The 1920–21 Yorkshire Cup was the thirteenth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition was held. This year saw a new name on the trophy, when previously twice beaten finalists (1906 and 1911), Hull Kingston Rovers, won the trophy on the third attempt by beating close neighbours and fierce rivals Hull F.C. by a score of 2–0 in the final. The match was played at Headingley, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 20,000 and receipts were £1,926. This was the first of only three meetings between the teams which would take place in the finals in the long history of the tournament
Background
The Rugby Football League'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, Coventry, and even London (in the form of Acton & Willesden.
The rugby league season always (until the onset of "summer rugby" in 1996) ran from around August through around May. This 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 occurred during, and immediately after, the two world wars.
Competition and results This season there were no junior/amateur clubs taking part, no new entrants and no "leavers", so the total of entries remained the same, at thirteen. This in turn resulted in three byes in the first round.
Round 1 Round 1 involved five matches (with three byes) and 13 clubs.
Game no.Fixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueRef1Sat 16 Oct 1920Batley10–3YorkMount Pleasant2Sat 16 Oct 1920Halifax15–3BramleyThrum Hall3Sat 16 Oct 1920Huddersfield5–5DewsburyFartown4Sat 16 Oct 1920Hull Kingston Rovers12–3Bradford NorthernCraven Street (off Holderness Road)5Sat 16 Oct 1920Leeds14–2Wakefield TrinityHeadingley6Hullbye7Hunsletbye8Keighleybye
Round 1 – replays Round 1's replays involved one match and two clubs.
Game no.Fixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueRefRTue 19 Oct 1920Dewsbury7–0HuddersfieldCrown Flatt
Round 2 – quarterfinals Round 2's quarterfinals involved four matches and eight clubs.
Game no.Fixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueRef1Sat 30 Oct 1920Dewsbury3–2HalifaxCrown Flatt2Sat 30 Oct 1920Hunslet10–9BatleyParkside3Sat 30 Oct 1920Keighley5–18HullLawkholme Lane4Sat 30 Oct 1920Leeds2–8Hull Kingston RoversHeadingley
Round 3 – semifinals Round 3's semifinals involved two matches and four clubs.
Game no.Fixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueRef1Sat 13 Nov 1920Hull31–5HunsletBoulevard2Sat 13 Nov 1920Hull Kingston Rovers8–5DewsburyCraven Street (off Holderness Road)
Final Game no.Fixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttRecRefSaturday 27 November 1920Hull Kingston Rovers2–0HullHeadingley20000£1,926
Teams and scorers Hull Kingston RoversNo.Hull Teams Laurie Osborne1Ned RogersBilly Bradshaw2Alfred FrancisJ. Cook3Billy StoneGilbert Austin4Billy BattenLouis Harris5Jack HoldsworthW. Clark6Eddie CaswellTommy McGeiver7Tommy MilnerJ. H. Wilkinson8H. TaylorJ. R. Wilkinson9H. HensonFrank Bielby10Jack BeastyR. Boagey11Bob TaylorFrank Gibson12Danny WyburnArthur Moore13Jim KennedyWilliam 'Billy' JacquesCoachSid Melville (trainer)2Score00HT0 Scorers Goals GBill Bradshaw Drop goals Refereeunknown Scoring – Try = three (3) points – Goal = two (2) points – Drop goal = two (2) points
The road to success
See also 1920–21 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