1946–47 Lancashire Cup
# 1946–47 Lancashire Cup

1946–47 was the thirty-fourth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion had been held.

Wigan won the trophy by beating Belle Vue Rangers by the score of 9-3.

The match was played at Station Road, Pendlebury, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 21,648 and receipts were £2,658.

Although it could not have been known at this time, this was to be the first of Wigan’s record breaking run of six consecutive Lancashire Cup victories.

It was also to be the first of two consecutive finals to be competed for by these two teams.

## Background

The number of teams entering showed little change from before the war.

Leigh returned to the sport using a rented athletic stadium while their purpose built stadium was under construction.

Overall, the number of teams entering this year’s competition increased by one with the return of Leigh bringing the total up to 13.

The same pre-war fixture format was retained. This season saw one bye and one “blank” or “dummy” fixture in the first round. The second round also had one bye, but now no “blank” fixture”.

As last season, all the first round ties of the competition was played on the basis of two legged, home and away, ties. In addition, this season, the second round was also on a two leg, home and away basis.

## Competition and results

### Round 1

Involved 6 matches (with one bye and one “blank” fixture) and 13 clubs

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Sat 07 Sep 1946 | Liverpool Stanley | 0-7 | Belle Vue Rangers | Stanley Greyhound Stadium | |
| 2 | Sat 07 Sep 1946 | St. Helens | 5-14 | Leigh | Knowsley Road | 10,000 |
| 3 | Sat 07 Sep 1946 | Salford | 10-3 | Warrington | The Willows | |
| 4 | Sat 07 Sep 1946 | Widnes | 26-5 | Barrow | Naughton Park | |
| 5 | Sat 07 Sep 1946 | Wigan | 49-4 | Rochdale Hornets | Central Park | |
| 6 | Sat 07 Sep 1946 | Workington Town | 2-8 | Oldham | Borough Park | |
| 7 | | Swinton | | bye | | |
| 8 | | blank | | blank | | |

### Round 1 – second leg

Involved 6 matches (with two “blank” fixture) and 12 clubs. These are the reverse fixture from the first leg

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | agg | Att |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Sat 14 Sep 1946 | Belle Vue Rangers | 11-5 | Liverpool Stanley | Belle Vue Stadium | 18-5 | |
| 2 | Sat 14 Sep 1946 | Leigh | 17-4 | St. Helens | Madeley Park | 31-9 | 9,200 |
| 3 | Sat 14 Sep 1946 | Warrington | 10-5 | Salford | Wilderspool | 13-15 | |
| 4 | Sat 14 Sep 1946 | Barrow | 10-3 | Widnes | Craven Park | 15-29 | |
| 5 | Sat 14 Sep 1946 | Rochdale Hornets | 5-32 | Wigan | Athletic Grounds | 9-81 | |
| 6 | Sat 14 Sep 1946 | Oldham | 19-10 | Workington Town | Watersheddings | 27-12 | |
| 7 | | Swinton | | bye | | | |
| 8 | | blank | | blank | | | |

### Round 2 – quarterfinals – first leg

Involved 3 matches (with one bye) and 7 clubs

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Tue 24 Sep 1946 | Oldham | 20-8 | Leigh | Watersheddings |
| 2 | Wed 25 Sep 1946 | Swinton | 6-8 | Widnes | Station Road |
| 3 | Wed 25 Sep 1946 | Wigan | 31-0 | Salford | Central Park |
| 4 | | Belle Vue Rangers | | bye | |

### Round 2 – quarterfinals – second leg

Involved 3 matches (with one bye) and 7 clubs. These are the reverse fixture from the first leg

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | agg |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Wed 02 Oct 1946 | Leigh | 6-11 | Oldham | Madeley Park | 14-31 |
| 2 | Thu 03 Oct 1946 | Widnes | 9-2 | Swinton | Naughton Park | 17-8 |
| 2 | Wed 02 Oct 1946 | Salford | 0-19 | Wigan | The Willows | 0-50 |
| 3 | | Belle Vue Rangers | | 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 | Tue 15 Oct 1946 | Oldham | 7-21 | Wigan | Watersheddings | | | | | |
| 2 | Wed 16 Oct 1946 | Belle Vue Rangers | 5-0 | Widnes | Belle Vue Stadium | | | | | |

### Final

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | agg | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Saturday 26 October 1946 | Wigan | 9-3 | Belle Vue Rangers | Station Road | | 21,648 | £2,658 | 4 | |

**Teams and scorers**

| Wigan | № | Belle Vue Rangers |
| - | - | - |
| | teams | |
| Martin Ryan | 1 | A. Harris |
| Brian Nordgren | 2 | T. Tolan |
| Johnny Lawrenson | 3 | J. Waring |
| Ernie Ashcroft | 4 | Stanley Powell |
| Gordon Ratcliffe | 5 | T. Barr |
| Ced Mountford | 6 | T. Kenny |
| Tommy Bradshaw | 7 | Billy Watkins |
| Ken Gee | 8 | D. Thomas |
| Joe Egan | 9 | Glyn Jones |
| George Banks | 10 | A. Glendenning |
| Harry Atkinson | 11 | Elwyn Gwyther |
| Billy Blan | 12 | W. Brown |
| Jack Blan | 13 | Dick Manning |
| 9 | score | 3 |
| 7 | HT | 3 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| Jack Blan (1) | T | Dick Manning (1) |
| | Goals | |
| Johnny Lawrenson (3) | G | |
| Referee | | Albert Dobson (Pontefract) |

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

### The road to success

All the first and second round ties were played on a two leg (home and away) basis.

The first club named in each of the first and second round ties played the first leg at home.

the scores shown in the first and second 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 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Workington Town | Workington Town | 12 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | 27 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | 27 | Oldham | Oldham | 31 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Leigh | Leigh | 14 | | | | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 9 | Leigh | Leigh | 14 | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 31 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 31 | | | | Oldham | Oldham | 7 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Wigan | Wigan | 21 | | | | |
| Wigan | Wigan | 81 | | | | | | | Wigan | Wigan | 21 | | | | |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 9 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 9 | Wigan | Wigan | 50 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Salford | Salford | 0 | | | | | | | |
| Salford | Salford | 15 | Salford | Salford | 0 | | | | | | | |
| Warrington | Warrington | 13 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Warrington | Warrington | 13 | | | | | | | | Wigan | Wigan | 9 |
| | | | | | | | | | | Belle Vue Rangers | Belle Vue Rangers | 3 |
| Liverpool Stanley | Liverpool Stanley | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | Belle Vue Rangers | Belle Vue Rangers | 3 |
| Belle Vue Rangers | Belle Vue Rangers | 18 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Belle Vue Rangers | Belle Vue Rangers | 18 | Belle Vue Rangers | Belle Vue Rangers | | | | | | | | |
| | | | bye | bye | | | | | | | | |
| blank | blank | | bye | bye | | | | | | | | |
| blank | blank | | | | | | | | | | | |
| blank | blank | | | | | Belle Vue Rangers | Belle Vue Rangers | 5 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 0 | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 29 | | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 0 | | | | |
| Barrow | Barrow | 15 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Barrow | Barrow | 15 | Widnes | Widnes | 8 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Swinton | Swinton | 17 | | | | | | | |
| Swinton | Swinton | | Swinton | Swinton | 17 | | | | | | | |
| bye | bye | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Notes and comments

* The first Lancashire Cup match played by the newly name club
* Leigh's belated return to the sport after the war years
* The first Lancashire Cup match to be played at Leigh's temporary home
* 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
