The 1984–85 Yorkshire Cup was the seventy-seventh occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. This season there were no junior/amateur clubs taking part, no new entrants and no "leavers" and so the total of entries remained the same at sixteen. In this year's final, Hull F.C. beat close neighbours and fierce rivals Hull Kingston Rovers by the score of 29–12. The match was played at Boothferry Park, Kingston upon Hull. The city was formally in the East Riding of Yorkshire, followed by Humberside and is now (back) in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire. It was moved to this stadium from the provisionally reserved venue due to the interest showed by fans and after requests by both finalists, and the organisers were rewarded with a crowd of 25,237 and gate receipts more than doubled from last year's £33,572 to £68,639. This is only the third meeting of these two clubs in the Yorkshire Cup final, on the two previous occasions Hull Kingston Rovers defeated Hull F.C., in 1920–21 by 2–0 and 1967 by 8–7; this time it was revenge and by a wider margin. This is the third successive Yorkshire Cup final victory for Hull F.C. And the first of two successive Final appearances by Hull Kingston Rovers.
Background The Rugby League 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 Rugby League season always (until the onset of "Summer Rugby" in 1996) ran from around August-time through to around May-time and this 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 8 matches and 16 clubs Game NoFixture DateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttRecNotesRef1Sat 15 Sep 1984Wakefield Trinity0–30Bradford NorthernBelle Vue24032Sun 16 Sep 1984Batley17–18Featherstone RoversMount Pleasant16113Sun 16 Sep 1984Castleford14–16LeedsWheldon Road 47064Sun 16 Sep 1984Dewsbury4–12BramleyCrown Flatt8615Sun 16 Sep 1984Doncaster4–48Hull Kingston RoversBentley Road Stadium/Tattersfield18896Sun 16 Sep 1984Huddersfield Barracudas9–6KeighleyArena 8410167Sun 16 Sep 1984Hull F.C.30–10HalifaxBoulevard77978Sun 16 Sep 1984York20–16HunsletClarence Street2377
Round 2 - Quarter-finals Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttRecNotesRef1Wed 26 Sep 1984Bradford Northern4–10LeedsOdsal76502Wed 26 Sep 1984Featherstone Rovers18–2BramleyPost Office Road15033Wed 26 Sep 1984Hull Kingston Rovers18–2Huddersfield BarracudasCraven Park (1)51864Wed 26 Sep 1984York8–38Hull F.C.Clarence Street4494
Round 3 – Semi-finals Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs Game NoFixture DateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttRecNotesRef1Tue 16 Oct 1984Hull F.C.24–1LeedsBoulevard104772Wed 17 Oct 1984Featherstone Rovers2–22Hull Kingston RoversPost Office Road4354
Final Game NoFixture DateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttRecNotesRefSaturday 27 October 1984Hull F.C.29–12Hull Kingston RoversBoothferry Park25,237£68,639
Teams and scorers
Hull№Hull Kingston Rovers teams Gary Kemble1George FairbairnA'au James Leuluai2Garry ClarkGarry Schofield3Ian RobinsonSteve Evans4Gary ProhmDane O'Hara5David LawsFred Ah Kuoi6Mike SmithPeter Sterling7Paul HarkinPhil Edmonds8Mark BroadhurstShaun Patrick9David WatkinsonLee Crooks10Asuquo "Zook" EmaSteve 'Knocker' Norton11Chris BurtonWayne Proctor12Andy KellyGary Divorty13Dave HallPaul Rose14Chris Rudd (for Paul Harkin)David Topliss15Steve Hartley (for Dave Hall)Arthur BuntingCoachRoger Millward 29score128HT12 Scorers Tries Gary Kemble (2)TGeorge Fairbairn (1)Steve Evans (1)TIan Robinson (1)Lee Crooks (1)TDavid Hall (1)Steve 'Knocker' Norton (1)T Goals Garry Schofield (4)G Drop Goals Garry Schofield (1)DGReferee G. Fred Lindop (Wakefield)White Rose Trophy for Man of the matchPeter Sterling - Hull - sponsored byCompetition SponsorPhillips Video Scoring - Try = four points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = one point
The road to success
See also 1984–85 Rugby Football League 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