinton	Mather Lane
2	Wed 21 Oct 1931	Warrington		7-17		Salford	Wilderspool				[4]
3	Thu 22 Oct 1931	Widnes		7-6		Wigan	Lowerhouse Lane				[2][5]
4		Barrow				bye

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	Wed 04 Nov 1931	Swinton		37-0		Widnes	Station Road	7,000			[5]
2	Wed 11 Nov 1931	Salford		21-0		Barrow	The Willows				-

Final

The final was played at the Cliff, Broughton, Salford, (historically in the county of Lancashire) and on the banks of the River Irwell. The attendance was 26,471 and receipts £1,030. The attendance was a new record beating the 25,656 of 1924.

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
	Saturday 21 November 1931	Salford		10-8		Swinton	The Cliff	26,471	£1,654	2 3	[6]

Teams and Scorers

Salford	№	Swinton
team unknown	teams
	1	Bob Scott
Barney Hudson (position uncertain)	2	Frank Buckingham
	3	George Whittaker
	4	Johnny Jones
	5	Jack Kenny
	6	Hughie Salmon
	7	Bryn Evans (c)
	8	Miller Strong
	9	Tommy Armitt
	10	Joe Wright
	11	Martin Hodgson
	12	Fred Beswick
	13	Fred Butters
10	score	8
3	HT	3
	Scorers
	Tries
	T	Johnny Jones (1)
	T	Hughie Salmon (1)
	Goals
	G	Martin Hodgson (1)
	G
	Drop Goals
	DG
Referee

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
	Warrington		11
	St Helens Recs		2
						Warrington		7
						Salford		17
	Salford		16
	St. Helens		5
											Salford		21
											Barrow		0
	Oldham		13 - 9
	Barrow		13 - 27
						Barrow
						bye
	blank
	blank
																Salford		10
																Swinton		8
	Wigan Highfield		7 - 7
	Leigh		7 - 11
						Leigh		7
						Swinton		37
	Swinton
	bye
											Swinton		37
											Widnes		0
	Widnes		10
	Rochdale Hornets		3
						Widnes		7
						Wigan		6
	Broughton Rangers		8
	Wigan		13

Notes

1. The first Lancashire Cup match played at the new ground
2. The attendance of 26,471 was a new record for a Lancashire Cup final attendance
3. The Cliff was the home ground of Broughton Rangers from 1913 and until they moved out to Belle Vue in 1933. In 1938 Manchester United moved in and used it as both a match ground for academy teams etc. and a general a training ground. They purchased the ground outright in 1951 and downgraded it to Junior team use in the early 2000s

See also

• 1931–32 Northern Rugby Football League season
• Rugby league county cups
• List of defunct rugby league clubs

References

1. "Rugby League Project".
2. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
3. "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
4. "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2010-07-06.
5. "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.

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