1961–62 Lancashire Cup

1961–62 Lancashire Cup
StructureRegional knockout championship
Teams14
WinnersSt. Helens
Runners-upSwinton

1961–62 was the forty-ninth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion had been held. St. Helens won the trophy by beating Swinton by the score of 25–9.

The match was played at Central Park, Wigan, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 30,000, the last time the attendance at a Lancashire Cup final would reach 30,000, and receipts were £4,850.

This was the second of five consecutive Lancashire Cup final wins for St. Helens, and what is more, the second of the seven victories in a period of nine successive seasons.

It was also the second of Swinton’s three successive Lancashire Cup final runner-up positions.

Background

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With again no invitation to a junior club this season, the total number of teams entering the competition remained the same at 14.

The same fixture format was retained, and due to the number of clubs this resulted in no bye but one “blank” or “dummy” fixture in the first round, and one bye in the second round

Competition and results

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[1]

Round 1

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Involved 7 matches (with no bye but one “blank” fixture) and 14 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Saturday 2 September 1961 Barrow 3-10 Oldham Craven Park
2 Saturday 2 September 1961 Liverpool City 14-16 Salford Mill Yard, Knotty Ash
3 Saturday 2 September 1961 Rochdale Hornets 3-22 Blackpool Borough Athletic Grounds
4 Saturday 2 September 1961 St. Helens 43-8 Leigh Knowsley Road 21,800 [2]
5 Saturday 2 September 1961 Swinton 18-7 Warrington Station Road [3]
6 Saturday 2 September 1961 Widnes 54-2 Whitehaven Naughton Park [4]
7 Saturday 2 September 1961 Workington Town 18-30 Wigan Derwent Park [5]
8 blank blank

Round 2 - quarterfinals

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Involved 3 matches (with one bye) and 7 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Monday 18 September 1961 Salford 22-10 Blackpool Borough The Willows
2 Thursday 21 September 1961 Widnes 9-5 Wigan Naughton Park [4][5]
3 Monday 2 October 1961 St. Helens 30-7 Oldham Knowsley Road 18,500 [2]
4 . Swinton bye

Round 3 – semifinals

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Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Wednesday 4 October 1961 Swinton 10-5 Widnes Station Road 13,250 [4]
2 Tuesday 10 October 1961 St. Helens 21-2 Salford Knowsley Road 18,000 [2]

Final

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Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Saturday 11 November 1961 St. Helens 25-9 Swinton Central Park 30,000 £4,850 1 [2][6]

Teams and scorers

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[2][7]

St. Helens Swinton
teams
Austin Rhodes 1 Ken Gowers
Tom van Vollenhoven 2 Bernard McMahon
Ken Large [1] 3 Malcolm Cummings
Brian McGinn [2] 4 Bob Fleet
Mick Sullivan 5 John Speed
Wilf Smith [3] 6 George Parkinson
Alex Murphy 7 Albert Cartwright
Fred Leyland [4] 8 Arnold Thompson
Bob Dagnall 9 Trevor Roberts
Cliff Watson 10 Bill Bretherton
Ray French 11 Ken Roberts
Dick Huddart 12 Peter Norburn
Vince Karalius (c) 13 Albert Blan (c)
25 score 9
9 HT 4
Scorers
Tries
Austin Rhodes (1) T Bill Bretherton (1)
Tom van Vollenhoven (1) T
Ken Large (1) T
Mick Sullivan (1) T
Alex Murphy (1) T
Goals
Austin Rhodes (5) G Albert Blan (3)
G
Drop Goals
DG
Referee R. Gelder (Wilmslow)

Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points

The road to success

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First round Second round Semifinals Final
            
St. Helens 43
Leigh 8
St. Helens 30
Oldham 7
Barrow 3
Oldham 10
St. Helens 21
Salford 2
Liverpool City 14
Salford 16
Salford 22
Blackpool Borough 10
Rochdale Hornets 3
Blackpool Borough 22
St. Helens 25
Swinton 9
Swinton 18
Warrington 7
Swinton
bye
blank
blank
Swinton 10
Widnes 5
Widnes 54
Whitehaven 2
Widnes 9
Wigan 5
Workington Town 18
Wigan 30

Notes and comments

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1 * Central Park was the home ground of Wigan with a final capacity of 18,000, although the record attendance was 47,747 for Wigan v St Helens 27 March 1959

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Rugby League Project".
  2. ^ a b c d e "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  3. ^ "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 6 July 2010.
  4. ^ a b c "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  5. ^ a b "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
  6. ^ Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
  7. ^ "Swinton Lions Tales".
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