# 1948–49 Lancashire Cup

The 1948–49 Lancashire Cup was the thirty-sixth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup competition had been held. Wigan won the trophy by beating Warrington by the score of 14–8. The match was played at Station Road, Pendlebury, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was a record-breaking 39,015, over 5,500 more than the previous record, and receipts were £5,518, another record. This was the third of Wigan's record-breaking run of six consecutive Lancashire Cup victories.

## Background

Overall, the number of teams entering this year's competition remained the same as last year's 14 with a further invitation to Lancashire Amateurs (a junior/amateur club). The same pre-war fixture format was retained. This season saw no bye but one "blank" or "dummy" fixture in the first round. There was also one bye but no "blank" fixture" in the second round. As last season, all the first round matches of the competition will be played on the basis of two legged, home and away, ties. However this year, the second round becomes a straightforward knock-out basis.

## Competition and results
### Round 1

Involved 7 matches (with no bye and one "blank" fixture) and 14 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | | Away team | Venue | Att | Notes |
| 1 | Sat 04 Sep 1948 | Leigh | 37–2 | | Liverpool Stanley | Kirkhall Lane | | |
| 2 | Sat 04 Sep 1948 | Oldham | 8–7 | | Widnes | Watersheddings | | |
| 3 | Sat 04 Sep 1948 | Rochdale Hornets | 5–13 | | Belle Vue Rangers | Athletic Grounds | | |
| 4 | Sat 04 Sep 1948 | St. Helens | 9–24 | | Wigan | Knowsley Road | 25,000 | |
| 5 | Sat 04 Sep 1948 | Swinton | 26–10 | | Lancashire Amateurs | Station Road | | 1 |
| 6 | Sat 04 Sep 1948 | Warrington | 30–8 | | Barrow | Wilderspool | | |
| 7 | Sat 04 Sep 1948 | Workington Town | 7–5 | | Salford | Borough Park | | |
| 8 | blank | | | blank | | | | |

### Round 1 – second leg

Involved 7 matches (with no bye and one "blank" fixture) and 14 clubs. These are the reverse fixture from the first leg
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | agg | Att | Notes |
| 1 | Tue 07 Sep 1948 | Liverpool Stanley | 2–46 | Leigh | Stanley Greyhound Stadium | 4–83 | | |
| 2 | Thu 09 Sep 1948 | Widnes | 5–5 | Oldham | Naughton Park | 12–13 | | |
| 3 | Mon 06 Sep 1948 | Belle Vue Rangers | 6–5 | Rochdale Hornets | Belle Vue Stadium | 19–10 | | |
| 4 | Wed 08 Sep 1948 | Wigan | 8–7 | St. Helens | Central Park | 32–16 | 18,000 | |
| 5 | Mon 13 Sep 1948 | Lancashire Amateurs | 4–11 | Swinton | Kirkhall Lane | 14–37 | | 2 |
| 6 | Thu 09 Sep 1948 | Barrow | 4–7 | Warrington | Craven Park | 12–37 | | |
| 7 | Wed 08 Sep 1948 | Salford | 14–0 | Workington Town | The Willows | 19–7 | | |
| 8 | | blank | | blank | | | | |

### Round 2 – quarterfinals

Involved 3 matches (with one bye) and 7 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue |
| 1 | Thu 16 Sep 1948 | Leigh | 10–15 | Warrington | Kirkhall Lane |
| 2 | Wed 29 Sep 1948 | Salford | 5–18 | Wigan | The Willows |
| 3 | Thu 30 Sep 1948 | Belle Vue Rangers | 14–4 | Swinton | Belle Vue Stadium |
| 4 | | Oldham | | bye | |

### Round 3 – semifinals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | agg | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| 1 | Tue 28 Sep 1948 | Warrington | 55–0 | Oldham | Wilderspool | | | | | |
| 2 | Mon 04 Oct 1948 | Wigan | 22–9 | Belle Vue Rangers | Central Park | | | | | |

### Final

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | agg | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| | Saturday 13 November 1948 | Wigan | 14–8 | Warrington | Station Road | | 39,015 | £5,518 | 3 4 | |

#### Teams and scorers

| Wigan | No. | Warrington |
| | teams | |
| Martin Ryan | 1 | Les Jones |
| Gordon Ratcliffe | 2 | Brian Bevan |
| Ted Ward | 3 | Albert Pimblett |
| Ernie Ashcroft | 4 | Ossie Peake |
| John Lawrenson | 5 | Albert Johnson |
| Ces Mountford | 6 | Jack Fleming |
| Johnny Alty | 7 | Gerry Helme |
| Ken Gee | 8 | Bill Derbyshire |
| Joe Egan | 9 | Dave Cotton |
| Frank Barton | 10 | Billy Riley |
| Nat Silcock, Jr. | 11 | Jim Featherstone |
| Billy Blan | 12 | Harry Bath |
| Bill Hudson | 13 | Harold Palin |
| 14 | score | 8 |
| 12 | HT | 5 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| Gordon Ratcliffe (1) | T | Albert Johnson (1) |
| Ted Ward (1) | T | Brian Bevan (1) |
| | Goals | |
| Ted Ward (4) | G | Harold Palin (1) |
| Referee | | S. Adams, (Hull) |
Scoring – Try = three (3) points – Goal = two (2) points – Drop goal = two (2) points

### The road to success

All the first round ties were played on a two leg (home and away) basis.
The first club named in each of the first round ties played the first leg at home.
the scores shown in the first round are the aggregate score over the two legs.
| First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | Final | Final | Final |
| Workington Town | Workington Town | 7 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Salford | Salford | 19 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Salford | Salford | 19 | Salford | Salford | 5 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Wigan | Wigan | 18 | | | | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 16 | Wigan | Wigan | 18 | | | | | | | |
| Wigan | Wigan | 32 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Wigan | Wigan | 32 | | | | Wigan | Wigan | 22 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Belle Vue Rangers | Belle Vue Rangers | 9 | | | | |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 10 | | | | | | | Belle Vue Rangers | Belle Vue Rangers | 9 | | | | |
| Belle Vue Rangers | Belle Vue Rangers | 19 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Belle Vue Rangers | Belle Vue Rangers | 19 | Belle Vue Rangers | Belle Vue Rangers | 14 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Swinton | Swinton | 4 | | | | | | | |
| Swinton | Swinton | 37 | Swinton | Swinton | 4 | | | | | | | |
| Lancashire Amateurs | Lancashire Amateurs | 14 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Lancashire Amateurs | Lancashire Amateurs | 14 | | | | | | | | Wigan | Wigan | 14 |
| | | | | | | | | | | Warrington | Warrington | 8 |
| Leigh | Leigh | 83 | | | | | | | | | | | Warrington | Warrington | 8 |
| Liverpool Stanley | Liverpool Stanley | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Liverpool Stanley | Liverpool Stanley | 4 | Leigh | Leigh | 10 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Warrington | Warrington | 15 | | | | | | | |
| Warrington | Warrington | 37 | Warrington | Warrington | 15 | | | | | | | |
| Barrow | Barrow | 12 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Barrow | Barrow | 12 | | | | Warrington | Warrington | 55 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Oldham | Oldham | 0 | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | 13 | | | | | | | Oldham | Oldham | 0 | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 12 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 12 | Oldham | Oldham | | | | | | | | |
| | | | bye | bye | | | | | | | | |
| blank | blank | | bye | bye | | | | | | | | |
| blank | blank | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Notes and comments

Lancashire Amateurs were a junior (or amateur) club from Lancashire. The match was played at Kirkhall Lane, Leigh.
Station Road was the home ground of Swinton from 1929 to 1932 and at its peak was one of the finest rugby league grounds in the country and it boasted a capacity of 60,000. The actual record attendance was for the Challenge Cup semi-final on 7 April 1951 when 44,621 watched Wigan beat Warrington 3–2.
The attendance was a record-breaking 39,015, over 5,500 more than the previous record, set in 1934, and receipts were £5518-0-0, another record.