# 1952–53 Lancashire Cup

The 1952–53 Lancashire Cup was the fortieth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup competition was held.
Leigh won the trophy by beating St. Helens by the score of 22–5. The match was played at Station Road, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 34,785 and receipts were £5,793.

## Background

Overall, the number of teams entering this year's competition remained the same as last year's total of 14
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 – and the remainder of the rounds remaining on straight forward knock-out basis.

## Competition and results
### Round 1 – first leg

Involved 7 matches (with no bye and one "blank" fixture) and 14 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att |
| 1 | Sat 30 Aug 1952 | Barrow | 21–24 | St. Helens | Craven Park | 12,000 |
| 2 | Sat 30 Aug 1952 | Oldham | 25–6 | Swinton | Watersheddings | |
| 3 | Sat 30 Aug 1952 | Liverpool City | 14–58 | Workington Town | Mill Yard, Knotty Ash | |
| 4 | Sat 30 Aug 1952 | Rochdale Hornets | 21–16 | Belle Vue Rangers | Athletic Grounds | |
| 5 | Sat 30 Aug 1952 | Salford | 17–19 | Warrington | The Willows | |
| 6 | Sat 30 Aug 1952 | Whitehaven | 4–15 | Leigh | Recreation Ground | |
| 7 | Sat 30 Aug 1952 | Widnes | 15–24 | Wigan | Naughton 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 |
| 1 | Wed 03 Sep 1952 | St. Helens | 23–5 | Barrow | Knowsley Road | 47–26 | 19,000 |
| 2 | Wed 03 Sep 1952 | Swinton | 18–19 | Oldham | Station Road | 24–44 | |
| 3 | Mon 01 Sep 1952 | Workington Town | 29–18 | Liverpool City | Borough Park | 87–32 | |
| 4 | Mon 01 Sep 1952 | Belle Vue Rangers | 7–17 | Rochdale Hornets | Belle Vue Stadium | 23–38 | |
| 5 | Wed 03 Sep 1952 | Warrington | 30–8 | Salford | Wilderspool | 49–25 | |
| 6 | Wed 03 Sep 1952 | Leigh | 43–2 | Whitehaven | Kirkhall Lane | 58–6 | |
| 7 | Wed 03 Sep 1952 | Wigan | 38–5 | Widnes | Central Park | 62–20 | |
| 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 | Att |
| 1 | Mon 22 Sep 1952 | Leigh | 19–8 | Wigan | Kirkhall Lane | |
| 2 | Tue 23 Sep 1952 | St. Helens | 31–7 | Rochdale Hornets | Knowsley Road | 16,957 |
| 3 | Wed 24 Sep 1952 | Workington Town | 13–10 | Oldham | Borough Park | |
| 4 | | Warrington | | 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 | Mon 13 Oct 1952 | Workington Town | 9–13 | Leigh | Borough Park | | | | | |
| 2 | Tue 14 Oct 1952 | Warrington | 10–17 | St. Helens | Wilderspool | | 28,800 | | | |

### Final

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | agg | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| | Saturday 29 November 1952 | Leigh | 22–5 | St. Helens | Station Road | | 34,785 | £5,793 | 1 2 | |

#### Teams and scorers

| Leigh | № | St. Helens |
| | teams | |
| Jimmy Ledgard | 1 | Jimmy Lowe |
| Brian Chadwick | 2 | Steve Llewellyn |
| Trevor Allan | 3 | Doug Greenall |
| Edward Kerwick | 4 | Don Gullick |
| Frank Kitchen | 5 | Stan McCormick |
| Ken Baxter | 6 | Jimmy Honey |
| Tommy Bradshaw | 7 | George Langfield |
| Harry Edden | 8 | Alan Prescott |
| Joe Egan | 9 | Reg Blakemore |
| Stan Owen | 10 | Bill Whittaker |
| Charlie Pawsey | 11 | George Parsons |
| Rex Mossop | 12 | Bill Bretherton |
| Peter Foster | 13 | Ray Cale |
| Joe Egan | coach | |
| 22 | score | 5 |
| 15 | HT | 2 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| | T | Don Gullick (1) |
| | T | |
| | T | |
| | T | |
| | Goals | |
| | G | George Langfield (1) |
| | G | |
| | Drop Goals | |
| | DG | |
| Referee | | |
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 |
| Liverpool City | Liverpool City | 32 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Workington Town | Workington Town | 87 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Workington Town | Workington Town | 87 | Workington Town | Workington Town | 13 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Oldham | Oldham | 10 | | | | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | 44 | Oldham | Oldham | 10 | | | | | | | |
| Swinton | Swinton | 24 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Swinton | Swinton | 24 | | | | Workington Town | Workington Town | 9 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Leigh | Leigh | 13 | | | | |
| Whitehaven | Whitehaven | 6 | | | | | | | Leigh | Leigh | 13 | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 58 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 58 | Leigh | Leigh | 19 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Wigan | Wigan | 8 | | | | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 20 | Wigan | Wigan | 8 | | | | | | | |
| Wigan | Wigan | 62 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Wigan | Wigan | 62 | | | | | | | | Leigh | Leigh | 22 |
| | | | | | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 5 |
| Salford | Salford | 25 | | | | | | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 5 |
| Warrington | Warrington | 45 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Warrington | Warrington | 45 | Warrington | Warrington | | | | | | | | |
| | | | bye | bye | | | | | | | | |
| blank | blank | | bye | bye | | | | | | | | |
| blank | blank | | | | | | | | | | | |
| blank | blank | | | | | Warrington | Warrington | 10 | | | | |
| | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 17 | | | | |
| Barrow | Barrow | 26 | | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 17 | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 47 | | | | | | | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 47 | St. Helens | St. Helens | 31 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 7 | | | | | | | |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 38 | Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 7 | | | | | | | |
| Belle Vue Rangers | Belle Vue Rangers | 23 | | | | | | | | | | |

## Notes and comments

1 * Attendance given in official St. Helens archives as 34,541 – data given in Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991 as 34,785 2 * 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