1931–32 Lancashire Cup

The 1931–32 Lancashire Cup was the twenty-fourth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup competition had been held. Once again a new name was to be added to the trophy this year as it was the turn of Salford, who won the trophy for the first time by beating neighbours and close rivals Swinton in the final by 10–8.

1931–32 Lancashire Cup
StructureRegional knockout championship
Teams13
WinnersSalford
Runners-upSwinton

Background

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At the time of the great schism in 1895, Salford had initially remained loyal to the Rugby Football Union but in April 1896 the board met and only three members opposed the motion to switch to the new code. The change of heart was partly brought about by the sudden lack of "interesting" or derby fixtures for the club.

Competition and results

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The number of teams entering this year's competition remained at 13 but from this season the fixture format was changed. There was only one bye in the first round but now also a "blank" or "dummy" fixture. This also resulted in one bye in the second round.[1]

Round 1

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Involved 6 matches (with one bye and one "blank" fixture) and 13 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 10 Oct 1931 Broughton Rangers 8–13 Wigan The Cliff [2]
2 Sat 10 Oct 1931 Oldham 13–13 Barrow Watersheddings
3 Sat 10 Oct 1931 Wigan Highfield 7–7 Leigh Tunstall Lane
4 Sat 10 Oct 1931 Salford 16–5 St. Helens The Willows [3]
5 Sat 10 Oct 1931 Warrington 11–2 St Helens Recs Wilderspool [4]
6 Sat 10 Oct 1931 Widnes 10–3 Rochdale Hornets Lowerhouse Lane [5]
7 Swinton bye
8 blank blank

Round 1 – replays

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Involved 2 matches

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Wed 14 Oct 1931 Leigh 11–7 Wigan Highfield Mather Lane
2 Thu 15 Oct 1931 Barrow 27–9 Oldham Craven Park 1

Round 2 – quarterfinals

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Involved 3 matches (with one bye) and 7 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Wed 21 Oct 1931 Leigh 7–37 Swinton Mather Lane
2 Wed 21 Oct 1931 Warrington 7–17 Salford Wilderspool [4]
3 Thu 22 Oct 1931 Widnes 7–6 Wigan Lowerhouse Lane [2][5]
4 Barrow bye

Round 3 – semifinals

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Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Wed 04 Nov 1931 Swinton 37–0 Widnes Station Road 7,000 [5]
2 Wed 11 Nov 1931 Salford 21–0 Barrow The Willows -

Final

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The final was played at the Cliff, Broughton, Salford, (historically in the county of Lancashire) and on the banks of the River Irwell. The attendance was 26,471 and receipts £1,030. The attendance was a new record beating the 25,656 of 1924.

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Saturday 21 November 1931 Salford 10–8 Swinton The Cliff 26,471 £1,654 2 3 [6]

Teams and scorers

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Salford Swinton
teams
Gus Risman 1 Bob Scott
Fergie Southward 2 Frank Buckingham
Emlyn Jenkins 3 George Whittaker
Sammy Miller 4 Johnny Jones
Barney Hudson 5 Jack Kenny
Reg Meek 6 Hughie Salmon
Billy Watkins 7 Bryn Evans (c)
Billy Williams 8 Miller Strong
Fred Shaw 9 Tommy Armitt
Joe Bradbury 10 Joe Wright
Alf Middleton 11 Martin Hodgson
Teddy Haines 12 Fred Beswick
Jack Feetham 13 Fred Butters
10 score 8
3 HT 3
Scorers
Tries
Emlyn Jenkins (2) T Johnny Jones (1)
T Hughie Salmon (1)
Goals
Fergie Southward (2) G Martin Hodgson (1)
G
Drop Goals
DG
Referee Frank Peel (Bradford)

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
            
Warrington 11
St Helens Recs 2
Warrington 7
Salford 17
Salford 16
St. Helens 5
Salford 21
Barrow 0
Oldham 13–9
Barrow 13–27
Barrow
bye
blank
blank
Salford 10
Swinton 8
Wigan Highfield 7–7
Leigh 7–11
Leigh 7
Swinton 37
Swinton
bye
Swinton 37
Widnes 0
Widnes 10
Rochdale Hornets 3
Widnes 7
Wigan 6
Broughton Rangers 8
Wigan 13

Notes

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  1. The first Lancashire Cup match played at the new ground
  2. The attendance of 26,471 was a new record for a Lancashire Cup final attendance
  3. The Cliff was the home ground of Broughton Rangers from 1913 and until they moved out to Belle Vue in 1933. In 1938 Manchester United moved in and used it as both a match ground for academy teams etc. and a general a training ground. They purchased the ground outright in 1951 and downgraded it to Junior team use in the early 2000s

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Rugby League Project".
  2. ^ a b "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
  3. ^ "Saints Heritage Society – History – Season 1896–97".
  4. ^ a b "Warrington Wolves – Results Archive – 1897". Archived from the original on 6 July 2010.
  5. ^ a b c "Widnes Vikings – History – Season In Review – 1896–97".
  6. ^ Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
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