# 1988–89 Yorkshire Cup

The 1988–89 Yorkshire Cup was the eighty-first occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup rugby league competition was held.
Leeds won the trophy by beating the previous season's runner-up, Castleford, with a score of 33-12. The match was played at Elland Road, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 22,968 and receipts were £83,591. This was the sixth time in an eleven-year period in which Castleford, previously only winners once (in 1977), made eight appearances in the Yorkshire Cup final, winning four and finishing runners-up on the other four occasions. It was also the second season in succession that Castleford appeared, and lost, in the final within that eleven-year period.

## Background

In the 1988–89 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. As a result, a preliminary round was required to reduce the number of clubs entering the first round to sixteen.

## 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 31 Aug 1988 | Bramley | 16-38 | Leeds | McLaren Field | 4,258 | | | |
| P2 | Wed 31 Aug 1988 | Sheffield Eagles | 8-28 | Wakefield Trinity | Owlerton Stadium | 1,356 | | | |

### Round 1

Involved 5 matches (with three byes) and 13 clubs
| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Notes |
| 1 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | Castleford | 94-12 | Huddersfield | Wheldon Road | 3,144 | 1 2 |
| 2 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | Featherstone Rovers | 38-8 | Doncaster | Post Office Road | 2,682 | |
| 3 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | Halifax | 36-14 | Batley | Thrum Hall | 5,370 | |
| 4 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | Hull F.C. | 53-0 | Hunslet | Boulevard | 3,153 | |
| 5 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | Keighley | 22-28 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Lawkholme Lane | 1,596 | |
| 6 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | Leeds | 24-21 | Bradford Northern | Headingley | 10,992 | |
| 7 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | Wakefield Trinity | 46-20 | Dewsbury | Belle Vue | 3,733 | |
| 8 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | York | 25-4 | Mansfield Marksman | Clarence Street | 1,370 | |

### Round 2 - Quarter-finals

Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs
| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att |
| 1 | Tue 27 Sep 1988 | Hull F.C. | 18-0 | Featherstone Rovers | Boulevard | 4,010 |
| 2 | Wed 28 Sep 1988 | Castleford | 40-14 | York | Wheldon Road | 3,155 |
| 3 | Wed 28 Sep 1988 | Halifax | 24-2 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Thrum Hall | 6,296 |
| 4 | Wed 28 Sep 1988 | Leeds | 15-10 | Wakefield Trinity | Headingley | 11,150 |

### 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 5 Oct 1988 | Halifax | 8-12 | Castleford | Thrum Hall | 8,432 | | | |
| 2 | Wed 5 Oct 1988 | Leeds | 12-8 | Hull F.C. | Headingley | 10,384 | | | |

### Final

| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| | Sunday 16 October 1988 | Leeds | 33-12 | Castleford | Elland Road | 22,968 | £83.591 | 3 4 | |

#### Teams and scorers

| Leeds | № | Castleford |
| | teams | |
| Gary Spencer | 1 | Gary Belcher |
| Andrew Ettingshausen | 2 | David Plange |
| Garry Schofield | 3 | Tony Marchant |
| David Stephenson | 4 | Giles Boothroyd |
| Carl Gibson | 5 | Chris Chapman |
| Cliff Lyons | 6 | Grant Anderson |
| Ray Ashton | 7 | Robert "Bob" Beardmore |
| Lee Crooks | 8 | Kevin Ward |
| Colin Maskill | 9 | Kevin Beardmore |
| Hugh Waddell | 10 | Keith England |
| Roy Powell | 11 | Martin Ketteridge |
| Mark Brooke-Cowden | 12 | Ron Gibbs |
| David Heron | 13 | John Joyner |
| Paul Medley (for Mark Brooke-Cowden) | 14 | David Roockley (for Chris Chapman) |
| Sam Backo (for Hugh Waddell) | 15 | Dean Sampson (for David Roockley) |
| Malcolm "Mal" Reilly | Coach | Darryl van der Velde |
| 33 | score | 12 |
| 15 | HT | 12 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| Garry Schofield (2) | T | Giles Boothroyd (1) |
| Carl Gibson (2) | T | John Joyner (1) |
| Paul Medley (1) | T | |
| | Goals | |
| David Stephenson (6) | G | Martin Ketteridge (2) |
| | Drop Goals | |
| Garry Schofield (1) | DG | |
| Referee | | Robin Whitfield (Widnes) |
| White Rose Trophy for Man of the match | | Cliff Lyons - Leeds - stand-off |
| sponsored by | | |
| Competition Sponsor | | John Smith's Brewery Tadcaster |
Scoring - Try = four points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = one point

### 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 |
| Leeds | Leeds | 24 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 21 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 21 | Leeds | Leeds | 15 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 10 | | | | | | | |
| Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 46 | Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 10 | | | | | | | |
| Dewsbury | Dewsbury | 20 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Dewsbury | Dewsbury | 20 | | | | Leeds | Leeds | 12 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 8 | | | | |
| Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 53 | | | | | | | Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 8 | | | | |
| Hunslet | Hunslet | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Hunslet | Hunslet | 0 | Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 18 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Featherstone Rovers | Featherstone Rovers | 0 | | | | | | | |
| Featherstone Rovers | Featherstone Rovers | 38 | Featherstone Rovers | Featherstone Rovers | 0 | | | | | | | |
| Doncaster | Doncaster | 8 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Doncaster | Doncaster | 8 | | | | | | | | Leeds | Leeds | 33 |
| | | | | | | | | | | Castleford | Castleford | 12 |
| Halifax | Halifax | 36 | | | | | | | | | | | Castleford | Castleford | 12 |
| Batley | Batley | 14 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Batley | Batley | 14 | Halifax | Halifax | 24 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 2 | | | | | | | |
| Keighley | Keighley | 22 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 2 | | | | | | | |
| Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 28 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 28 | | | | Halifax | Halifax | 8 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Castleford | Castleford | 12 | | | | |
| Castleford | Castleford | 94 | | | | | | | Castleford | Castleford | 12 | | | | |
| Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 12 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 12 | Castleford | Castleford | 40 | | | | | | | |
| | | | York | York | 14 | | | | | | | |
| York | York | 25 | York | York | 14 | | | | | | | |
| Mansfield Marksman | Mansfield Marksman | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |

## Notes and comments

1 * The first Yorkshire Cup match played by the newly renamed Huddersfield who dropped the "Barracudas"'s suffix 2 * The record score (and highest winning margin) at the time for a Yorkshire Cup match, beating the previous record win of 79-5 (1948)
3 * The receipts are given as £76,658 by the Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook of 1991-92 and 1990-91 but the details given in a section of the Huddersfield v Ryedale-York match programme for the preliminary round on Sunday 23 August 1992 (and all verified by The Rugby League Record Keepers Club), show the receipts as £83,591