The 1941–42 Yorkshire Cup was the thirty-fourth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. Organised by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the Yorkshire Cup was a knock-out competition between the professional rugby league clubs from the county of Yorkshire. Under the wartime emergency rules the RFL was operating to, teams from Lancashire were invited to participate as the Lancashire Cup was not played. The Cup was played for by 14 teams from Yorkshire and two from Lancashire.

Played during October to December 1941 and comprised three two-legged rounds followed by the final. The final was played at Fartown, Huddersfield. Bradford Northern retained the trophy by beating Halifax 24–0 in front of a crowd of 5,989 with receipts were £635.

Participation In making plans for the 1941–42 season the RFL decided to move the dates of the competition back to the traditional playing period of autumn. In the previous season, the Lancashire Cup was abandoned and the few Lancashire clubs playing during the war were invited to play in the Yorkshire Cup instead, this invitation was continued for 1941–42. Wigan and Oldham of the three Lancashire teams playing during the season accepted the invite while St Helens declined to take part.

Format With 14 Yorkshire clubs and two Lancashire clubs in the draw, the format did not require any byes. The decision was made to play all ties, except the final, as two-legs (home and away). The competition was played over consecutive weeks, commencing on 25 October, with the final taking place on 6 December. All the fixtures for all three rounds of the competition were drawn at the same time.

First round The first leg ties were all played on Saturday 25 October 1941. + Yorkshire Cup: first round, first legMatch IDHomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueALeeds3–8Wakefield Trinity25 October 1941, 3:30 pmHeadingleyBHull F.C.3–20HuddersfieldThe BoulevardCYork2–5OldhamClarence StreetDKeighley2–14WiganLawkholme LaneECastleford18–2DewsburyWheldon RoadFBradford Northern6–28BatleyOdsalGFeatherstone Rovers7–18HalifaxPost Office RoadHHunslet28–6BramleyParkside Source:

The return legs were played the following weekend on Saturday 1 November 1941. + Yorkshire Cup: first round, second legMatch IDHomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueAggregate scoreAWakefield Trinity4–5Leeds1 November 1941, 3:30 pmBelle Vue12–8BHuddersfield5–13Hull F.C.Fartown25–16COldham10–0YorkWatersheddings15–2DWigan19–0KeighleyCentral Park33–2EDewsbury8–5CastlefordCrown Flatt10–23FBatley36–0BradfordMount Pleasant64–6GHalifax16–5Featherstone RoversThrum Hall34–12HBramley3–34HunsletBarley Mow9–62 Source:

Second round The first leg ties were all played on Saturday 8 November 1941. + Yorkshire Cup: second round, first legMatch IDHomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueG v AHalifax13–7Wakefield Trinity8 November 1941, 3:30 pmThrum HallH v DHunslet3–8WiganParksideB v EHuddersfield14–6CastlefordFartownC v FOldham0–10Bradford NorthernWatersheddings Source:

+ Yorkshire Cup: second round, second legMatch IDHomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueAggregate scoreG v AWakefield Trinity3–17Halifax15 November 1941, 3:30 pmBelle Vue10–27H v DWigan10–4HunsletCentral Park18–7B v ECastleford6–5HuddersfieldWheldon Road12–19C v FBradford Northern5–9OldhamOdsal15–9 Source:

Semi-finals + Yorkshire Cup: semi-finals, first legMatch IDHomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeG/A v H/DHalifax11–8Wigan22 November 1941, 3:30 pmThrum HallA.E.HardingB/E v C/FHuddersfield11–10Bradford NorthernFartownJ.E. Taylor Source:

+ Yorkshire Cup: semi-finals, second legMatch IDHomeScoreAwayMatch InformationDate and TimeVenueRefereeAggregate scoreG/A v H/DWigan2–2Halifax29 November 1941, 3:30 pmCentral ParkE. Devine13–10B/E v C/FBradford Northern9–3HuddersfieldOdsalA. Hill19–14 Source:

Final

On the Monday following the semi-finals, the cup committee met to decide the venue for the final. The decision made was to play the game at Huddersfield's Fartown Ground with Mr G.S. Phillips as referee. Kick-off time was scheduled for 3:00 pm to allow for extra-time of 10-minutes each way to be played, if needed, and the game still finish in daylight. If the scores were still level after 20-minutes of extra-time then the game would proceed as sudden death, with the first team to score being declared the winners.

The local rivals met in a game that journalists expected to be a close match.

With both teams featuring guest players, the first half was the close matched game expected and it was only shortly before half-time when the first points were scored as Bradford's Willie Davies made the most of a Halifax error to score a try. With the conversion being kicked, Bradford had a 5–0 lead at the interval.

The second half was a one-sided affair, Davies scored his second try from the first scrum of the half. This was followed by tries from Best, Carter, Foster and Smith with two conversions added. Although Halifax had a majority of possession in the second half, it was Bradford who did the attacking with Halifax once getting anywhere close to scoring.

The receipts for the final were £635.

References