1923–24 Lancashire Cup
The 1923–24 Lancashire Cup competition was the sixteenth competition for this regional rugby league tournament. The trophy was won by St Helens Recs who beat Swinton in the final at Central Park, Wigan, by a score of 17-0. The attendance was a new record for the competition final at the time, being 25,656 and receipts £1,450. The triumph by St Helens Recs was the first time the club had won the competition and also the first time that winning club were not one of the original clubs who formed the Northern Union.
| 1923–24 Lancashire Cup | |
|---|---|
| Structure | Regional knockout competition |
| Teams | 13 |
| Winners | St Helens Recs |
| Runners-up | Swinton |
Background
The number of teams entering this year’s competition remained at 13, with again no junior/amateur team being admitted. This resulted in 3 byes in the first round.
The quarter-final match between Warrington and Widnes took three matches to finally decide, the second replay being held at Central Park.
Competition and results
Round 1
Involved 5 matches (with three byes) and 13 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sat 13 October 1923 | Rochdale Hornets | 7-3 | Wigan Highfield | Athletic Grounds | ||||||
| 2 | Sat 13 October 1923 | St. Helens | 5-0 | Salford | Knowsley Road | [2] | |||||
| 3 | Sat 13 October 1923 | Warrington | 15-2 | Barrow | Wilderspool | [3] | |||||
| 4 | Sat 13 October 1923 | Widnes | 5-3 | Leigh | Lowerhouse Lane | [4] | |||||
| 5 | Sat 13 October 1923 | Wigan | 11-6 | Broughton Rangers | Central Park | [5] | |||||
| 6 | Oldham | bye | |||||||||
| 7 | St Helens Recs | bye | |||||||||
| 8 | Swinton | bye |
Round 2 – quarterfinals
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sat 27 October 1923 | Oldham | 15-5 | Wigan | Watersheddings | [5] | |||||
| 2 | Sat 27 October 1923 | St Helens Recs | 21-0 | Rochdale Hornets | City Road | ||||||
| 3 | Sat 27 October 1923 | St. Helens | 5-5 | Swinton | Knowsley Road | [2] | |||||
| 4 | Sat 27 October 1923 | Warrington | 6-6 | Widnes | Wilderspool | [3][4] | |||||
| 1st Replays | |||||||||||
| 5 | Wed 31 October 1923 | Swinton | 21-8 | St. Helens | Chorley Road ground | [2] | |||||
| 6 | Thu 1 November 1923 | Widnes | 5-5 | Warrington | Lowerhouse Lane | [3][4] | |||||
| 2nd Replay | |||||||||||
| 7 | Mon 5 November 1923 | Warrington | 13-2 | Widnes | Central Park | [3][4] | |||||
Round 3 – semifinals
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sat 10 November 1923 | St Helens Recs | 13-11 | Oldham | City Road | ||||||
| 2 | Sat 10 November 1923 | Swinton | 19-7 | Warrington | Chorley Road ground | 14,000 | [3] |
Final
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday 24 November 1923 | St Helens Recs | 17-0 | Swinton | Central Park | 25,656 | £1,450 | 1 | [6] |
Teams and scorers
| St Helens Recs | № | Swinton |
|---|---|---|
| teams | ||
| Tommy Dingsdale | 1 | Frank Pearson |
| J. Gormley | 2 | Frank Evans |
| Jim Owen | 3 | Hector Halsall (c) |
| J. Pyke | 4 | Jack Evans |
| Joe Mc Comas | 5 | Chris Brockbank |
| Fred Halton | 6 | Albert Jenkins |
| Johnny Greenall (c) | 7 | Bryn Evans |
| R. Ramsdale | 8 | Miller Strong |
| J. Hughes | 9 | Henry Blewer |
| Harry Grundy | 10 | Harold Worsley |
| Tommy Smith | 11 | Harry Powell |
| Albert Fildes | 12 | Tom McCormick |
| Billy Mulvanney | 13 | Stan Howarth |
| J. Bate (reserve to travel) | 14 | |
| F. Leyland (reserve to travel) | 15 | |
| 17 | score | 0 |
| 4 | HT | 0 |
| Scorers | ||
| Tries | ||
| Owen, Pyke, Greenall | T | |
| T | ||
| T | ||
| T | ||
| Goals | ||
| Pyke (2), Dingsdale (1) | G | |
| G | ||
| Drop Goals | ||
| DG | ||
| Referee | ||
Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points
The road to success
| First round | Second round | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||||||
| St Helens Recs | |||||||||||||||||||
| bye | |||||||||||||||||||
| St Helens Recs | 21 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Rochdale Hornets | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Rochdale Hornets | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wigan Highfield | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| St Helens Recs | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Oldham | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Oldham | |||||||||||||||||||
| bye | |||||||||||||||||||
| Oldham | 15 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wigan | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wigan | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Broughton Rangers | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||
| St Helens Recs | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Swinton | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| St. Helens | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Salford | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| St. Helens | 5(8) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Swinton | 5(21) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Swinton | |||||||||||||||||||
| bye | |||||||||||||||||||
| Swinton | 19 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Warrington | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Warrington | 15 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Barrow | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Warrington | 6(5)(13) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Widnes | 6(5)(2) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Widnes | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Leigh | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
Notes
- 1 Central Park was the home ground of Wigan
References
- "Rugby League Project".
- "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1923–24".
- "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1923".
- "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1923–24".
- "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
- Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.