1942–43 Yorkshire Cup
The 1942–43 Yorkshire Cup was the thirty-fifth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition was held.
It was a knock-out competition between 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 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 played in the early part of the 1942–43 Northern Rugby Football League Wartime Emergency League season.
Dewsbury won the trophy by beating Huddersfield over two legs by an aggregate score of 7–2.
Dewsbury played the first leg match at home and won 7–0. The attendance was 11,000 and receipts were £680.
Huddersfield were at home for the second leg match and duly won 2-0. The attendance at the second leg match was 6,252 and receipts £618.
Change in club participation
Hull Kingston Rovers 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.Bramley withdrew after the third wartime season (1941–42) had finished and did not rejoin until the 1945–46 season.
Castleford withdrew after the third wartime season had finished and did not participate for two seasons, re-joining for the 1944–45 season.
Hunslet withdrew after the third wartime season had finished and did not participate for this season, re-joining for the next 1943–44 season.
Wigan entered the Yorkshire Cup competition for the third successive season
Oldham also entered the Yorkshire Cup competition and for the third successive season
St. Helens also entered the Yorkshire Cup competition and for their first season.
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 . 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. Bramley, Castleford and Hunslet withdrew, and St. Helens joined. With the continued presence of the two Lancashire clubs, Wigan and Oldham, this resulted in the number of entrants decreasing by two, to a total of fourteen.This in turn resulted in two byes in the first round.
For the second successive year, all the ties were played on a two-legged home and away basis.
Competition and results
Round 1 – first leg
Round 1's first leg involved six matches and 14 clubs.All first round ties were played on a two-legged home and away basis.
| Game no. | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Agg | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| - | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Sat 17 Oct 1942 | Batley | 6-2 | Wakefield Trinity | Mount Pleasant | |||||||
| 2 | Sat 17 Oct 1942 | Featherstone Rovers | 0-0 | Hull | Post Office Road | |||||||
| 3 | Sat 17 Oct 1942 | Halifax | 3-0 | Oldham | Thrum Hall | |||||||
| 4 | Sat 17 Oct 1942 | Keighley | 0-21 | Huddersfield | Lawkholme Lane | |||||||
| 5 | Sat 17 Oct 1942 | Leeds | 15-7 | Dewsbury | Headingley | |||||||
| 6 | Sat 17 Oct 1942 | York | 5-4 | Bradford Northern | Clarence Street | |||||||
| 7 | Wigan | bye | ||||||||||
| 8 | St. Helens | bye |
Round 1 – second leg
Round 1's second leg involved six matches and 14 clubs.All first round ties were played on a two-legged home and away basis.
| Game no. | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Agg | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| - | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Sat 24 Oct 1942 | Wakefield Trinity | 7-13 | Batley | Belle Vue | 9-19 | ||||||
| 2 | Sat 24 Oct 1942 | Hull | 8-0 | Featherstone Rovers | Boulevard | 8-0 | ||||||
| 3 | Sat 24 Oct 1942 | Oldham | 3-9 | Halifax | Watersheddings | 3-12 | ||||||
| 4 | Sat 24 Oct 1942 | Huddersfield | 33-5 | Keighley | Fartown | 54-5 | ||||||
| 5 | Sat 24 Oct 1942 | Dewsbury | 18-5 | Leeds | Crown Flatt | 25-20 | ||||||
| 6 | Sat 24 Oct 1942 | Bradford Northern | 5-2 | York | Odsal | 9-7 | ||||||
| 7 | Wigan | bye | ||||||||||
| 8 | St. Helens | bye |
Round 2 – quarterfinals – first leg
Round 2's quarterfinals' first leg involved four matches and eight clubs.All second round ties were played on a two-legged home and away basis.
| Game no. | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Agg | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| - | - | |||||||||||
| 1 | Sat 24 Oct 1942 | St. Helens | 21-8 | Wigan | Knowsley Road | 1 | ||||||
| 2 | Sat 31 Oct 1942 | Batley | 5-10 | Huddersfield | Mount Pleasant | |||||||
| 3 | Sat 31 Oct 1942 | Halifax | 7-10 | Bradford Northern | Thrum Hall | |||||||
| 4 | Sat 31 Oct 1942 | Hull | 12-10 | Dewsbury | Boulevard |
Round 2 – second leg
Round 2's second leg involved four matches and eight clubs.All second round ties were played on a two-legged home and away basis.
| Game no. | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Agg | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| - | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Sat 07 Nov 1942 | Wigan | 32-11 | St. Helens | Central Park | 40-32 | 2 | |||||
| 2 | Sat 07 Nov 1942 | Huddersfield | 36-3 | Batley | Fartown | 39-16 | ||||||
| 3 | Sat 07 Nov 1942 | Bradford Northern | 6-5 | Halifax | Odsal | 16-12 | ||||||
| 4 | Sat 07 Nov 1942 | Dewsbury | 23-7 | Hull | Crown Flatt | 33-19 |
Round 3 – semifinals – first leg
Round 3's semifinals' first leg involved two matches and four clubs.Both semifinal ties were played on a two-legged home and away basis.
| Game no. | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Agg | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| - | - | |||||||||||
| 1 | Sat 14 Nov 1942 | Dewsbury | 11-3 | Wigan | Crown Flatt | |||||||
| 2 | Sat 14 Nov 1942 | Huddersfield | 6-0 | Bradford Northern | Fartown |
Semifinal – second leg
The semifinal's second leg involved two matches and four clubs.Both semifinal ties were played on a two-legged home and away basis.
| Game no. | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Agg | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| - | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Sat 21 Nov 1942 | Wigan | 0-6 | Dewsbury | Central Park | 3-17 | ||||||
| 2 | Sat 21 Nov 1942 | Bradford Northern | 4-11 | Huddersfield | Odsal | 4-17 |
Final – first leg
The final was played on a two-legged home and away basis this season.| Game no. | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Agg | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| - | - | |||||||||||
| Saturday 28 November 1942 | Dewsbury | 7-0 | Huddersfield | Crown Flatt | 11000 | 680 |
| Dewsbury | No. | Huddersfield |
| Teams | ||
| George Bunter | 1 | Billy Belshaw |
| Roy Francis | 2 | Ossie Peake |
| Cyril Morrell | 3 | Alex Fiddes |
| Jimmy Robinson | 4 | Russ Pepperell |
| Alan Edwards | 5 | Randall Lewis |
| Tom Kenny | 6 | Tommy Bartram |
| Harry Royal | 7 | John McGurk |
| Harry Hammond | 8 | Pat McManus |
| George Curran | 9 | Dave Cotton |
| Jackie Gardner | 10 | Tommy Taylor |
| George Kershaw | 11 | Frank Wagstaff |
| Frank Smith Sr. | 12 | Douglas Booth |
| Charlie Seeling Jr. | 13 | Alex Givvons |
| Eddie Waring | Coach | ?? |
| 7 | Score | 0 |
| HT | ||
| Scorers | ||
| Tries | ||
| T | ||
| T | ||
| T | ||
| T | ||
| T | ||
| T | ||
| T | ||
| Goals | ||
| G | ||
| G | ||
| G | ||
| Drop goals | ||
| DG | ||
| DG | ||
| DG | ||
| Referee | unknown |
Final – second leg
The final was played on a two-legged home and away basis this season.| Game no. | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Agg | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| Saturday 5 December 1942 | Huddersfield | 2-0 | Dewsbury | Fartown Ground |
| Dewsbury | No. | Huddersfield |
| Teams | ||
| George Bunter | 1 | Billy Belshaw |
| Barney Hudson | 2 | Ossie Peake |
| Alan Edwards | 3 | Alex Fiddes |
| Jimmy Robinson | 4 | Bill Davies |
| Roy Francis | 5 | Randall Lewis |
| Tom Kenny | 6 | Stan Pepperell |
| Harry Royal | 7 | John McGurk |
| Harry Hammond | 8 | Douglas Booth |
| George Curran | 9 | Dave Cotton |
| Jackie Gardner | 10 | Tommy Taylor |
| George Kershaw | 11 | William Chapman |
| Frank Smith Sr. | 12 | Frank Wagstaff |
| Charlie Seeling Jr. | 13 | Alex Givvons |
| Eddie Waring | Coach | ?? |
| 0 | Score | 2 |
| HT | ||
| Scorers | ||
| Goals | ||
| G | Bill Davies | |
| Referee | unknown | |
Scoring - Try = three points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = two points
The road to success
All the ties were played on a two-leg basis.The first club named in each of the ties played the first leg at home.
The scores shown are the aggregate score over the two legs.