The 1918–19 Yorkshire Cup was the eleventh occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. This quickly arranged competition was won by the cup holder who would make it a hat trick of wins, taking up where they left off before the start of the World War. Huddersfield beat Dewsbury by the score of 14–8 in the final. The match was played at Headingley, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 21,500 and receipts were £1,309.
The shortened 1918–19 (February–May) season began less than three months after the end of the hostilities and the armistice of Compiègne. The country was still suffering from the aftermath of the long and bitter struggle. The 1918–19 (January) Northern Rugby Football Union Wartime Emergency League season had been operating since September 1918. This was cancelled, and the programme started tailing off in January 1919. The only club to be "lost" to the Yorkshire League was Keighley who closed down for the duration of the War and did not recommence playing until the start of the 1919–20 season. This season saw an invitation to junior/amateur club Featherstone Rovers which, with the temporary loss of Keighley, resulted in the total entries remaining the same as in the previous competition held before the outbreak of the war at thirteen. This in turn resulted in three byes in the first round.
This was Huddersfield's sixth appearance in what would be seven appearances in eight consecutive finals between 1909 and 1919 (which included four successive victories and six in total), and who knows, but for the intervention of the First World War and suspension of the competition, it may have been more. It was also the third of the four consecutive wins.
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 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
Round 1 Involved 5 matches (with three byes) and 13 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueRef1Sat 12 Apr 1919Hull Kingston Rovers18–0HalifaxCraven Street (off Holderness Road)2Sat 12 Apr 1919Wakefield Trinity18–9Bradford NorthernBelle Vue3Sat 26 Apr 1919Hull6–0LeedsBoulevard4Sat 26 Apr 1919Hunslet5–16HuddersfieldParkside5Sat 26 Apr 1919York0–2BramleyClarence Street6Batley0bye7Dewsbury0bye8Featherstone Rovers0bye
Round 2 – quarterfinals Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueRef1Sat 3 May 1919Dewsbury7–2BatleyCrown Flatt2Sat 3 May 1919Hull31–4BramleyBoulevard3Sat 3 May 1919Hull Kingston Rovers4–19HuddersfieldCraven Street (off Holderness Road)4Sat 3 May 1919Wakefield Trinity14–3Featherstone RoversBelle Vue
Round 3 – semifinals Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueRef1Sat 10 May 1919Dewsbury3–2Wakefield TrinityCrown Flatt2Sat 10 May 1919Huddersfield23–13HullFartown
Final Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttRecRefSaturday 17 May 1919Huddersfield14–8DewsburyHeadingley215001309
Teams and scorers Huddersfield№Dewsbury teams Major Holland1Billy RhodesGeorge Todd2Joe LymanTom Gleeson3Wilfred MosbyAlbert Rosenfeld4Thomas PriceStan Moorhouse5George SharplesJohnny Rogers6Robert BirchRobert Habron7Ernest RodgersDouglas Clark8Percy BrownBen Gronow9Albert DixonJohn Higson10John LeakeAaron Lee11Thomas CravenHerbert Sherwood12Reynor RobertshawArthur Swinden13Frank Gallagher??Coach??14score87HT0 Scorers Tries Tom Gleeson (1)TJoe Lyman (1)Robert Habron (1)TG. Sharples (1) Goals Ben Gronow (4)GJoe Lyman (1) Drop Goals DGRefereeF. Renton (Hunslet) Scoring – Try = three (3) points – Goal = two (2) points – Drop goal = two (2) points
Irvin Saxton (publish date tbc) "History of Rugby League – № 24 – 1918–19". Rugby Leaguer ISBN n/a
The road to success
See also 1918–19 Northern Rugby Football Union season Rugby league county cups
Notes
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