1905–06 Lancashire Cup

The 1905 Lancashire Cup was the inaugural year for the rugby league Lancashire Cup competition. The cup was won by Wigan who beat Leigh in a replay at Wheater's Field, Broughton, Salford by a score of 8-0.

1905 Lancashire Cup
StructureRegional knockout championship
Teams14
WinnersWigan
Runners-upLeigh

Background

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Following the great schism of 1895 which led to the formation of rugby league there was an interest in a competitive competition for clubs based in Lancashire. 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.

There appears to be very little, if any, details of how this 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

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Round 1

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Involved 6 matches (with two byes) and 14 Clubs.[1]

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 14 October 1905 Barrow 11-0 Chadderton (Oldham) Canendish Park
2 Sat 14 October 1905 Leigh 8-0 Runcorn Frog Hall Field, Mather Lane
3 Sat 14 October 1905 Morecambe 0-5 Widnes Moss Lane [2]
4 Sat 14 October 1905 Rochdale Hornets 0-10 Warrington Athletic Grounds [3]
5 Sat 14 October 1905 Salford 3-0 Swinton The Willows
6 Sat 14 October 1905 Wigan 18-0 St. Helens Central Park 8,000 [4][5]
7 Broughton Rangers bye
8 Oldham bye

Round 2 – quarterfinals

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Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 28 October 1905 Salford 0-10 Oldham The Willows
2 Sat 28 October 1905 Warrington 2-5 Leigh Wilderspool [3]
3 Sat 28 October 1905 Widnes 9-0 Barrow Lowerhouse Lane [2]
4 Sat 28 October 1905 Wigan 4-3 Broughton Rangers Central Park [4]

Round 3 – semifinals

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Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 18 November 1905 Oldham 7-11 Wigan Watersheddings [4]
2 Wed 22 November 1905 Leigh 6-2 Widnes Frog Hall Field, Mather Lane [2]

Final

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The attendance was 10,000 and receipts £200. The initial final (which had taken place 9 days earlier at the same venue) had ended in a 0-0 draw before a crowd estimated at 16.000 and receipts of £400.

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Saturday 2 December 1905 Leigh 0-0 Wigan Wheater's Field 16000 £400-0-0 2 [4][6]
Replay Monday 11 December 1905 Wigan 8-0 Leigh Wheater's Field 10000 £200-0-0 [4][6]

Teams and scorers

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Wigan[4] Leigh
Teams
Reuben Collier 1 Prop Paddy O'Neill
Frank Watkins 2 Hooker Bob Berry
Anthony Little 3 Prop Albert Blackburn
Jack Barton 4 Lock Wilfrid Webster
Tom Whittaker 5 Lock Aaron Lee
Dick Tyrer 6 Flanker Dick Silcock
J. R. "Jack" Hilton 7 Flanker Billy Winstanley (Jnr)
Sam Moores 8 Number 8 Billy Roberts
Johnny Thomas 9 Scrum Half Sam Whittaker
Billy Anderson 10 Fly Half Harry Dunbavin
Harry Lowe 11 Winger Bob Neville
Windsor "Naddy" Jones 12 Centre Herbert Bennett
Bert Jenkins 13 Centre Tom Johnson
Jim Leytham 14 Winger Sam Johnson
Jack Mason 15 Full Back Ellis Clarkson
0 score 0
0 HT 0
Referee
Replay
teams
Reuben Collier 1 Prop Paddy O'Neill
Frank Watkins 2 Hooker Bob Berry
Peter Vickers 3 Prop Albert Blackburn
Jack Barton 4 Lock Wilfrid Webster
Tom Whittaker 5 Lock Aaron Lee
Richard Tyrer 6 Flanker Billy Winstanley (Jnr)
J. R. "Jack" Hilton 7 Flanker Billy Winstanley (Snr)
Sam Moores 8 Number 8 Billy Roberts
Johnny Thomas 9 Scrum Half Sam Whittaker
Billy Anderson 10 Fly Half Harry Dunbavin
Harry Lowe 11 Winger Bob Neville
Naddy Jones 12 Centre Herbert Bennett
Bert Jenkins 13 Centre Brady
Jim Leytham 14 Winger Sam Johnson
Jack Mason 15 Full Back Ellis Clarkson
8 score 0
3 HT 0
Scorers
Tries
Bert Jenkins T
Johnny Thomas T
Goals
Jim Leytham G
Referee

Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points

The road to success

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First round Second round Semifinals Final
            
Salford 3
Swinton 0
Salford 0
Oldham 10
Oldham
bye
Oldham 7
Wigan 11
Wigan 18
St. Helens 0
Wigan 4
Broughton Rangers 3
Broughton Rangers
bye
Wigan 0 (8)
Leigh 0 (0)
Rochdale Hornets 0
Warrington 10
Warrington 2
Leigh 5
Leigh 8
Runcorn 0
Leigh 6
Widnes 2
Morecambe 0
Widnes 5
Widnes 9
Barrow 0
Barrow 11
Chadderton 0

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ "Rugby League Project - Lancashire Cup".
  2. ^ a b c "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1905–1906".
  3. ^ a b "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1905".
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
  5. ^ "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1905–06".
  6. ^ a b Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0-35617852-8.

References

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  • Saxton, Irvin (ed.). History of Rugby League: No.11 1905–1906. League Publications. pp. 9–10.
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