# 1905–06 Lancashire Cup

The 1905 Lancashire Cup was the inaugural year for the rugby league Lancashire Cup competition. The cup was won by Wigan who beat Leigh in a replay at Wheater's Field, Broughton, Salford by a score of 8-0.

## Background

Following the great schism of 1895 which led to the formation of rugby league there was an interest in a competitive competition for clubs based in Lancashire. Prior to the breakaway from rugby union this was something that had been discouraged as it was feared that competition would lead to professionalism, as had happened in other sports like Association Football.
There appears to be very little, if any, details of how this came about, or any details of any of the instigators or of any campaign, but the County Cups became the last part of what would become known as the four cups.
The competitions were played on the same basis as was the Challenge Cup, i.e. a free draw with matches played on a sudden death straight knock-out basis, and with the final played (usually) on a neutral ground.

## Competition and results
### Round 1

Involved 6 matches (with two byes) and 14 Clubs.
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att |
| 1 | Sat 14 October 1905 | Barrow | 11-0 | Chadderton (Oldham) | Canendish Park | |
| 2 | Sat 14 October 1905 | Leigh | 8-0 | Runcorn | Frog Hall Field, Mather Lane | |
| 3 | Sat 14 October 1905 | Morecambe | 0-5 | Widnes | Moss Lane | |
| 4 | Sat 14 October 1905 | Rochdale Hornets | 0-10 | Warrington | Athletic Grounds | |
| 5 | Sat 14 October 1905 | Salford | 3-0 | Swinton | The Willows | |
| 6 | Sat 14 October 1905 | Wigan | 18-0 | St. Helens | Central Park | 8,000 |
| 7 | | Broughton Rangers | | bye | | |
| 8 | | Oldham | | bye | | |

### Round 2 – quarterfinals

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue |
| 1 | Sat 28 October 1905 | Salford | 0-10 | Oldham | The Willows |
| 2 | Sat 28 October 1905 | Warrington | 2-5 | Leigh | Wilderspool |
| 3 | Sat 28 October 1905 | Widnes | 9-0 | Barrow | Lowerhouse Lane |
| 4 | Sat 28 October 1905 | Wigan | 4-3 | Broughton Rangers | Central Park |

### Round 3 – semifinals

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| 1 | Sat 18 November 1905 | Oldham | 7-11 | Wigan | Watersheddings | | | | |
| 2 | Wed 22 November 1905 | Leigh | 6-2 | Widnes | Frog Hall Field, Mather Lane | | | | |

### Final

The attendance was 10,000 and receipts £200. The initial final (which had taken place 9 days earlier at the same venue) had ended in a 0-0 draw before a crowd estimated at 16.000 and receipts of £400.
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| | Saturday 2 December 1905 | Leigh | 0-0 | Wigan | Wheater's Field | 16000 | £400-0-0 | 2 | |
| Replay | Monday 11 December 1905 | Wigan | 8-0 | Leigh | Wheater's Field | 10000 | £200-0-0 | | |

#### Teams and scorers

| Wigan | № | Leigh |
| | Teams | |
| Reuben Collier | 1 Prop | Paddy O'Neill |
| Frank Watkins | 2 Hooker | Bob Berry |
| Anthony Little | 3 Prop | Albert Blackburn |
| Jack Barton | 4 Lock | Wilfrid Webster |
| Tom Whittaker | 5 Lock | Aaron Lee |
| Dick Tyrer | 6 Flanker | Dick Silcock |
| J. R. "Jack" Hilton | 7 Flanker | Billy Winstanley (Jnr) |
| Sam Moores | 8 Number 8 | Billy Roberts |
| Johnny Thomas | 9 Scrum Half | Sam Whittaker |
| Billy Anderson | 10 Fly Half | Harry Dunbavin |
| Harry Lowe | 11 Winger | Bob Neville |
| Windsor "Naddy" Jones | 12 Centre | Herbert Bennett |
| Bert Jenkins | 13 Centre | Tom Johnson |
| Jim Leytham | 14 Winger | Sam Johnson |
| Jack Mason | 15 Full Back | Ellis Clarkson |
| 0 | score | 0 |
| 0 | HT | 0 |
| | Referee | |
| | Replay | |
| | teams | |
| Reuben Collier | 1 Prop | Paddy O'Neill |
| Frank Watkins | 2 Hooker | Bob Berry |
| Peter Vickers | 3 Prop | Albert Blackburn |
| Jack Barton | 4 Lock | Wilfrid Webster |
| Tom Whittaker | 5 Lock | Aaron Lee |
| Richard Tyrer | 6 Flanker | Billy Winstanley (Jnr) |
| J. R. "Jack" Hilton | 7 Flanker | Billy Winstanley (Snr) |
| Sam Moores | 8 Number 8 | Billy Roberts |
| Johnny Thomas | 9 Scrum Half | Sam Whittaker |
| Billy Anderson | 10 Fly Half | Harry Dunbavin |
| Harry Lowe | 11 Winger | Bob Neville |
| Naddy Jones | 12 Centre | Herbert Bennett |
| Bert Jenkins | 13 Centre | Brady |
| Jim Leytham | 14 Winger | Sam Johnson |
| Jack Mason | 15 Full Back | Ellis Clarkson |
| 8 | score | 0 |
| 3 | HT | 0 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| Bert Jenkins | T | |
| Johnny Thomas | T | |
| | Goals | |
| Jim Leytham | G | |
| | 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 |
| Salford | Salford | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Swinton | Swinton | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Swinton | Swinton | 0 | Salford | Salford | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Oldham | Oldham | 10 | | | | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | | Oldham | Oldham | 10 | | | | | | | |
| bye | bye | | | | | | | | | | | |
| bye | bye | | | | | Oldham | Oldham | 7 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Wigan | Wigan | 11 | | | | |
| Wigan | Wigan | 18 | | | | | | | Wigan | Wigan | 11 | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 0 | Wigan | Wigan | 4 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Broughton Rangers | Broughton Rangers | 3 | | | | | | | |
| Broughton Rangers | Broughton Rangers | | Broughton Rangers | Broughton Rangers | 3 | | | | | | | |
| bye | bye | | | | | | | | | | | |
| bye | bye | | | | | | | | | Wigan | Wigan | 0 (8) |
| | | | | | | | | | | Leigh | Leigh | 0 (0) |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | Leigh | Leigh | 0 (0) |
| Warrington | Warrington | 10 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Warrington | Warrington | 10 | Warrington | Warrington | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Leigh | Leigh | 5 | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 8 | Leigh | Leigh | 5 | | | | | | | |
| Runcorn | Runcorn | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Runcorn | Runcorn | 0 | | | | Leigh | Leigh | 6 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 2 | | | | |
| Morecambe | Morecambe | 0 | | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 2 | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 5 | Widnes | Widnes | 9 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Barrow | Barrow | 0 | | | | | | | |
| Barrow | Barrow | 11 | Barrow | Barrow | 0 | | | | | | | |
| Chadderton | Chadderton | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |