1954–55 Lancashire Cup

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1954–55 was the forty-second occasion on which the 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 (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 25,204 and receipts were £4,603.

1954–55 Lancashire Cup
StructureRegional knockout championship
Teams16
WinnersBarrow
Runners-upOldham

Background

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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

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[1]

Round 1

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Involved 8 matches (with no bye or “blank” fixture) and 16 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 11 Sep 1954 Blackpool Borough 5-9 Belle Vue Rangers St Anne's Road Greyhound Stadium 1 2
2 Sat 11 Sep 1954 Leigh 21-10 Wigan Kirkhall Lane [2]
3 Sat 11 Sep 1954 Oldham 57-17 Lancashire Amateurs Watersheddings 3
4 Sat 11 Sep 1954 Liverpool City 6-3 Salford Mill Yard, Knotty Ash
5 Sat 11 Sep 1954 Rochdale Hornets 10-13 Barrow Athletic Grounds
6 Sat 11 Sep 1954 St. Helens 27-6 Whitehaven Knowsley Road 13,600 [3]
7 Sat 11 Sep 1954 Widnes 16-13 Warrington Naughton Park [4][5]
8 Sat 11 Sep 1954 Workington Town 27-0 Swinton Borough Park

Round 2 - quarterfinals

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Involved 4 matches (with no bye) 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]
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 [4]

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 29 Sep 1954 Leigh 2-7 Barrow Kirkhall Lane
2 Thu 30 Sep 1954 Workington Town 13-20 Oldham Borough Park

Final

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Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Saturday 23 October 1954 Barrow 12-2 Oldham Station Road 25,204 £4,603 5 [6]

Teams and scorers

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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 (c) 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 (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points

[7][8]

The road to success

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First round Second round Semifinals Final
            
Blackpool Borough 5
Belle Vue Rangers 9
Belle Vue Rangers 9
Leigh 37
Leigh 21
Wigan 10
Leigh 2
Barrow 7
Rochdale Hornets 10
Barrow 13
Barrow 36
Widnes 0
Widnes 16
Warrington 13
Barrow 12
Oldham 2
Liverpool City 6
Salford 3
Liverpool City 8
Workington Town 11
Workington Town 27
Swinton 0
Workington Town 13
Oldham 20
Oldham 57
Lancashire Amateurs 17
Oldham 20
St. Helens 9
St. Helens 27
Whitehaven 6

Notes and comments

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1 * This season saw, for the first time ever, a full 16 clubs taking part and also a return to a knock-out tournament in ll rounds.
2 * The first Lancashire Cup match played by the new club Blackpool Borough and on this, their first ground
3 * Lancashire Amateurs were a junior (or amateur) club from Lancashire
4 * The last game played by this founding club. At the end of the season they folded
5 * Station Road was the home ground of Swinton from 1929 to 1932 and at its peak was one of the finest rugby league grounds in the country and it boasted a capacity of 60,000. The actual record attendance was for the Challenge Cup semi-final on 7 April 1951 when 44,621 watched Wigan beat Warrington 3-2

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Rugby League Project".
  2. ^ "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
  3. ^ a b "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  4. ^ a b "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  5. ^ "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 6 July 2010.
  6. ^ Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
  7. ^ "Barrow RLFC website". Archived from the original on 22 February 2014.
  8. ^ "Oldham Heritage Trust".
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