1971–72 Yorkshire Cup

The 1971–72 Yorkshire Cup was the sixty-fourth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held.
Hull Kingston Rovers won the trophy by beating Castleford by the score of 11–7. The match was played at Belle Vue, in the City of Wakefield, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 5,536 and receipts were £1,589. The attendance was a Yorkshire Cup final record, the lowest ever, a record which would never be beaten.
This is the second time in four seasons that Castleford, finished as runner-up.

Background

Due to the introduction of a new knock-out competition, and the New Zealand national team's upcoming tour of Great Britain, the Yorkshire County Committee decided to stage the county cup much earlier than previous seasons, with the first round taking place at the end of July. Leeds objected to the decision, and withdrew from the competition due to their Headingley ground being used for cricket during the summer.

Competition and results

First Round

The committee refused to accept Leeds' withdrawal from the competition, and included them in the draw for the first round. Leeds re-affirmed their decision not to take part in the competition, and Bramley were consequently awarded a walkover. Hull Kingston Rovers were also given a walkover after Dewsbury were forced to withdraw due a pay dispute with their players.

Game No	Fixture date	Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Att	Ref
1	Sat 31 Jul 1971	Castleford	24–5	Batley	Wheldon Road
2	Sat 31 Jul 1971	Hull F.C.	9–2	Featherstone Rovers	Boulevard
3	Sun 1 Aug 1971	Doncaster	12–4	Bradford Northern	Tattersfield
4	Sun 1 Aug 1971	Halifax	19–10	York	Thrum Hall
5	Sun 1 Aug 1971	Hunslet	10–17	Keighley	Parkside
6	Sun 1 Aug 1971	Wakefield Trinity	11–4	Huddersfield	Belle Vue
7		Bramley	w/o	Leeds
8		Hull Kingston Rovers	w/o	Dewsbury

Second Round

Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs

Game No	Fixture date	Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Att	Ref
1	Fri 6 Aug 1971	Castleford	13–10	Wakefield Trinity	Wheldon Road
2	Fri 6 Aug 1971	Keighley	16–12	Hull F.C.	Lawkholme Lane
3	Sun 8 Aug 1971	Bramley	18–12	Halifax	McLaren Field
4	Sun 8 Aug 1971	Doncaster	14–24	Hull Kingston Rovers	Tattersfield

Semi-finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No	Fixture date	Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Att	Ref
1	Fri 13 Aug 1971	Castleford	12–7	Keighley	Wheldon Road
2	Sun 15 Aug 1971	Hull Kingston Rovers	25–6	Bramley	Craven Park (1)