# 1971–72 Yorkshire Cup

The 1971–72 Yorkshire Cup was the sixty-fourth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held.
Hull Kingston Rovers won the trophy by beating Castleford by the score of 11–7. The match was played at Belle Vue, in the City of Wakefield, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 5,536 and receipts were £1,589. The attendance was a Yorkshire Cup final record, the lowest ever, a record which would never be beaten. This is the second time in four seasons that Castleford, (who have never won the trophy, to date) finished as runner-up.

## Background

Due to the introduction of a new knock-out competition (the Player's No.6 Trophy), and the New Zealand national team's upcoming tour of Great Britain, the Yorkshire County Committee decided to stage the county cup much earlier than previous seasons, with the first round taking place at the end of July. Leeds objected to the decision, and withdrew from the competition due to their Headingley ground being used for cricket during the summer.

## Competition and results
### First Round

The committee refused to accept Leeds' withdrawal from the competition, and included them in the draw for the first round. Leeds re-affirmed their decision not to take part in the competition, and Bramley were consequently awarded a walkover. Hull Kingston Rovers were also given a walkover after Dewsbury were forced to withdraw due a pay dispute with their players.
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue |
| 1 | Sat 31 Jul 1971 | Castleford | 24–5 | Batley | Wheldon Road |
| 2 | Sat 31 Jul 1971 | Hull F.C. | 9–2 | Featherstone Rovers | Boulevard |
| 3 | Sun 1 Aug 1971 | Doncaster | 12–4 | Bradford Northern | Tattersfield |
| 4 | Sun 1 Aug 1971 | Halifax | 19–10 | York | Thrum Hall |
| 5 | Sun 1 Aug 1971 | Hunslet | 10–17 | Keighley | Parkside |
| 6 | Sun 1 Aug 1971 | Wakefield Trinity | 11–4 | Huddersfield | Belle Vue |
| 7 | | Bramley | w/o | Leeds | |
| 8 | | Hull Kingston Rovers | w/o | Dewsbury | |

### Second Round

Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue |
| 1 | Fri 6 Aug 1971 | Castleford | 13–10 | Wakefield Trinity | Wheldon Road |
| 2 | Fri 6 Aug 1971 | Keighley | 16–12 | Hull F.C. | Lawkholme Lane |
| 3 | Sun 8 Aug 1971 | Bramley | 18–12 | Halifax | McLaren Field |
| 4 | Sun 8 Aug 1971 | Doncaster | 14–24 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Tattersfield |

### Semi-finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Ref |
| 1 | Fri 13 Aug 1971 | Castleford | 12–7 | Keighley | Wheldon Road | | |
| 2 | Sun 15 Aug 1971 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 25–6 | Bramley | Craven Park (1) | | |

### Final

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Ref |
| | Saturday 21 August 1971 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 11–7 | Castleford | Belle Vue | 5,536 | £1,589 | |

#### Teams and scorers

| Hull Kingston Rovers | No. | Castleford |
| | Teams | |
| Ian Markham | 1 | Derek Edwards |
| Mike Stephenson | 2 | Derek Foster |
| Phil lip "Phil" Coupland | 3 | Steve 'Knocker' Norton |
| George Kirkpatrick | 4 | Keith Worsley |
| Paul Longstaff | 5 | Alan Lowndes |
| Roger Millward (c) | 6 | Danny Hargrave |
| Paul Daley | 7 | Gary Stephens |
| Steve Wiley | 8 | Dennis Hartley |
| Peter Flanagan | 9 | Tony Miller |
| John Millington | 10 | Ian Van Bellen |
| Cliff Wallis | 11 | Brian Lockwood |
| Eric Palmer | 12 | Alan Dickinson |
| Joe Brown | 13 | Graham Blakeway |
| | Subs | |
| John Moore | 14 | Glyn Jones |
| Colin Cooper (for Eric Palmer) | 15 | Alan Ackroyd (for Ian Van Bellen) |
| Johnny Whiteley | Coach | Harry Poole |
| 11 | score | 7 |
| 7 | HT | 3 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| Paul Longstaff (1) | T | Derek Foster (1) |
| | Goals | |
| Roger Millward (4) | G | Alan Ackroyd (2) |
| Referee | | Alexander Givvons, Jr. (Oldham) |
| White Rose Trophy for Man of the match | | Ian Markham - Hull KR - Fullback |
| Sponsored by | | |

### The road to success

| First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Final | Final | Final |
| Doncaster | Doncaster | 12 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 4 | Doncaster | Doncaster | 14 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 24 | | | | | | | |
| Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | | Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 24 | | | | | | | |
| ?? | ?? | | | | | Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 25 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Bramley | Bramley | 6 | | | | |
| Bramley | Bramley | | | | | | | | Bramley | Bramley | 6 | | | | |
| ?? | ?? | | Bramley | Bramley | 18 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Halifax | Halifax | 12 | | | | | | | |
| Halifax | Halifax | 19 | Halifax | Halifax | 12 | | | | | | | |
| York | York | 10 | | | | | | | | | | |
| York | York | 10 | | | | | | | | Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 11 |
| | | | | | | | | | | Castleford | Castleford | 7 |
| Castleford | Castleford | 24 | | | | | | | | | | | Castleford | Castleford | 7 |
| Batley | Batley | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Batley | Batley | 5 | Castleford | Castleford | 13 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 10 | | | | | | | |
| Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 11 | Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 10 | | | | | | | |
| Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 4 | | | | Castleford | Castleford | 12 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Keighley | Keighley | 7 | | | | |
| Hunslet | Hunslet | 10 | | | | | | | Keighley | Keighley | 7 | | | | |
| Keighley | Keighley | 17 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Keighley | Keighley | 17 | Keighley | Keighley | 16 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 12 | | | | | | | |
| Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 9 | Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 12 | | | | | | | |
| Featherstone Rovers | Featherstone Rovers | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |