The 1905 Yorkshire Cup competition was a knock-out competition between (mainly professional) rugby league clubs from the county of Yorkshire. 1905 was the inaugural year for the Rugby League Yorkshire Cup competition. The cup was won by Hunslet who beat Halifax by a score of 13–3.

Background Following the great schism of 1895 which led to the formation of rugby league there appear to be very little interest in a competitive competition organised on a regional basis, at least between clubs based in Yorkshire. Prior to the breakaway from rugby union this was something that had been discouraged as it was feared that competition would lead to professionalism, as had happened in other sports like Association Football. One of the exceptions was the trophy played for by the Yorkshire Rugby Union clubs. "T'owd Tin Pot", or officially, the Yorkshire Challenge Cup. The Governing body of the RFU were appalled at the idea, but turned a blind eye as all the proceeds from the final were distributed among various charities.

It was around 10 years after the "great schism" before the idea of a County Cup for the Rugby League game became a reality. There appears to be very little, if any, details of how the introduction of the county cup competitions came about, or any details of any of the instigators or of any campaign, but the County Cups became the last part of what would become known as the four cups. The competitions were played on the same basis as was the Challenge Cup, i.e. a free draw with matches played on a sudden death straight knock-out basis, and with the final played (usually) on a neutral ground.

Competition and results For this inaugural competition, a total of twenty clubs had entered, and so a preliminary round was introduced involving eight clubs, to reduce the number of clubs taking part in the main competition to sixteen, a full complement for a four round knock-out tournament.

Preliminary round Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueRefP1Sat 16 Sep 1905Featherstone Rovers9–10HuddersfieldunknownP2Wed 04 Oct 1905York2–0PontefractClarence StreetP3Sat 07 Oct 1905Outwood Parish Church3–0NormantonunknownP4Sat 07 Oct 1905Saville Green10–0Brighouse Rangersunknown

Round 1 Involved 5 matches (with three byes) and 13 Clubs Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueRef1Sat 14 Oct 1905Batley7–2Wakefield TrinityMount Pleasant2Sat 14 Oct 1905Hull5–2BramleyBarley Mow3Sat 14 Oct 1905Dewsbury0–0BradfordCrown Flatt4Sat 14 Oct 1905Keighley30–8Castleford (1896)Lawkholme Lane5Sat 14 Oct 1905Leeds5–7HalifaxHeadingley6Sat 14 Oct 1905Outwood Parish Church0–24Hull Kingston Roversunknown7Sat 14 Oct 1905York4–3HuddersfieldClarence Street8Sat 21 Oct 1905Hunslet14–0Saville GreenParkside

Round 1 - Replays Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueRefRTue 24 Oct 1905Bradford5–0DewsburyPark Avenue

Round 2 - Quarterfinals Involved 4 matches and 8 Clubs

Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueRef1Sat 28 Oct 1905Batley5–5Hull Kingston RoversMount Pleasant2Sat 28 Oct 1905Halifax10–0HullThrum Hall3Sat 28 Oct 1905Hunslet37–3KeighleyParkside4Sat 28 Oct 1905York2–0BradfordClarence Street

Round 2 - Replays Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueRefRTue 07 Nov 1905Hull Kingston Rovers7–4BatleyCraven Street (off Holderness Road)

Round 3 – semifinals Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueRef1Sat 18 Nov 1905Halifax11–5YorkThrum Hall2Sat 18 Nov 1905Hull Kingston Rovers3A12HunsletCraven Street (off Holderness Road)

Semifinal - Replays Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueRefRWed 22 Nov 1905Hunslet14–3Hull Kingston RoversParkside

Final

The match was played at Park Avenue in the City of Bradford, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 18,500 and receipts were £465.

Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttRecRefSaturday 2 December 1905Hunslet13–3HalifaxPark Avenue18500465

Teams and scorers Hunslet№Halifax teams Herbert Place1Billy LittleCharlie Ward2Herman HartleyWilliam Eagers3Wax WilliamsWalter Goldthorpe4William WedgewoodWilliam Ward5W. DrummondAlbert Goldthorpe6Joe RileyAlbert Everson7James HiltonJack Shooter8Ike BartleBill Jukes9Fred HammondBill Brookes10George LanghornWalter Wray11Walter MortonHarry Wilson12Reggie NortonHarry Wilcox13Jack RileyTom Walsh14Jack SwinbankJack Glew15Bob WinskillCoaches 13score34HT3ScorersCharlie Ward (1)TriesW. Drummond (1)Walter Goldthorpe (2) Goals Albert Goldthorpe (3)RefereeWilliam McCutcheon (Oldham) Points Value: Try = 3 points; Goal (any type)= 2 points

Irvin Saxton (publish date tbc) "History of Rugby League – № 11 – 1905–06". Rugby Leaguer ISBN n/a

The road to success The following chart excludes any preliminary round fixtures/results

See also 1905–06 Northern Rugby Football Union season Rugby league county cups

Notes

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