1955–56 Yorkshire Cup

1955–56 Yorkshire Cup
1955–56 Yorkshire Cup
Structure	Regional knockout championship
Teams	16
Winners	Halifax
Runners-up	Hull F.C.
	← 1954–55 1956–57 →

1955–56 was the forty-eighth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held.

This year's final was a repeat of last years' final and between cup holder Halifax and last season runner-up Hull F.C. with the same outcome (albeit via a replay).

Halifax won the trophy by beating Hull F.C. by the score of 10-10 in a replayed final.

The original final, which ended in a 10-10 draw, was played at Headingley, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 23,520 and receipts were £4,385.

The replay was played 11 days later at Odsal in the City of Bradford, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 14,000 and receipts were £2,439.

This was the second of Halifax's two successive victories, both against Hull FC, for whom it was their third successive cup final defeat.

Background

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.

This season saw a continuation of the simple knock-out formulas, there was to be no return to the two-legged ties.

Competition and results

^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Round 1

Involved 8 matches (with no byes) and 16 clubs

Game No	Fixture date	Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Att	Ref

1	Sat 27 Aug 1955	Batley	13-25	Hull F.C.	Mount Pleasant		^[5]
2	Sat 27 Aug 1955	Bradford Northern	27-23	Hunslet	Odsal
3	Sat 27 Aug 1955	Bramley	16-13	Doncaster	Barley Mow
4	Sat 27 Aug 1955	Castleford	29-8	Dewsbury	Wheldon Road
5	Sat 27 Aug 1955	Featherstone Rovers	26-9	Huddersfield	Post Office Road	9,000	^[4]
6	Sat 27 Aug 1955	Hull Kingston Rovers	21-13	Keighley	Craven Park (1)
7	Sat 27 Aug 1955	Leeds	13-31	Wakefield Trinity	Headingley
8	Wed 31 Aug 1955	York	5-13	Halifax	Clarence Street

Round 2 - quarterfinals

Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs

Game No	Fixture date	Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Ref

1	Mon 5 Sep 1955	Hull F.C.	12-5	Featherstone Rovers	Boulevard	^[5]
2	Fri 9 Sep 1955	Bramley	5-12	Bradford Northern	Barley Mow
3	Wed 14 Sep 1955	Castleford	17-0	Hull Kingston Rovers	Wheldon Road
4	Thu 15 Sep 1955	Wakefield Trinity	4-21	Halifax	Belle Vue

Round 3 – semifinals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No	Fixture date	Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Ref

1	Tue 20 Sep 1955	Hull F.C.	23-16	Bradford Northern	Boulevard	^[5]
2	Wed 28 Sep 1955	Castleford	8-24	Halifax	Wheldon Road

Final

22 October 1955

Halifax	10 – 10	Hull F.C.
Tries: Bevan, Henderson Goals: Griffiths (2)	^[6]^[7]	Tries: Bowman, Watts Goals: Watkinson (2)

Headingley, Leeds
Attendance: 23,520
Referee: G. S. Phillips (Widnes)

Halifax	№	Hull F.C.
	Teams
Tuss Griffiths	1	Jack Watkinson
Arthur Daniels	2	Keith Bowman
Tommy Lynch	3	Carl Turner
Geoff Palmer	4	Bill Riches
Dai Bevan	5	Ivor Watts
Ken Dean	6	Rowley Moat
Stan Kielty	7	Tommy Finn
John Thorley	8	Mick Scott (c)
Alvin Ackerley (c)	9	Tommy Harris
Jack Wilkinson	10	Bob Coverdale
Derrick Schofield	11	Harry Markham
John Henderson	12	Bill Drake
Albert Fearnley	13	Johnny Whiteley
??	Coach	Roy Francis

Replay

2 November 1955

Halifax	7 – 0	Hull F.C.
Tries: Daniels Goals: Griffiths (2)	^[8]^[9]

Odsal Stadium, Bradford
Attendance: 14,000
Referee: N. T. Railton (Wigan)

Halifax	№	Hull F.C.
	Teams
Tuss Griffiths	1	Colin Hutton
Arthur Daniels	2	Keith Bowman
Tommy Lynch	3	William "Bill" Riches
Geoff Palmer	4	Carl R. Turner
Dai Bevan	5	Ivor Watts
Ken Dean	6	Rowley Moat
Stan Kielty	7	Tommy Finn
John Thorley	8	Mick Scott (c)
Alvin Ackerley (c)	9	Tommy Harris
Jack Wilkinson	10	Bob Coverdale
Derrick Schofield	11	Harry Markham
Les Pearce	12	Bill Drake
Albert Fearnley	13	Johnny Whiteley
	Coach	Roy Francis

The road to success

First round		Second round		Semifinals		Final

Castleford	29

Dewsbury	8
		Castleford	17

		Hull Kingston Rovers	0
Hull Kingston Rovers	21

Keighley	13
				Castleford	8

				Halifax	24
Leeds	13

Wakefield Trinity	31
		Wakefield Trinity	4

		Halifax	21
York	5

Halifax	13
						Halifax	10 (0)

						Hull F.C.	10 (7)
Batley	13

Hull F.C.	25
		Hull F.C.	12

		Featherstone Rovers	5
Featherstone Rovers	26

Huddersfield	9
				Hull F.C.	23

				Bradford Northern	16
Bramley	16

Doncaster	13
		Bramley	5

		Bradford Northern	12
Bradford Northern	27

Hunslet	23

References

^ "Rugby League Project".
^ Jack Winstanley & Malcolm Ryding (1991). John Player Yearbook 1975-76. Queen Anne Press.
^ HC&AC Committee (1956). Fartown Rugby League Year Book 1956. HC&AC Supporters' Club.
^ ^a ^b "Fartown Rugby League Yearbook 1956" (PDF).
^ ^a ^b ^c "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
^ "Halifax 10-10 Hull - 22.10.1955". Rugby League Records. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
^ Saxton, Irvin (ed.). History of Rugby League: No.61 1955–1956. League Publications. p. 9.
^ "Halifax 7-0 Hull - 02.11.1955". Rugby League Records. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
^ Saxton, Irvin (ed.). History of Rugby League: No.61 1955–1956. League Publications. p. 10.