# 1987–88 Yorkshire Cup

The 1987–88 Yorkshire Cup was the 80th occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition was held. Bradford Northern won the trophy by beating Castleford by the score of 11–2 in a replay after drawing the first match 12–12. The competition was sponsored by John Smith's Brewery.
This was the fifth time in the incredible eleven-year period in which Castleford, previously only once winners in 1977, will make eight appearances in the Yorkshire Cup final, winning on four and ending as runner-up on four occasions. This 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. This in turn resulted in the necessity to continue with a preliminary round to reduce the number of clubs entering the first round to sixteen.

## Background

The Rugby Football League's Yorkshire Cup competition was a knock-out competition between (mainly professional) rugby league clubs from the county of Yorkshire. The actual area was at times increased to encompass other teams from outside the county such as Newcastle, Mansfield, Coventry, and even London (in the form of Acton & Willesden). The Rugby League season always (until the onset of "Summer Rugby" in 1996) ran from around August-time through to around May-time and this competition always took place early in the season, in the Autumn, with the final taking place in (or just before) December (The only exception to this was when disruption of the fixture list was caused during, and immediately after, the two World Wars)

## 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 2 Sep 1987 | Hull F.C. | 54-8 | Huddersfield Barracudas | Boulevard | 2402 | | | |
| P2 | Wed 2 Sep 1987 | Wakefield Trinity | 25-14 | Dewsbury | Belle Vue | 1723 | | | |

### Round 1

Involved 8 matches (with no byes) and 16 clubs
| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att |
| 1 | Sun 13 Sep 1987 | Bramley | 39-12 | Doncaster | McLaren Field | 828 |
| 2 | Sun 13 Sep 1987 | Castleford | 32-12 | Hunslet | Wheldon Road | 4748 |
| 3 | Sun 13 Sep 1987 | Featherstone Rovers | 28-6 | Batley | Post Office Road | 1433 |
| 4 | Sun 13 Sep 1987 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 12-19 | Bradford Northern | Craven Park (1) | 3852 |
| 5 | Sun 13 Sep 1987 | Keighley | 12-34 | Halifax | Lawkholme Lane | 4086 |
| 6 | Sun 13 Sep 1987 | Leeds | 28-24 | Hull F.C. | Headingley | 7704 |
| 7 | Sun 13 Sep 1987 | Mansfield Marksman | 18-23 | York | Lowmoor Road | 256 |
| 8 | Sun 13 Sep 1987 | Wakefield Trinity | 32-18 | Sheffield Eagles | Belle Vue | 2111 |

### Round 2 - Quarter-finals

Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs
| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att |
| 1 | Tue 22 Sep 1987 | Bramley | 6-30 | Bradford Northern | McLaren Field | 2181 |
| 2 | Wed 23 Sep 1987 | Featherstone Rovers | 43-6 | York | Post Office Road | 1617 |
| 3 | Wed 23 Sep 1987 | Halifax | 0-10 | Castleford | Thrum Hall | 6101 |
| 4 | Wed 23 Sep 1987 | Leeds | 36-8 | Wakefield Trinity | Headingley | 6693 |

### 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 30 Sep 1987 | Bradford Northern | 16-5 | Leeds | Odsal | 7730 | | | |
| 2 | Wed 30 Sep 1987 | Featherstone Rovers | 8-36 | Castleford | Post Office Road | 5329 | | | |

### Final

The initial match was played at Headingley, Leeds. The score was 12–12, the attendance was 10,947, and receipts were £40,283. This match was the final appearance for Bradford Northern's Welsh former rugby union international Terry Holmes, who announced his retirement shortly after this game due to a persistent knee problem.
* 17 October 1987
| Bradford Northern | 12 – 12 | Castleford |
| Tries: Fairbank Goals: Mumby (2), Hobbs (2) | | Tries: Plange, Lindner Goals: Ketteridge (2) |
* Headingley, Leeds Attendance: 10,947 Referee: K. Allatt (Southport) Player of the Match: Paul Harkin
| Bradford Northern | № | Castleford |
| | teams | |
| Gary Mercer | 1 | David Roockley |
| Phil Ford | 2 | David Plange |
| Steve McGowan | 3 | Tony Marchant |
| Roger Simpson | 4 | Michael Beattie |
| Richard Francis | 5 | Gary Hyde |
| Keith Mumby | 6 | John Joyner |
| Paul Harkin | 7 | Roy Southernwood |
| Jeff Grayshon | 8 | Alan Shillito |
| Brian Noble | 9 | Kevin Beardmore |
| Brendan Hill | 10 | Kevin Ward |
| Kelvin Skerrett | 11 | Martin Ketteridge |
| Karl Fairbank | 12 | John Fifita |
| Terry Holmes | 13 | Bob Lindner |
| | Substitutes | |
| Neil Roebuck (for Terry Holmes) | 14 | Robert "Bob" Beardmore (for Alan Shillito) |
| David Hobbs (for Jeff Grayshon) | 15 | Dean Sampson (for Kevin Beardmore) |
| Barry Seabourne | Coach | David Sampson |

### Final - Replay

The replay was at Elland Road, Leeds. Bradford Northern won the match 11–2, the attendance was 8,175, and receipts were £30,732. The game was marred by a brawl between both sets of players which took place just before half time. Bradford's Karl Fairbank and Castleford's John Joyner were sent to the sin bin as a result. A further player from each team (Kelvin Skerrett and John Fifita) were sin-binned for separate incidents during the second half.
* 31 October 1987
| Bradford Northern | 11 – 2 | Castleford |
| Tries: Hill, Heron Goals: Hobbs Drop goals: Hobbs | | Goals: Ketteridge |
* Elland Road, Leeds Attendance: 8,175 Referee: K. Allatt (Southport) Player of the Match: Brendan Hill
| Bradford Northern | № | Castleford |
| | teams | |
| Keith Mumby | 1 | David Roockley |
| Phil Ford | 2 | David Plange |
| Steve McGowan | 3 | Tony Marchant |
| Gary Mercer | 4 | Michael Beattie |
| Roger Simpson | 5 | Gary Hyde |
| Russell Stewart | 6 | Roy Southernwood |
| Paul Harkin | 7 | Robert "Bob" Beardmore |
| David Hobbs | 8 | Kevin Ward |
| Brian Noble | 9 | Kenny Hill |
| Brendan Hill | 10 | John Fifita |
| Kelvin Skerrett | 11 | Martin Ketteridge |
| Karl Fairbank | 12 | Keith England |
| Wayne Heron | 13 | John Joyner |
| | Substitutes | |
| Neil Roebuck | 14 | Giles Boothroyd (for Keith England) |
| David Redfearn | 15 | Dean Sampson (for John Fifita) |
| Barry Seabourne | Coach | David Sampson |

### The road to success

The following chart excludes any preliminary round fixtures/results
| First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Final | Final | Final |
| Bramley | Bramley | 39 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Doncaster | Doncaster | 12 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Doncaster | Doncaster | 12 | Bramley | Bramley | 6 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 30 | | | | | | | |
| Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 12 | Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 30 | | | | | | | |
| Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 19 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 19 | | | | Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 16 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Leeds | Leeds | 5 | | | | |
| Leeds | Leeds | 28 | | | | | | | Leeds | Leeds | 5 | | | | |
| Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 24 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 24 | Leeds | Leeds | 36 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 8 | | | | | | | |
| Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 32 | Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 8 | | | | | | | |
| Sheffield Eagles | Sheffield Eagles | 18 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Sheffield Eagles | Sheffield Eagles | 18 | | | | | | | | Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 12 (11) |
| | | | | | | | | | | Castleford | Castleford | 12 (2) |
| Featherstone Rovers | Featherstone Rovers | 28 | | | | | | | | | | | Castleford | Castleford | 12 (2) |
| Batley | Batley | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Batley | Batley | 6 | Featherstone Rovers | Featherstone Rovers | 43 | | | | | | | |
| | | | York | York | 6 | | | | | | | |
| Mansfield Marksman | Mansfield Marksman | 18 | York | York | 6 | | | | | | | |
| York | York | 23 | | | | | | | | | | |
| York | York | 23 | | | | Featherstone Rovers | Featherstone Rovers | 8 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Castleford | Castleford | 36 | | | | |
| Keighley | Keighley | 12 | | | | | | | Castleford | Castleford | 36 | | | | |
| Halifax | Halifax | 34 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Halifax | Halifax | 34 | Halifax | Halifax | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Castleford | Castleford | 10 | | | | | | | |
| Castleford | Castleford | 32 | Castleford | Castleford | 10 | | | | | | | |
| Hunslet | Hunslet | 12 | | | | | | | | | | |