1955–56 was the forty-third occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion had been held. Leigh won the trophy by beating Widnes by the score of 26-9. The match was played at Central Park, Wigan, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 26,504 and receipts were £4,090.
Background
The end of last season saw the demise of Belle Vue Rangers. With this and the retention of the invitation to juniors, Lancashire Amateurs the number of clubs was reduced by one to a total of 15. The same pre-war fixture format was retained, and due to reduction in the number of clubs this resulted in one bye in the first round. The whole tournament was again played on a knock-out basis, and there would be no return to the two legged fixtures during the life of the competition.
Competition and results
Round 1 Involved 7 matches (with one bye but no “blank” fixture) and 15 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 27 Aug 1955Barrow18-12St. HelensCraven Park9,7322Sat 27 Aug 1955Blackpool Borough8-18OldhamSt Anne's Road Greyhound Stadium 3Sat 27 Aug 1955Leigh71-14County AmateursKirkhall Lane4Sat 27 Aug 1955Rochdale Hornets26-17WhitehavenAthletic Grounds5Sat 27 Aug 1955Salford8-33WidnesThe Willows6Sat 27 Aug 1955Wigan15-16WarringtonCentral Park7Sat 27 Aug 1955Workington Town24-10Liverpool CityBorough Park8 Swintonbye
Round 2 - quarterfinals Involved 4 matches (with no bye) and 8 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Tue 06 Sep 1955Barrow24-10Workington TownCraven Park2Tue 06 Sep 1955Rochdale Hornets12-26WarringtonAthletic Grounds3Wed 07 Sep 1955Oldham11-13LeighWatersheddings4Thu 08 Sep 1955Widnes9-3SwintonNaughton Park
Round 3 – semifinals Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenue width=30 abbr="Att" |AttRecNotesRef 1Thu 22 Sep 1955Barrow7-11LeighCraven Park2Thu 22 Sep 1955Widnes11-6WarringtonNaughton Park
Final Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef Saturday 15 October 1955Leigh26-9WidnesCentral Park26,504£4,0901
Teams and scorers
Leigh№Widnes teams Jimmy Ledgard1John SaleBill Kindon2Gordon WilliamsonDon Gullick3Harold 'Lal' KinseyAlbert Moore4Tommy GalliganMalcolm Davies5Peter RatcliffeJack Fleming6Roy ButlerBrian Chadwick7Percy DaviesJohn Barton8Ron RowbottomWalt Tabern9Jack Hayes/J. J. HayesStan Owen10Harold TomlinsonDerek Hurt11Derek Smith/Tom Smith/Vin SmithMick Martyn12Gordon MurrayPeter Foster13George Kemel 26score98HT4 Scorers Tries TGordon Williamson (1)TTTT Goals GJohn Sale (3)G Drop Goals DGReferee Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points
The road to success
Notes and comments 1 * Central Park was the home ground of Wigan with a final capacity of 18,000, although the record attendance was 47,747 for Wigan v St Helens 27 March 1959
See also 1955–56 Northern Rugby Football League season Rugby league county cups
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