The 1897 Challenge Cup was the inaugural staging of the Northern Rugby Football Union's

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

and involved 52 clubs from across England from the

1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season The 1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the second ever season of rugby league football. Following the success of the Northern Union's first season, several more clubs from the established Rugby Football Union joined the rebel com ...

. The tournament was played over six rounds in March and April 1897, culminating in the final which was won by

Batley Batley is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. Batley lies south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield. Batley is part of the ...

Background

The

Northern Union The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...

decided to hold a cup competition called the Northern Rugby Football Union Challenge Cup in July 1896. The cup was commissioned from Bradford silversmiths and jewellers,

Fattorini and Sons Fattorini & Sons was a jewellery business established by a family of Italian immigrants who arrived in the British city of Leeds, in Yorkshire, England in the early 19th century. Antonio Fattorini opened a shop in Harrogate to take advantage of s ...

. Fattorini's designed the trophy themselves and it cost the Northern Union £60.

Draw

The draw for the competition was made on 3 September 1896 although the matches were not due to be played until March and April 1897 over six consecutive weekends commencing 20 March 1897. All rounds were drawn at the same time with matches in the second and subsequent rounds given an identification letter such that ties for later rounds were expressed as, for example, "Q. Winner of Round C. v. winner of Round N." The team drawn first had the option to play at home or could agree to play at the opponent's ground. The semi-finals and final were to be played at neutral venues.

First round

The first round involved 20 matches and 40 clubs. 12 clubs (

, Bradford Church Hill,

Brighouse Rangers Brighouse Rangers was a rugby league club in Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England. The club was involved in the meeting at the George Hotel, Huddersfield in 1895, and after the schism became founder members of the Northern Rugby Football Union (n ...

, Crompton, Heckmondwike,

Liversedge Liversedge is a town and former parish of Birstall, in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Liversedge lies between Cleckheaton and Heckmondwike. The Kirklees ward is ...

St Helens Recs St Helens Recreation Rugby League Football Club, often known as St Helens Recs or just the Recs, is a former professional rugby league club from St. Helens, Lancashire, that played in the Rugby Football League during the inter-war years. The club ...

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

, Swinton Church, Thornton Rangers, Tyldesley and Werneth) were given a bye to the next round. All 20 ties were played on 20 March 1897.

First round replays

The three games requiring replays were all played on Wednesday 24 March

Second round

The second round of 16 ties was played on Saturday 27 March 1897.

Second round replay

Stockport and Eastmoor replayed the tie on Wednesday 31 March.

Third round

The third round of eight games was played on Saturday 3 April.

Third round replay

Swinton and Rochdale replayed the drawn game on Wednesday 7 April.

Fourth round

The quarter finals were played on Saturday 10 April 1897.

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were scheduled for Saturday 17 April. However, due to a waterlogged pitch, the tie between St. Helens and Swinton, due to be played at Broughton Rangers ground - Wheater's Field - was postponed until Monday 19 April. The game between Batley and Warrington, played at Fartown, Huddersfield did go ahead on a very soft pitch. After the game Warrington lodged a protest over the result, claiming that the game should have been postponed due to the state of the pitch and that the game having gone ahead, the referee allowed the game to end six minutes short. Both grounds of protest were dismissed by the Northern Union Committee. The rearranged game between St Helens and Swinton was played on Easter Monday, 19 April, watched by a crowd of 20,000 taking advantage of the

bank holiday A bank holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. The term refers to all public holidays in the United Kingdom, be they set out in statute, declared by royal proclamation or held ...

to attend.

Final

The final took place on 24 April 1897 at Headingley, Leeds. The official attendance was 13,492, with gate receipts of £624.17s.7d. Batley wore white shirts and black shorts and socks in place of their normal cerise and

fawn Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

colours. St Helens wore blue and white hooped shirts, white shorts and black socks. St Helens won the toss and elected to have Batley kick off. Despite playing into the wind in the first half, Batley took the lead after five minutes when Joe Oakland, kicked a drop goal to give Batley a 4–0 advantage. Batley extended their lead to 7–0 when John Goodall scored the first try of the game. These were the only scores of the first half. Early in the second half St Helens scored a try when centre David Traynor took the ball on the halfway line and beat four Batley players before touching down. The St Helens fightback did not last long as Batley

flanker Flanker may refer to: * Flanker (perfume), a newly created perfume sharing attributes of an existing one * Flanker (rugby union), a position in rugby union (not found in rugby league) * ''Su-27 Flanker'' (video game), a 1996 computer game modelin ...

John T. 'Paudy' Munns scored Batley's second try to make the score 10–3 which remained the score at the final whistle. After the game the cup was presented by Mrs Louisa Waller, the wife of the president of the

, Henry Hirst Waller. Mrs Waller presented the Batley players with commemorative gold medals and the St Helens players with silver medals.

Squads

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1896-97 Challenge Cup Challenge Cup