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 Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west of Bi ...

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 Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

winning the trophy by beating

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

by the score of 24–5 in the final. The match was played at Thrum Hall, Halifax, now in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

. The attendance was, 24,935 and receipts were ££2,096. This was

'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 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 ...

'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 Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market tow ...

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

, 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

Round 2 – quarterfinals

Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs

Round 3 – semifinals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Final

Teams and scorers

Scoring – Try = three (3) points – Goal = two (2) points – Drop goal = two (2) points

The road to success

Notes

1 * Featherstone Rovers were at the time a junior/amateur club. They eventually joined the League for season 1921–22 2 * Thrum Hall was the home ground of Halifax with a final capacity of 9,832 (The attendance record of 29,153 was set on 21 March 1959 for a third round Challenge Cup tie v Wigan). The club finally moved out in 1998 to take part ownership and ground-share with Halifax Town FC at The Shay Stadium.

References

External links

Saints Heritage Society1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season at wigan.rlfans.comHull&Proud Fixtures & Results 1896/1897Widnes Vikings – One team, one passion Season In Review – 1896–97The Northern Union at warringtonwolves.org
1919 2 Yorkshire Cup 2 {{DEFAULTSORT:1919-20 Yorkshire Cup