1942–43 Challenge Cup

The 1942–43 Challenge Cup was the 42nd staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup.[1] All four rounds, including the final, were played as two-legged ties. The tournament took place over consecutive weeks in March and April 1943. All the ties were drawn at the beginning of March 1943 to enable the clubs to make travel arrangements in advance.[2]

1942–43 Challenge Cup

Duration	4 rounds
Winners	Dewsbury
Runners-up	Leeds

First round

Date	Team	Score	Team	Source
13 March	Batley	3–7	Keighley	[3]
13 March	Featherstone Rovers	11–12	Wakefield Trinity
13 March	Halifax	2–0	Huddersfield
13 March	Hull FC	0–21	Dewsbury
13 March	Leeds	18–0	York
13 March	St Helens	13–2	Barrow
13 March	Wigan	6–5	Bradford Northern
20 March	Barrow	4–0 (6)–(13)	St Helens	[4]
20 March	Bradford Northern	18–3 (23)–(9)	Wigan
20 March	Dewsbury	21–12 (42)–(12)	Hull FC
20 March	Huddersfield	7–2 (7)–(4)	Halifax
20 March	Keighley	15–0 (22)–(3)	Batley
20 March	Wakefield Trinity	10–0 (22)–(11)	Featherstone Rovers
20 March	York	7–14 (7)–(32)	Leeds

Aggregate scores shown in brackets

Second round

Date	Team	Score	Team	Source
27 March	Huddersfield	8–10	Dewsbury	[5]
27 March	Keighley	2–0	Bradford Northern
27 March	Oldham	17–12	St Helens
27 March	Wakefield Trinity	5–8	Leeds
3 April	Bradford Northern	6–7 (6)–(9)	Keighley	[6]
3 April	Dewsbury	15–10 (25)–(18)	Huddersfield
3 April	Leeds	10–8 (18)–(13)	Wakefield Trinity
3 April	St Helens	5–20 (17)–(37)	Oldham

Aggregate scores shown in brackets

Semi-finals

Date	Team	Score	Team	Source
10 April	Keighley	5–3	Leeds	[7]
10 April	Oldham	3–25	Dewsbury
17 April	Dewsbury	43–5 (68)–(8)	Oldham	[8]
17 April	Leeds	27–0 (30)–(5)	Keighley

Aggregate scores shown in brackets

Final

The final was played over the Easter weekend of 1943 with the first leg played on the Saturday and the second leg the following Monday. 10,740 attended the first leg at Crown Flatt while 16,000 watched the second leg at Headingley two days later.[9][10] Receipts for the two games totalled £2,340.[10]

Date	Team	Score	Team	Source
24 April	Dewsbury	16–9	Leeds	[9]
26 April	Leeds	6–0	Dewsbury	[10]

Dewsbury won 16–15 on aggregate.

References

1. "Challenge Cup 1942/43". Rugby League Project.
2. "Rugby League Cup: To-day's Draw to Final stage". Yorkshire Evening Post (16, 339). 3 March 1943. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive.
3. "Football Results". Yorkshire Post (29, 824). 15 March 1943. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive.
4. "Football Results". Yorkshire Post (29, 830). 22 March 1943. p. 6 – via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "Football Results". Yorkshire Post (29, 836). 29 March 1943. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. "Football Results". Yorkshire Post (29, 842). 5 April 1943. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "Football Results". Yorkshire Post (29, 848). 12 April 1943. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Leeds in Cup Final Again". Yorkshire Post (29, 854). 19 April 1943. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "Dewsbury's Cup Final Lead". Yorkshire Post (29, 859). 26 April 1943. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.
10. "Dewsbury's Cup Triumph". Yorkshire Post (29, 860). 27 April 1943. p. 3 – via British Newspaper Archive.