The 1947–48 Lancashire Cup was the thirty-fifth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup competition had been held.
Wigan won the trophy by beating Belle Vue Rangers by the score of 10–7
The match was played at Wilderspool, Warrington, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 23,310 and receipts were £3,043.
This was the second of Wigan's record breaking run of six consecutive Lancashire Cup victories.
It was also to be the second of two consecutive finals to be competed for by these two teams.
Background
Overall, the number of teams entering this year's competition increased by one with the invitation to Lancashire Amateurs (a junior/amateur club) bringing the total up to 14.
The same pre-war fixture format was retained. This season saw no bye but one "blank" or "dummy" fixture in the first round. There was also one bye but no "blank" fixture" in the second round.
As last season, all the first round matches of the competition will be played on the basis of two legged, home and away ties. However this year, the second round becomes a straightforward knock-out basis.
Competition and results
Round 1 Involved 7 matches (with no bye and one "blank" fixture) and 14 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueaggAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 30 Aug 1947Barrow14–12Belle Vue RangersCraven Park2Sat 30 Aug 1947Lancashire Amateurs5–16Rochdale HornetsWatersheddings13Sat 30 Aug 1947Leigh0–15St. HelensKirkhall Lane16,0002 34Sat 30 Aug 1947Liverpool Stanley3–26OldhamStanley Greyhound Stadium5Sat 30 Aug 1947Swinton2–19Workington TownStation Road6Sat 30 Aug 1947Widnes4–8SalfordNaughton Park7Sat 30 Aug 1947Wigan16–13WarringtonCentral Park8blankblank
Round 1 – second leg Involved 7 matches (with no bye and one "blank" fixture) and 14 clubs. These are the reverse fixture from the first leg
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueaggAttRecNotesRef 1Wed 10 Sep 1947Belle Vue Rangers37–2BarrowBelle Vue Stadium49–162Tue 2 Sep 1947Rochdale Hornets7–2Lancashire AmateursAthletic Grounds23–713Thu 4 Sep 1947St. Helens31–5LeighKnowsley Road46–517,0004Tue 2 Sep 1947Oldham16–3Liverpool StanleyWatersheddings42–65Wed 3 Sep 1947Workington Town15–12SwintonBorough Park34–146Wed 3 Sep 1947Salford9–4WidnesThe Willows17–87Wed 3 Sep 1947Warrington10–15WiganWilderspool23–318 blankblank
Round 2 – quarterfinals – first leg Involved 3 matches (with one bye) and 7 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueaggAttRecNotesRef 1Tue 23 Sep 1947Oldham3–13Workington TownWatersheddings2Mon 29 Sep 1947St. Helens7–8WiganKnowsley Road3Wed 1 Oct 1947Belle Vue Rangers10–5SalfordBelle Vue Stadium4 Rochdale Hornetsbye
Round 3 – semifinals Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueaggAttRecNotesRef 1Wed 8 Oct 1947Belle Vue Rangers15–8Workington TownBelle Vue Stadium2Wed 8 Oct 1947Wigan27–3Rochdale HornetsCentral Park
Final Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueaggAttRecNotesRef Saturday 1 November 1947Wigan10–7Belle Vue RangersWilderspool23,110£3,0434
Teams and scorers
WiganNo.Belle Vue Rangers teams Martin Ryan1W. RatchfordGordon Ratcliffe2Harry PimblettTed Ward3Mel TierneyGeorge Roughley 4Stan McCormickBrian Nordgren5S. JolleyErnie Ashcroft6Ray PriceTommy Bradshaw7Billy WatkinsKen Gee8D. ThomasJoe Egan9W. FlanaganGeorge Banks10Elwyn GwytherLes White11Doug PhillipsBilly Blan12Jack FearnleyJack Blan 13Dick Manning 10score75HT2 Scorers Tries Gordon Ratcliffe (1)TFlanagan (1)Brian Nordgren (1)T Goals Ted Ward (2)GD. Thomas (2)RefereeS. Manley (Hull) Scoring – Try = three (3) points – Goal = two (2) points – Drop goal = two (2) points
The road to success All the first round ties were played on a two leg (home and away) basis.
The first club named in each of the first round ties played the first leg at home.
the scores shown in the first round are the aggregate score over the two legs.
Notes and comments
1 * Lancashire Amateurs were a junior (or amateur) club from Lancashire. The match was played at Watersheddings, Oldham
2 * The official St. Helens archive show as attendance of 16,000 (with 17,000 for the second leg at home) RUGBY LEAGUE projects show it as 17,000
3 * Leigh's first Lancashire Cup match at the newly completed purpose build stadium
4 * Wilderspool was the home ground of Warrington from 1883 to the end of the 2003 Summer season when they moved into the new purpose-built Halliwell Jones Stadium. Wilderspool remained as a sports/Ruugby League ground and is/was used by Woolston Rovers/Warrington Wizards junior club.
The ground had a final capacity of 9,000 although the record attendance was set in a Challenge cup third round match on 13 March 1948 when 34,304 spectators saw Warrington lose to Wigan 10–13.
See also 1947–48 Northern Rugby Football League season Rugby league county cups
References
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