1960–61 was the forty-eighth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion had been held. St. Helens won the trophy by beating Swinton by the score of 15-9 The match was played at Central Park, Wigan, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 31,755 and receipts were £5,337. This was the first of what, unknown to St. Helens, were to be five consecutive Lancashire Cup final triumphs, and what is more, the first of seven victories in a period of nine successive seasons.<br/ > It was also to be the first of three successive Lancashire Cup final runner-up spots for Swinton
Background
With again no invitation to a junior club this season, the total number of teams entering the competition remained the same at 14. The same fixture format was retained, and due to the number of clubs this resulted in no bye but one “blank” or “dummy” fixture in the first round, and one bye in the second round
Competition and results
Round 1 Involved 7 matches (with no bye but one “blank” fixture) and 14 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Saturday 27 August 1960Barrow6-10SwintonCraven Park2Saturday 27 August 1960Widnes17-19St. HelensNaughton Park9,5003Saturday 27 August 1960Wigan19-5OldhamCentral Park4Saturday 27 August 1960Salford11-3Rochdale HornetsThe Willows5Saturday 27 August 1960Leigh37-15Workington TownHilton Park6Saturday 27 August 1960Liverpool City10-29WarringtonMill Yard, Knotty Ash7Saturday 27 August 1960Blackpool Borough15-5WhitehavenSt Anne's Road Greyhound Stadium 8 blankblank
Round 2 - quarterfinals Involved 3 matches (with one bye) and 7 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Tuesday 6 September 1960Warrington8-9LeighWilderspool2Wednesday 7 September 1960St. Helens7-4WiganKnowsley Road27,0003Wednesday 7 September 1960Salford6-9SwintonThe Willows8,0004 Blackpool Boroughbye
Round 3 – semifinals Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Wednesday 5 October 1960Blackpool Borough0-10SwintonSt Anne's Road Greyhound Stadium 2Monday 17 October 1960Leigh2-15St. HelensKnowsley Road14,500
Final Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef Saturday 29 October 1960St. Helens15-9SwintonCentral Park31,755£5,3371
Teams and scorers
St. Helens№Swinton teams Percy Landsberg 1 Ken GowersTom van Vollenhoven2 John SpeedKen Large 3 Peter SmethurstBrian McGinn 4 Alan BuckleyJan Prinsloo5 Ken McGregorAustin Rhodes6 George ParkinsonAlex Murphy7 Tony DysonAbe Terry8 Bill BrethertonBob Dagnall9 Trevor RobertsFred Leyland 10 Dai MosesDon Vines11 Ken RobertsDick Huddart12 Peter NorburnVince Karalius (c)13 Albert Blan (c) 15score98HT2 Scorers Tries Austin Rhodes (1)T Ken McGregor (1)Tom van Vollenhoven (1)TKen Large (1)T Goals Austin Rhodes (3)G Albert Blan (3)G Drop Goals DGReferee E. Clay (Leeds) 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 1960–61 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