The 1940–41 Yorkshire Cup was held in spring 1941.
The 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 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 was caused during, and immediately after, the two World Wars.
The Second World War was continuing and the Yorkshire Cup was moved to the end of the 1940–41 Northern Rugby Football League Wartime Emergency League season.
1940–41 was the thirty-third occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. This season's competition is classed as a "Wartime Emergency Competition" and therefore the results did not count as an official competition win. However, this aside and for the second consecutive competition, there was a new winner for this season's trophy, Bradford Northern winning the trophy by beating Dewsbury by the score of 15–5. The match was played at Fartown, Huddersfield, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 13,316 and receipts were £939.
Change in Club participation
Hull Kingston Rovers – The club dropped out of the wartime Lancashire league after the ‘first (1939–40) season. They did not return to league competition until 1945–46 peacetime season.
Wigan - This club entered the Yorkshire Cup competition.
Oldham - The club, as Wigan, also entered the Yorkshire Cup competition.
Batley, Bramley and Keighley all rejoined the competition after appearing to withdraw from last season's competition.
Dewsbury - had a relatively successful time during the war years. Managed by Eddie Waring, and with the side boosted by the inclusion of a number of big-name guest players, the club won the Wartime Emergency League in 1941–42 and again the following season 1942–43 (though that championship was declared null and void when it was discovered they had played an ineligible player). They were also runners-up in the Championship in 1943–44, Challenge Cup winners in 1943 and Yorkshire Cup final appearances in this season 1940–41 and winners in 1942–43.
Background This season there were no junior/amateur clubs taking part, but with the addition of the two Lancashire clubs, Wigan and Oldham, the total number of entrants increased by four to the total of sixteen.
This in turn resulted in no byes in the first round.
Competition and results
Round 1 Involved 8 matches (with no byes) and 16 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueRef1Sat 15 Mar 1941Bradford Northern28–10BramleyOdsal2Sat 15 Mar 1941Dewsbury17–5HunsletCrown Flatt3Sat 15 Mar 1941Featherstone Rovers14–0KeighleyPost Office Road4Sat 15 Mar 1941Halifax6–13CastlefordThrum Hall5Sat 15 Mar 1941Huddersfield35–3BatleyFartown6Sat 15 Mar 1941Hull15–22YorkBoulevard7Sat 15 Mar 1941Wakefield Trinity17–5OldhamBelle Vue8Sat 15 Mar 1941Wigan3–9LeedsCentral Park
Round 2 - quarterfinals Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team ScoreAway teamVenueRef1Sat 22 Mar 1941Bradford Northern18–5Wakefield TrinityOdsal2Sat 22 Mar 1941Dewsbury21–5YorkCrown Flatt3Sat 22 Mar 1941Featherstone Rovers20–9LeedsPost Office Road4Sat 22 Mar 1941Huddersfield8–3CastlefordFartown
Round 3 – semifinals Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueRef1Sat 29 Mar 1941Dewsbury20–2Featherstone RoversCrown Flatt2Sat 29 Mar 1941Huddersfield0–2Bradford NorthernFartown
Final Fixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttRecNotesRefSaturday 5 April 1941Bradford Northern15–5DewsburyFartown13,316£939
Teams and scorers Bradford NorthernNo.Dewsbury Teams George Carmichael1Jim SullivanWalter Best2Harry GermaineTom Winnard3Jack WaringErnest Ward4Tom KennyEmlyn Walters5Peter BarnesGus Risman6Frank TraceyDonald Ward7Harry RoyalFrank Whitcombe8Hector ThomasCliff Carter9Glyn JonesLeonard Higson10Shirley CrabtreeWilliam Smith11Les GarnerTrevor Foster12George KershawJack Moore13Jack BradburyDai ReesCoachEddie Waring 15score56HT5 Scorers Tries TTT Goals GG Drop Goals DGRefereeG. S. Phillips (Widnes)
Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points
The road to success
See also 1940–41 Northern Rugby Football League Wartime Emergency League 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