1988–89 Yorkshire Cup
The 1988–89 Yorkshire Cup was the eighty-first occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup rugby league competition was held.
Leeds won the trophy by beating the previous season's runner-up, Castleford, with a score of 33-12.
The match was played at Elland Road, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 22,968 and receipts were £83,591.
This was the sixth time in an eleven-year period in which Castleford, previously only winners once, made eight appearances in the Yorkshire Cup final, winning four and finishing runners-up on the other four occasions. It was also the second season in succession that Castleford appeared, and lost, in the final within that eleven-year period.
Background
In the 1988–89 season there were no junior/amateur clubs taking part, no new entrants and no "leavers" and so the total of entries remained the same at eighteen.As a result, a preliminary round was required to reduce the number of clubs entering the first round to sixteen.
Competition and results
Preliminary round
Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| P1 | Wed 31 Aug 1988 | Bramley | 16-38 | Leeds | McLaren Field | 4,258 | |||||
| P2 | Wed 31 Aug 1988 | Sheffield Eagles | 8-28 | Wakefield Trinity | Owlerton Stadium | 1,356 |
Round 1
Involved 5 matches and 13 clubs| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| 1 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | Castleford | 94-12 | Huddersfield | Wheldon Road | 3,144 | 1 2 | ||||
| 2 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | Featherstone Rovers | 38-8 | Doncaster | Post Office Road | 2,682 | |||||
| 3 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | Halifax | 36-14 | Batley | Thrum Hall | 5,370 | |||||
| 4 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | Hull F.C. | 53-0 | Hunslet | Boulevard | 3,153 | |||||
| 5 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | Keighley | 22-28 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Lawkholme Lane | 1,596 | |||||
| 6 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | Leeds | 24-21 | Bradford Northern | Headingley | 10,992 | |||||
| 7 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | Wakefield Trinity | 46-20 | Dewsbury | Belle Vue | 3,733 | |||||
| 8 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | York | 25-4 | Mansfield Marksman | Clarence Street | 1,370 |
Round 2 - Quarter-finals
Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| 1 | Tue 27 Sep 1988 | Hull F.C. | 18-0 | Featherstone Rovers | Boulevard | 4,010 | |||||
| 2 | Wed 28 Sep 1988 | Castleford | 40-14 | York | Wheldon Road | 3,155 | |||||
| 3 | Wed 28 Sep 1988 | Halifax | 24-2 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Thrum Hall | 6,296 | |||||
| 4 | Wed 28 Sep 1988 | Leeds | 15-10 | Wakefield Trinity | Headingley | 11,150 |
Round 3 – Semi-finals
Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| 1 | Wed 5 Oct 1988 | Halifax | 8-12 | Castleford | Thrum Hall | 8,432 | |||||
| 2 | Wed 5 Oct 1988 | Leeds | 12-8 | Hull F.C. | Headingley | 10,384 |
Final
Teams and scorers
| Leeds | № | Castleford |
| teams | ||
| Gary Spencer | 1 | Gary Belcher |
| Andrew Ettingshausen | 2 | David Plange |
| Garry Schofield | 3 | Tony Marchant |
| David Stephenson | 4 | Giles Boothroyd |
| Carl Gibson | 5 | Chris Chapman |
| Cliff Lyons | 6 | Grant Anderson |
| Ray Ashton | 7 | Robert "Bob" Beardmore |
| Lee Crooks | 8 | Kevin Ward |
| Colin Maskill | 9 | Kevin Beardmore |
| Hugh Waddell | 10 | Keith England |
| Roy Powell | 11 | Martin Ketteridge |
| Mark Brooke-Cowden | 12 | Ron Gibbs |
| David Heron | 13 | John Joyner |
| Paul Medley | 14 | David Roockley |
| Sam Backo | 15 | Dean Sampson |
| Malcolm "Mal" Reilly | Coach | Darryl van der Velde |
| 33 | score | 12 |
| 15 | HT | 12 |
| Scorers | ||
| Tries | ||
| Garry Schofield | T | Giles Boothroyd |
| Carl Gibson | T | John Joyner |
| Paul Medley | T | |
| Goals | ||
| David Stephenson | G | Martin Ketteridge |
| Drop Goals | ||
| Garry Schofield | DG | |
| Referee | Robin Whitfield | |
| White Rose Trophy for Man of the match | Cliff Lyons - Leeds - | |
| sponsored by | ||
| Competition Sponsor | John Smith's Brewery Tadcaster |
Scoring - Try = four points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = one point