# 1954–55 Lancashire Cup

1954–55 was the forty-second occasion on which the Lancashire Cup competition had been held. This year, the first time for many years save a new name on the trophy. Barrow changed codes to rugby league in 1897, were promoted into the league for season 1900–01 and have taken part in every one of the Lancashire Cup competitions since their inception in 1905, and now finally, almost 50 years later, they won the trophy by beating Oldham in the final by the score of 12–2. The match was played at Station Road, Pendlebury (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 25,204 and receipts were £4,603.

## Background

This year saw the entry on new league members Blackpool Borough, and this together with the invitation to juniors, Lancashire Amateurs brought the total number of clubs to a full complement of 16. For the first time in the competition, there was no need to have any byes or “blank/dummy” fixtures. The same pre-war fixture format was retained, but, as mentioned, for the first time without any bye or dummy” fixtures. And for the first time since the outbreak of war in 1939, the two-legged fixtures were abolished, resulting in the competition being played on a knock-out basis.

## Competition and results
### Round 1

Involved 8 matches (with no bye or “blank” fixture) and 16 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Notes |
| 1 | Sat 11 Sep 1954 | Blackpool Borough | 5-9 | Belle Vue Rangers | St Anne's Road Greyhound Stadium | | 1 2 |
| 2 | Sat 11 Sep 1954 | Leigh | 21-10 | Wigan | Kirkhall Lane | | |
| 3 | Sat 11 Sep 1954 | Oldham | 57-17 | Lancashire Amateurs | Watersheddings | | 3 |
| 4 | Sat 11 Sep 1954 | Liverpool City | 6-3 | Salford | Mill Yard, Knotty Ash | | |
| 5 | Sat 11 Sep 1954 | Rochdale Hornets | 10-13 | Barrow | Athletic Grounds | | |
| 6 | Sat 11 Sep 1954 | St. Helens | 27-6 | Whitehaven | Knowsley Road | 13,600 | |
| 7 | Sat 11 Sep 1954 | Widnes | 16-13 | Warrington | Naughton Park | | |
| 8 | Sat 11 Sep 1954 | Workington Town | 27-0 | Swinton | Borough Park | | |

### Round 2 - quarterfinals

Involved 4 matches (with no bye) and 8 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Notes |
| 1 | Mon 20 Sep 1954 | Belle Vue Rangers | 9-37 | Leigh | Belle Vue Stadium | | 4 |
| 2 | Mon 20 Sep 1954 | Oldham | 20-9 | St. Helens | Watersheddings | 16,000 | |
| 3 | Wed 22 Sep 1954 | Liverpool City | 8-11 | Workington Town | Mill Yard, Knotty Ash | | |
| 4 | Thu 23 Sep 1954 | Barrow | 36-0 | Widnes | Craven Park | | |

### Round 3 – semifinals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| 1 | Wed 29 Sep 1954 | Leigh | 2-7 | Barrow | Kirkhall Lane | | | |
| 2 | Thu 30 Sep 1954 | Workington Town | 13-20 | Oldham | Borough Park | | | |

### Final

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| | Saturday 23 October 1954 | Barrow | 12-2 | Oldham | Station Road | 25,204 | £4,603 | 5 | |

#### Teams and scorers

| Barrow | No. | Oldham |
| | Teams | |
| Colin Poole | 1 | Bernard Ganley |
| Derek Hinchley | 2 | Dick Cracknell |
| Phil Jackson | 3 | Roland Barrow |
| Dennis Goodwin | 4 | Alan Davies |
| Frank Castle | 5 | Terry O'Grady |
| Willie Horne (c) | 6 | Frank Daley |
| Ted Toohey | 7 | Frank Pitchford |
| Les Belshaw | 8 | Harry Ogden |
| Vince McKeating | 9 | Jack Keith |
| Frank Barton | 10 | Ken Jackson |
| JackGrundy | 11 | Charlie Winslade |
| Reg Parker | 12 | Sid Little |
| Bill Healey | 13 | Bryn Goldswain |
| star winger James 'Gentleman Jim' Lewthwaite injured and missed this game | note | |
| 12 | score | 2 |
| 10 | HT | 2 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| | T | |
| | Goals | |
| | G | |
| | G | |
| | Drop Goals | |
| | DG | |
| Referee | | |
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 |
| Blackpool Borough | Blackpool Borough | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Belle Vue Rangers | Belle Vue Rangers | 9 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Belle Vue Rangers | Belle Vue Rangers | 9 | Belle Vue Rangers | Belle Vue Rangers | 9 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Leigh | Leigh | 37 | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 21 | Leigh | Leigh | 37 | | | | | | | |
| Wigan | Wigan | 10 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Wigan | Wigan | 10 | | | | Leigh | Leigh | 2 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Barrow | Barrow | 7 | | | | |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 10 | | | | | | | Barrow | Barrow | 7 | | | | |
| Barrow | Barrow | 13 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Barrow | Barrow | 13 | Barrow | Barrow | 36 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Widnes | Widnes | 0 | | | | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 16 | Widnes | Widnes | 0 | | | | | | | |
| Warrington | Warrington | 13 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Warrington | Warrington | 13 | | | | | | | | Barrow | Barrow | 12 |
| | | | | | | | | | | Oldham | Oldham | 2 |
| Liverpool City | Liverpool City | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | Oldham | Oldham | 2 |
| Salford | Salford | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Salford | Salford | 3 | Liverpool City | Liverpool City | 8 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Workington Town | Workington Town | 11 | | | | | | | |
| Workington Town | Workington Town | 27 | Workington Town | Workington Town | 11 | | | | | | | |
| Swinton | Swinton | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Swinton | Swinton | 0 | | | | Workington Town | Workington Town | 13 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Oldham | Oldham | 20 | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | 57 | | | | | | | Oldham | Oldham | 20 | | | | |
| Lancashire Amateurs | Lancashire Amateurs | 17 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Lancashire Amateurs | Lancashire Amateurs | 17 | Oldham | Oldham | 20 | | | | | | | |
| | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 9 | | | | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 27 | St. Helens | St. Helens | 9 | | | | | | | |
| Whitehaven | Whitehaven | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |

## Notes and comments

1 * This season saw, for the first time ever, a full 16 clubs taking part and also a return to a knock-out tournament in ll rounds.
2 * The first Lancashire Cup match played by the new club Blackpool Borough and on this, their first ground
3 * Lancashire Amateurs were a junior (or amateur) club from Lancashire
4 * The last game played by this founding club. At the end of the season they folded
5 * 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