# 1956–57 Yorkshire Cup

The 1956 Yorkshire Cup was the forty-ninth occasion on which the rugby league competition known as the Yorkshire County Cup had been held. Featuring clubs from the 1956–57 Northern Rugby Football League season, matches were played over September and October 1956. Wakefield Trinity won the trophy by beating Hunslet in the final.

## Background

The Rugby League 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

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 sixteen. This in turn resulted in no byes in the first round.

### Round 1

Involved 8 matches (with no byes) and 16 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att |
| 1 | Sat 01 Sep 1956 | Castleford | 23-17 | Bradford Northern | Wheldon Road | |
| 2 | Sat 01 Sep 1956 | Halifax | 23-12 | Dewsbury | Thrum Hall | |
| 3 | Sat 01 Sep 1956 | Huddersfield | 41-2 | Batley | Fartown | 6,498 |
| 4 | Sat 01 Sep 1956 | Hull F.C. | 6-7 | Featherstone Rovers | Boulevard | |
| 5 | Sat 01 Sep 1956 | Hunslet | 45-0 | Doncaster | Parkside | |
| 6 | Sat 01 Sep 1956 | Keighley | 33-8 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Lawkholme Lane | |
| 7 | Sat 01 Sep 1956 | Wakefield Trinity | 36-15 | Leeds | Belle Vue | |
| 8 | Sat 01 Sep 1956 | York | 7-2 | Bramley | Clarence Street | |

### Round 2 - quarterfinals

Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att |
| 1 | Mon 10 Sep 1956 | Wakefield Trinity | 13-11 | Huddersfield | Belle Vue | 13,301 |
| 2 | Tue 11 Sep 1956 | Castleford | 9-26 | Hunslet | Wheldon Road | |
| 3 | Tue 11 Sep 1956 | Halifax | 15-11 | Keighley | Thrum Hall | |
| 4 | Thu 13 Sep 1956 | York | 12-8 | Featherstone Rovers | Belle Vue | |

### Round 3 – semifinals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| 1 | Mon 24 Sep 1956 | York | 6-13 | Hunslet | Belle Vue | | | | |
| 2 | Tue 25 Sep 1956 | Wakefield Trinity | 14-13 | Halifax | Belle Vue | | | | |

### Final

The 1956 Yorkshire Cup final was played between Wakefield Trinity and Hunslet. The match was played at Headingley, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 31,147 and receipts were £5,609. This is the last occasion on which the attendance at a Yorkshire Cup final would exceed 30,000. Wakefield won the match 23-5 to claim the trophy.
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| | Saturday 20 October 1956 | Wakefield Trinity | 23-5 | Hunslet | Headingley | 31,147 | £5,609 | 1 2 | |

#### Teams and scorers

| Wakefield Trinity | № | Hunslet |
| | teams | |
| Frank Mortimer | 1 | |
| Fred Smith | 2 | |
| Albert Mortimer | 3 | |
| Colin Bell | 4 | |
| Eric Cooper | 5 | |
| Keith Holliday | 6 | |
| Ken Rollin | 7 | |
| Derrick Harrison | 8 | |
| Keith Bridges | 9 | |
| Frank Haigh | 10 | |
| Bob Kelly | 11 | |
| Peter Armstead | 12 | |
| Leslie "Les" Chamberlain | 13 | |
| ?? | Coach | ?? |
| 23 | score | 5 |
| 10 | HT | 5 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| Fred Smith (2) | T | 1 |
| Eric Cooper (2) | T | |
| Albert Mortimer | T | |
| | Goals | |
| Frank Mortimer (4) | G | 1 |
| Referee | | unknown |
Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points

### The road to success

| First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | Final | Final | Final |
| Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 36 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Leeds | Leeds | 15 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Leeds | Leeds | 15 | Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 13 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 11 | | | | | | | |
| Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 41 | Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 11 | | | | | | | |
| Batley | Batley | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Batley | Batley | 2 | | | | Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 14 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Halifax | Halifax | 13 | | | | |
| Halifax | Halifax | 23 | | | | | | | Halifax | Halifax | 13 | | | | |
| Dewsbury | Dewsbury | 12 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Dewsbury | Dewsbury | 12 | Halifax | Halifax | 15 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Keighley | Keighley | 11 | | | | | | | |
| Keighley | Keighley | 33 | Keighley | Keighley | 11 | | | | | | | |
| Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 8 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 8 | | | | | | | | Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 23 |
| | | | | | | | | | | Hunslet | Hunslet | 5 |
| York | York | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | Hunslet | Hunslet | 5 |
| Bramley | Bramley | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Bramley | Bramley | 2 | York | York | 12 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Featherstone Rovers | Featherstone Rovers | 8 | | | | | | | |
| Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 6 | Featherstone Rovers | Featherstone Rovers | 8 | | | | | | | |
| Featherstone Rovers | Featherstone Rovers | 7 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Featherstone Rovers | Featherstone Rovers | 7 | | | | York | York | 6 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Hunslet | Hunslet | 13 | | | | |
| Castleford | Castleford | 23 | | | | | | | Hunslet | Hunslet | 13 | | | | |
| Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 17 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 17 | Castleford | Castleford | 9 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Hunslet | Hunslet | 26 | | | | | | | |
| Hunslet | Hunslet | 45 | Hunslet | Hunslet | 26 | | | | | | | |
| Doncaster | Doncaster | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |

## Notes and comments

1 * The attendance is given as 30,942 by the Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook of 1991-92 and 1990-91 but 31,147 by "100 Years of Rugby. The History of Wakefield Trinity 1873-1973 by J C Lindley and D W Armitage and also by RUGBYLEAGUEproject
2 * Headingley, Leeds, is the home ground of Leeds RLFC with a capacity of 21,000. The record attendance was 40,175 for a league match between Leeds and Bradford Northern on 21 May 1947.