The 1971–72 Yorkshire Cup was the sixty-fourth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held.

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...

won the trophy by beating

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

by the score of 11–7. The match was played at Belle Vue, in the

City of Wakefield Wakefield, also known as the City of Wakefield, is a Local government in England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status and a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. Wakefield, the largest settl ...

, now in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

. The attendance was 5,536 and receipts were £1,589. The attendance was a Yorkshire Cup final record, the lowest ever, a record which would never be beaten. This is the second time in four seasons that

, (who have never won the trophy, to date) finished as runner-up.

Background

Due to the introduction of a new knock-out competition (the

Player's No.6 Trophy The Regal Trophy was an annual knock-out competition for British rugby league, rugby league football clubs. Organised by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the competition was open to all professional clubs in the British rugby league system, but a ...

), and the New Zealand national team's upcoming tour of Great Britain, the Yorkshire County Committee decided to stage the county cup much earlier than previous seasons, with the first round taking place at the end of July.

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

objected to the decision, and withdrew from the competition due to their

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

ground being used for cricket during the summer.

Competition and results

First Round

The committee refused to accept Leeds' withdrawal from the competition, and included them in the draw for the first round. Leeds re-affirmed their decision not to take part in the competition, and Bramley were consequently awarded a

walkover John Baxter Taylor and William Robbins (athlete)">William Robbins to refuse to race in protest. A walkover, also W.O. or w/o (originally two words: "walk over"), is awarded to the opposing team/player, etc., if there are no other players avail ...

were also given a walkover after

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...

were forced to withdraw due a pay dispute with their players.

Second Round

Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs

Semi-finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Final

Teams and scorers

The road to success

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:1971 Yorkshire Cup 1971 in English rugby league RFL Yorkshire Cup