1954–55 Lancashire Cup

The 1954–55 Lancashire Cup was the forty-second occasion on which English rugby league's Lancashire Cup competition had been held.

This year, the first time for many years save a new name on the trophy. Barrow changed codes to rugby league in 1897, were promoted into the league for season 1900–01 and have taken part in every one of the Lancashire Cup competitions since their inception in 1905, and now finally, almost 50 years later, they won the trophy by beating Oldham in the final by the score of 12–2.

The match was played at Station Road, Pendlebury. The attendance was 25,204 and receipts were £4,603.

Background

This year saw the entry on new league members Blackpool Borough, and this together with the invitation to juniors, Lancashire Amateurs brought the total number of clubs to a full complement of 16.

For the first time in the competition, there was no need to have any byes or “blank/dummy” fixtures.

The same pre-war fixture format was retained, but, as mentioned, for the first time without any bye or dummy” fixtures.

And for the first time since the outbreak of war in 1939, the two-legged fixtures were abolished, resulting in the competition being played on a knock-out basis.

Competition and results

Round 1

Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs

Round 2 - quarterfinals

Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs

Game No	Fixture date	Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
									-
1	Mon 20 Sep 1954	Belle Vue Rangers	9-37	Leigh	Belle Vue Stadium			4
2	Mon 20 Sep 1954	Oldham	20-9	St. Helens	Watersheddings	16,000
3	Wed 22 Sep 1954	Liverpool City	8-11	Workington Town	Mill Yard, Knotty Ash
4	Thu 23 Sep 1954	Barrow	36-0	Widnes	Craven Park

Round 3 – semifinals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No	Fixture date	Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
									-
1	Wed 29 Sep 1954	Leigh	2-7	Barrow	Kirkhall Lane				-
2	Thu 30 Sep 1954	Workington Town	13-20	Oldham	Borough Park				-

Final

Teams and scorers

Barrow	No.	Oldham	-
	Teams		-
Colin Poole	1	Bernard Ganley	-
Derek Hinchley	2	Dick Cracknell	-
Phil Jackson	3	Roland Barrow	-
Dennis Goodwin	4	Alan Davies	-
Frank Castle	5	Terry O'Grady	-
Willie Horne	6	Frank Daley	-
Ted Toohey	7	Frank Pitchford	-
Les Belshaw	8	Harry Ogden	-
Vince McKeating	9	Jack Keith	-
Frank Barton	10	Ken Jackson	-
JackGrundy	11	Charlie Winslade	-
Reg Parker	12	Sid Little	-
Bill Healey	13	Bryn Goldswain	-
star winger James 'Gentleman Jim' Lewthwaite injured and missed this game	note		-
			-
12	score	2	-
10	HT	2	-
			-
	Scorers		-
	Tries		-
	T		-
	Goals		-
	G		-
	G		-
	Drop Goals		-
	DG		-
Referee			-

Scoring - Try = three points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = two points