The 1919–20 Yorkshire Cup was the twelfth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. This season saw the junior/amateur club Featherstone Rovers being invited again, and this, together with the restart-up of Keighley after the wartime close-down, resulted in an increase of one bringing the total entries up to fourteen. This in turn resulted in two byes in the first round.
This year saw the cup holders retain the trophy after winning for the fourth successive time, with Huddersfield winning the trophy by beating Leeds by the score of 24–5 in the final. The match was played at Thrum Hall, Halifax, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was, 24,935 and receipts were ££2,096. This was Huddersfield's seventh appearance in what had been seven appearances in eight consecutive finals between 1909 and this season (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 fourth consecutive win.
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 6 matches (with two byes) and 14 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueRef1Sat 18 Oct 1919Bradford Northern3–5BatleyBirch Lane2Sat 18 Oct 1919Bramley18–5Hull Kingston RoversBarley Mow3Sat 18 Oct 1919Featherstone Rovers15–4KeighleyPost Office Road4Sat 18 Oct 1919Halifax4–9HuddersfieldThrum Hall5Sat 18 Oct 1919Leeds8–5DewsburyHeadingley6Sat 18 Oct 1919York10–5HunsletClarence Street7Hullbye8Wakefield Trinitybye
Round 2 – quarterfinals Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueRef1Sat 1 Nov 1919Batley12–2Featherstone RoversMount Pleasant2Sat 1 Nov 1919Huddersfield33–8HullFartown3Sat 1 Nov 1919Leeds14–4BramleyHeadingley4Sat 1 Nov 1919Wakefield Trinity4–3YorkBelle Vue
Round 3 – semifinals Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueRef1Sat 15 Nov 1919Huddersfield15–5Wakefield TrinityFartown2Sat 15 Nov 1919Leeds16–5BatleyHeadingley
Final Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttRecRefSaturday 29 November 1919Huddersfield24–5LeedsThrum Hall24935£2,096
Teams and scorers Huddersfield№Leeds teams Major Holland1J. H. RobertsAlbert Rosenfeld2Jim BaconTom Gleeson3William DaviesHarold Wagstaff4John CampbellStan Moorhouse5Squire StockwellJohnny Rogers6Joe BrittainRobert Habron7A. E. JenkinsonAaron Lee8F. MirfieldArthur Swinden9F. GodwardHerbert Sherwood10W. N. WhitingBen Gronow11Billy WardG. Naylor12Fred WebsterDouglas Clark13Fred Carter??Coach??24score513HT0 Scorers Tries Stan Moorhouse (4)TW. N. Whiting (1)R Habron (1)TAlbert "Rozzi" Rosenfeld (1)T Goals Ben Gronow (3)GF. Mirfield (1) Drop Goals DGRefereeB. Ennion (Wigan) Scoring – Try = three (3) points – Goal = two (2) points – Drop goal = two (2) points
The road to success
See also 1919–20 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