1954–55 Lancashire Cup

1954–55 was the forty-second occasion on which the Lancashire Cup competition had been held.
This year, the first time for many years save a new name on the trophy. Barrow changed codes to rugby league in 1897, were promoted into the league for season 1900–01 and have taken part in every one of the Lancashire Cup competitions since their inception in 1905, and now finally, almost 50 years later, they won the trophy by beating Oldham in the final by the score of 12-2.
The match was played at Station Road, Pendlebury (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 25,204 and receipts were £4,603.

1954–55 Lancashire Cup
Structure	Regional knockout championship
Teams	16
Winners	Barrow
Runners-up	Oldham

Background

This year saw the entry on new league members Blackpool Borough, and this together with the invitation to juniors, Lancashire Amateurs brought the total number of clubs to a full complement of 16.
For the first time in the competition, there was no need to have any byes or “blank/dummy” fixtures.
The same pre-war fixture format was retained, but, as mentioned, for the first time without any bye or dummy” fixtures.
And for the first time since the outbreak of war in 1939, the two-legged fixtures were abolished, resulting in the competition being played on a knock-out basis.

Competition and results

[1]

Round 1

Involved 8 matches (with no bye or “blank” fixture) and 16 clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 11 Sep 1954	Blackpool Borough		5-9		Belle Vue Rangers	St Anne's Road Greyhound Stadium			1 2
2	Sat 11 Sep 1954	Leigh		21-10		Wigan	Kirkhall Lane				[2]
3	Sat 11 Sep 1954	Oldham		57-17		Lancashire Amateurs	Watersheddings			3
4	Sat 11 Sep 1954	Liverpool City		6-3		Salford	Mill Yard, Knotty Ash
5	Sat 11 Sep 1954	Rochdale Hornets		10-13		Barrow	Athletic Grounds
6	Sat 11 Sep 1954	St. Helens		27-6		Whitehaven	Knowsley Road	13,600			[3]
7	Sat 11 Sep 1954	Widnes		16-13		Warrington	Naughton Park				[4][5]
8	Sat 11 Sep 1954	Workington Town		27-0		Swinton	Borough Park

Round 2 - Quarter Finals

Involved 4 matches (with no bye) and 8 clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Mon 20 Sep 1954	Belle Vue Rangers		9-37		Leigh	Belle Vue Stadium			4
2	Mon 20 Sep 1954	Oldham		20-9		St. Helens	Watersheddings	16,000			[3]
3	Wed 22 Sep 1954	Liverpool City		8-11		Workington Town	Mill Yard, Knotty Ash
4	Thu 23 Sep 1954	Barrow		36-0		Widnes	Craven Park				[4]

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 29 Sep 1954	Leigh		2-7		Barrow	Kirkhall Lane
2	Thu 30 Sep 1954	Workington Town		13-20		Oldham	Borough Park

Final

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
	Saturday 23 October 1954	Barrow		12-2		Oldham	Station Road	25,204	£4,603	5	[6]

Teams and scorers

Barrow	№	Oldham
	teams	probable team
Colin Poole	1	Frank Stirrup
Derek Hinchley	2	Roland Barrow
Phil Jackson	3	Dick Cracknell
Dennis Goodwin	4	Alan Davies
Frank Castle	5	Terry O'Grady
Willie Horne (c)	6	Frank Daley
Ted Toohey	7	Frank Pitchford
Les Belshaw	8	Harry Ogden
Vince McKeating	9	Jack Keith
Frank Barton	10	Ken Jackson
JackGrundy	11	Charlie Winslade
Reg Parker	12	Sid Little
Bill Healey	13	Bryn Goldswain
star winger James 'Gentleman Jim' Lewthwaite injured and missed this game	note
12	score	2
10	HT	2
	Scorers
	Tries
	T
	Goals
	G
	G
	Drop Goals
	DG
Referee

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

[7][8]

The road to success

	First Round					Second Round					Semi Finals					Final
	Blackpool Borough		5
	Belle Vue Rangers		9
						Belle Vue Rangers		9
						Leigh		37
	Leigh		21
	Wigan		10
											Leigh		2
											Barrow		7
	Rochdale Hornets		10
	Barrow		13
						Barrow		36
						Widnes		0
	Widnes		16
	Warrington		13
																Barrow		12
																Oldham		2
	Liverpool City		6
	Salford		3
						Liverpool City		8
						Workington Town		11
	Workington Town		27
	Swinton		0
											Workington Town		13
											Oldham		20
	Oldham		57
	Lancashire Amateurs		17
						Oldham		20
						St. Helens		9
	St. Helens		27
	Whitehaven		6

Notes and comments

1 * This season saw, for the first time ever, a full 16 clubs taking part and also a return to a knock-out tournament in ll rounds.
2 * The first Lancashire Cup match played by the new club Blackpool Borough and on this, their first ground
3 * Lancashire Amateurs were a junior (or amateur) club from Lancashire
4 * The last game played by this founding club. At the end of the season they folded
5 * Station Road was the home ground of Swinton from 1929 to 1932 and at its peak was one of the finest rugby league grounds in the country and it boasted a capacity of 60,000. The actual record attendance was for the Challenge Cup semi-final on 7 April 1951 when 44,621 watched Wigan beat Warrington 3-2

See also

• 1954–55 Northern Rugby Football League season
• Rugby league county cups

References

1. "Rugby League Project".
2. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
3. "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
4. "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
5. "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2010-07-06.
6. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
7. "Barrow RLFC website". Archived from the original on 2014-02-22.
8. "Oldham Heritage Trust".

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