The 1945–46 Yorkshire Cup was the thirty-eighth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition was held.
In this, the first peacetime Cup final for five years, there was a new name on the trophy. Bradford Northern, who previously won the trophy in 1940–41, 1941–42 and 1943–44, could now lay claim to a genuine trophy; the wartime competitions were not counted officially in the records. Bradford Northern won by beating Wakefield Trinity by a score of 5–2.
The match was played at Thrum Hall, Halifax, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 24,252 and receipts were £1,934.
Background
The Second World War was now over, and things were beginning to return to normal, although there was still a long way to go. Hull Kingston Rovers and Bramley re-joined the competition and the four Lancashire clubs returned to their own competition. This season there were no junior/amateur clubs taking part, which resulted in the number of entrants falling by two, leaving the total number of entries at 15.
This in turn resulted in one bye in the first round.
The competition reverted to its original formula of a knock-out tournament, with the exception of the first round, which was still played on a two-legged home and away basis.
Competition and results
Round 1 – first leg Round 1's first leg involved seven matches (with one bye) and 15 clubs.
All first round ties were played on a two-legged home and away basis.
Game no.Fixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAggAttRecNotesRef1Sat 6 Oct 1945Batley5–21HunsletMount Pleasant2Sat 6 Oct 1945Bramley14–22KeighleyBarley Mow3Sat 6 Oct 1945Halifax18–5HullThrum Hall4Sat 6 Oct 1945Hull Kingston Rovers5–4DewsburyCraven Park (1)5Sat 6 Oct 1945Leeds11–4CastlefordHeadingley6Sat 6 Oct 1945Wakefield Trinity20–5HuddersfieldBelle Vue 7Sat 6 Oct 1945York?Featherstone RoversClarence Street8Bradford Northernbye
Round 1 – second leg Round 1's second leg involved seven matches (with one bye) and 15 clubs.
All first round ties were played on a two-legged home and away basis.
Game no.Fixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueaggAttRecNotesRef1Sat 13 Oct 1945Hunslet19–0BatleyParkside40–52Sat 13 Oct 1945Keighley17–15BramleyLawkholme Lane39–293Sat 13 Oct 1945Hull30–5HalifaxBoulevard35–234Sat 13 Oct 1945Dewsbury20–4Hull Kingston RoversCrown Flatt24–95Sat 13 Oct 1945Castleford11–10LeedsWheldon Road 15–216Sat 13 Oct 1945Huddersfield7–32Wakefield TrinityFartown12–527Sat 13 Oct 1945Featherstone Rovers24–5YorkPost Office Road?8Bradford Northernbye
Round 2 – quarterfinals Round 2's quarterfinals involved four matches and eight clubs.
All second round ties were played on a two-legged home and away basis.
Game no.Fixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAggAttRecNotesRef1Tue 16 Oct 1945Dewsbury10–3KeighleyCrown Flatt2Wed 17 Oct 1945Wakefield Trinity34–7HullBelle Vue3Wed 17 Oct 1945Bradford Northern8–0HunsletOdsal4Wed 17 Oct 1945Leeds11–4Featherstone RoversHeadingley
Round 3 – semifinals Round 3's semifinals involved two matches and four clubs.
Both semi-final ties were played on a two-legged home and away basis.
Game no.Fixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAggAttRecNotesRef1Tue 23 Oct 1945Dewsbury2–7Bradford NorthernCrown Flatt2Wed 24 Oct 1945Wakefield Trinity14–7LeedsBelle Vue
Final Game no.Fixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAggAttRecNotesRefSaturday 3 November 1945Bradford Northern5–2Wakefield TrinityThrum Hall24252£1,934
Teams and scorers Bradford NorthernNo.Wakefield Trinity Teams George Carmichael1William "Billy" TeallEric Batten2Ronnie CopleyJack Kitching3William "Billy" StottErnest Ward4Johnny JonesWalter Best5Dennis BaddeleyGeorge Bennett6Ronald "Ron" RylanceDonald Ward7Herbert "Harry" GoodfellowFrank Whitcombe8Harry WilkinsonVic Darlison9Leonard "Len" MarsonLeonard Higson10James "Jim" HigginsLaurie Roberts11Harry MurphyAlf Marklew12Frank MooreWilliam Hutchinson13Leonard "Len" BratleyDai ReesCoachJames "Jim" Croston 5Score20HT2 Scorers TriesFrank WhitcombeT GoalsGeorge CarmichaelGWilliam "Billy" StottRefereeunknown Scoring – Try = three (3) points – Goal = two (2) points – Drop goal = two (2) points
The road to success All the ties in the first round were played on a two leg (home and away) basis.
For the first round ties, the first club named in each of the ties played the first leg at home.
For the first round ties, the scores shown are the aggregate score over the two legs.
See also 1945–46 Northern Rugby Football 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