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1896–97 Challenge Cup

Rugby league competition

Field	Value
title	1897 Challenge Cup
duration	6 Rounds
no_of_teams	52
season	[1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season](1896-97-northern-rugby-football-union-season)
season_champs	Batley
season_champ_name	Winners
second_place	St Helens
nextseason_link	1898 Challenge Cup
nextseason_year	1898

The 1897 Challenge Cup was the inaugural staging of the Northern Rugby Football Union's Challenge Cup and involved 52 clubs from across England from the 1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season. The tournament was played over six rounds in March and April 1897, culminating in the final which was won by Batley.

Background

The Northern Union decided to hold a cup competition called the Northern Rugby Football Union Challenge Cup in July 1896. The cup was commissioned from Bradford silversmiths and jewellers, Fattorini and Sons. Fattorini's designed the trophy themselves and it cost the Northern Union £60.

Draw

The draw for the competition was made on 3 September 1896 although the matches were not due to be played until March and April 1897 over six consecutive weekends commencing 20 March 1897. All rounds were drawn at the same time with matches in the second and subsequent rounds given an identification letter such that ties for later rounds were expressed as, for example, "Q. Winner of Round C. v. winner of Round N."

The team drawn first had the option to play at home or could agree to play at the opponent's ground. The semi-finals and final were to be played at neutral venues.

First round

The first round involved 20 matches and 40 clubs. 12 clubs (Batley, Bradford Church Hill, Brighouse Rangers, Crompton, Heckmondwike, Liversedge, St Helens Recs, Stockport, Swinton Church, Thornton Rangers, Tyldesley and Werneth) were given a bye to the next round.

All 20 ties were played on 20 March 1897.

Home	Score	Away
Bradford	7–3	Oldham
Bramley	8–8	Morecambe
Broughton Rangers	0–0	Warrington
Castleford	43–3	Allerton
Eastmoor	26–8	Oldham Juniors
Halifax	55–5	Stockport Rangers
Holbeck	38–3	Latchford Rangers
Hull	9–0	Walkden
Hunslet	75–5	Broughton Recreation
Leeds	11–0	Rochdale St Clements
Leeds Parish Church	42–0	Runcorn Recreation
Leigh	0–0	Wakefield Trinity
Manningham	31–3	Dukinfield
Rochdale Hornets	11–0	Waterhead Hornets
Runcorn	65–0	Warrington Loco
St Helens	66–0	Lees
Warrington St Mary's	0–28	Salford
Swinton	12–4	Huddersfield
Widnes	55–0	Atherton Hornets
Wigan	3–0	Radcliffe

First round replays

The three games requiring replays were all played on Wednesday 24 March

Home	Score	Away
Bramley	6–4	Morecambe
Warrington	3–0	Broughton Rangers
Wakefield Trinity	13–4	Leigh

Second round

The second round of 16 ties was played on Saturday 27 March 1897.

Game no	Home	Score	Away
A	Liversedge	9–4	Heckmondwike
B	St Helens	17–3	Castleford
C	Bramley	0–11	Batley
D	Wigan	7–0	Manningham
E	Widnes	11–0	Hull
F	Tyldesley	9–3	Leeds
G	Rochdale Hornets	8–0	St Helens Recs
H	Thornton Rangers	4–52	Runcorn
I	Swinton	15–0	Hunslet
J	Warrington	24–0	Holbeck
K	Leeds Parish Church	0–11	Halifax
L	Bradford	68–3	Swinton Church
M	Eastmoor	3–3	Stockport
N	Brighouse Rangers	13–4	Wakefield Trinity
O	Salford	30–0	Werneth
P	Crompton	26–0	Bradford Church Hill

Second round replay

Stockport and Eastmoor replayed the tie on Wednesday 31 March.

Game no	Home	Score	Away	Source:
M	Stockport	28–8	Eastmoor

Third round

The third round of eight games was played on Saturday 3 April.

Game no	Drawn as	Home	Score	Away
Q	C v N	Batley	6–3	Brighouse Rangers
R	G v I	Rochdale Hornets	3–3	Swinton
S	J v A	Warrington	6–0	Liversedge
T	M v O	Stockport	8–0	Salford
U	L v F	Bradford	4–8	Tyldesley
V	P v K	Halifax	50–0	Crompton
W	E v H	Widnes	14–6	Runcorn
X	B v D	St Helens	11–0	Wigan

Third round replay

Swinton and Rochdale replayed the drawn game on Wednesday 7 April.

Game no	Drawn as	Home	Score	Away	Source:
R	G v I	Swinton	10–0	Rochdale Hornets

Fourth round

The quarter finals were played on Saturday 10 April 1897.

Game no	Drawn as	Home	Score	Away
AA	S v V	Warrington	10–8	Halifax
BB	Q v W	Batley	10–0	Widnes
CC	R v T	Swinton	3–0	Stockport
DD	X v U	St Helens	12–0	Tyldesley

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were scheduled for Saturday 17 April. However, due to a waterlogged pitch, the tie between St. Helens and Swinton, due to be played at Broughton Rangers ground - Wheater's Field - was postponed until Monday 19 April. The game between Batley and Warrington, played at Fartown, Huddersfield did go ahead on a very soft pitch.

After the game Warrington lodged a protest over the result, claiming that the game should have been postponed due to the state of the pitch and that the game having gone ahead, the referee allowed the game to end six minutes short. Both grounds of protest were dismissed by the Northern Union Committee.

The rearranged game between St Helens and Swinton was played on Easter Monday, 19 April, watched by a crowd of 20,000 taking advantage of the bank holiday to attend. Drop goals: Jacques (1)

Final

The final took place on 24 April 1897 at Headingley, Leeds. The official attendance was 13,492, with gate receipts of £624.17s.7d. Batley wore white shirts and black shorts and socks in place of their normal cerise and fawn colours. St Helens wore blue and white hooped shirts, white shorts and black socks.

St Helens won the toss and elected to have Batley kick off. Despite playing into the wind in the first half, Batley took the lead after five minutes when Joe Oakland, kicked a drop goal to give Batley a 4–0 advantage. Batley extended their lead to 7–0 when John Goodall scored the first try of the game. These were the only scores of the first half. Early in the second half St Helens scored a try when centre David Traynor took the ball on the halfway line and beat four Batley players before touching down. The St Helens fightback did not last long as Batley flanker John T. 'Paudy' Munns scored Batley's second try to make the score 10–3 which remained the score at the final whistle.

After the game the cup was presented by Mrs Louisa Waller, the wife of the president of the Northern Union, Henry Hirst Waller. Mrs Waller presented the Batley players with commemorative gold medals and the St Helens players with silver medals. Drop goal: Oakland Touch Judges: H.H. Waller (Brighouse Rangers), J. P. Warren (Warrington)

Squads

Batley	Number	St Helens	Name	Height	Weight	Age	Name	Height	Weight
Arthur Garner	5 ft	10 stone	26	1	Tom Foulkes (c)	5 ft	11 stone	25
Wattie Davies	5 ft	11 stone	23	2	Bob Doherty	5 ft	10 stone	28
Dai Fitzgerald	5 ft	12 stone	24	3	David Traynor	5 ft	12 stone	22
John Goodall (c)	5 ft	11 stone	22	4	Jim Barnes	5 ft	10 stone	21
Ike Shaw	5 ft	10 stone	29	5		Billy Jacques	5 ft	10 stone	22
Joe Oakland	5 ft	11 stone	21	6		Richard O'Hara	5 ft	11 stone	21
Harry Goodall	5 ft	11 stone	23	7		Freddie Little	5 ft	10 stone	26
Mark Shackleton	6 ft	14 stone	27	8	Tom Winstanley	5 ft	14 stone	26
Jim Gath	5 ft	11 stone	21	9	Billy Briers	5 ft	11 stone	22
George Main	5 ft	10 stone	21	10	William Winstanley	5 ft	12 stone	28
Robert Spurr	5 ft	12 stone	23	11	Tom Reynolds	5 ft	12 stone	27
Fred Fisher	5 ft	12 stone	24	12	Joe Thompson	5 ft	13 stone	24
Charlie Stubley	5 ft	12 stone	27	13	Peter Dale	5 ft	12 stone	25
Jim Littlewood	5 ft	12 stone	23	14	Sam Rimmer	5 ft	12 stone	27
John Munns	5 ft	13 stone	22	15	Bill Whiteley	5 ft	12 stone	25

References

(1980). "Encyclopedia of Rugby League Football".
(3 July 1896). "Northern Rugby Union. Competition and cup-tie rules.". [[The Yorkshire Post]].
(22 August 2007). "Rugby League's precious metal". BBC Sport.
(4 September 1896). "Northern Rugby Football Union: Draw for the Cup Competition". [[Huddersfield Chronicle]].
(4 September 1896). "Northern Union Cup Ties". [[Hull Daily Mail]].
(20 March 1897). "Northern Union Cup Competition. First Round". [[Yorkshire Evening Post]].
(25 March 1897). "Football". [[Gloucester Citizen]].
(27 March 1897). "Northern Union Cup Competition. Second Round". [[Yorkshire Evening Post]].
(1 April 1897). "Northern Rugby Union". [[Teesside Gazette.
(3 April 1897). "Northern Union Cup Competition. Third round". [[Yorkshire Evening Post]].
(8 April 1897). "Northern Union Cup". [[The Morning Post]].
(12 April 1897). "Northern Union Challenge Cup. Fourth Round". [[The Sportsman (1865 newspaper).
(19 April 1897). "The Northern Union. Challenge Cup Competition (Semi-Final ties)". [[The Guardian]].
(20 April 1897). "Football Notes. Rugby.". [[Hull Daily Mail]].
(1992). "Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991–1992". Little, Brown Book Group Limited.
(24 April 1897). "The Northern Union Cup. Final Tie.". [[Yorkshire Evening Post]].
(26 April 1897). "Northern Union Challenge Cup. Final Tie.". [[Liverpool Mercury]].
(2015). "The Rugby League Challenge Cup An Illustrated History 1897-1998". DB Publishing.

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