1953–54 Lancashire Cup
# 1953–54 Lancashire Cup

1953–54 was the forty-first occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion had been held. St. Helens won the trophy by beating Wigan by the score of 16–8. The match was played at Station Road, Pendlebury, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 42,793 and receipts were £6,918. The attendance was again a record, albeit only beating the previous record by about 250. Sport in general was now at its height of popularity, brought about by the ending of the Second World War, the new peace, the new affluence and more free time. Rugby League was no exception and this particular attendance record would never be broken.

## 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 05 Sep 1953 | Barrow | 14-13 | St. Helens | Craven Park | 11,921 |
| 2 | Sat 05 Sep 1953 | Liverpool City | 2-14 | Swinton | Mill Yard, Knotty Ash | |
| 3 | Sat 05 Sep 1953 | Rochdale Hornets | 7-12 | Workington Town | Athletic Grounds | |
| 4 | Sat 05 Sep 1953 | Salford | 12-7 | Wigan | The Willows | |
| 5 | Sat 05 Sep 1953 | Warrington | 28-7 | Belle Vue Rangers | Wilderspool | |
| 6 | Sat 05 Sep 1953 | Whitehaven | 13-12 | Oldham | Recreation Ground | |
| 7 | Sat 05 Sep 1953 | Widnes | 9-14 | Leigh | 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 09 Sep 1953 | St. Helens | 21-17 | Barrow | Knowsley Road | 34-31 | 20,100 |
| 2 | Wed 09 Sep 1953 | Swinton | 20-4 | Liverpool City | Station Road | 34-6 | |
| 3 | Wed 09 Sep 1953 | Workington Town | 10-5 | Rochdale Hornets | Borough Park | 22-12 | |
| 4 | Mon 07 Sep 1953 | Wigan | 28-2 | Salford | Central Park | 35-14 | |
| 5 | Tue 08 Sep 1953 | Belle Vue Rangers | 14-17 | Warrington | Belle Vue Stadium | 21-46 | |
| 6 | Mon 07 Sep 1953 | Oldham | 45-6 | Whitehaven | Watersheddings | 57-19 | |
| 7 | Wed 09 Sep 1953 | Leigh | 25-5 | Widnes | Kirkhall Lane | 39-14 | |
| 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 | Wed 23 Sep 1953 | St. Helens | 38-9 | Swinton | Knowsley Road | 19,000 |
| 2 | Wed 23 Sep 1953 | Wigan | 10-7 | Workington Town | Central Park | |
| 3 | Thu 24 Sep 1953 | Warrington | 12-11 | Oldham | Wilderspool | |
| 4 | | Leigh | | 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 28 Sep 1953 | Wigan | 11-6 | Leigh | Central Park | | | | | |
| 2 | Thu 01 Oct 1953 | St. Helens | 17-10 | Warrington | Knowsley Road | | 23,184 | | | |

### Final

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | agg | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Saturday 24 October 1953 | St. Helens | 16-8 | Wigan | Station Road | | 42,793 | £6,918 | 1 2 | |

**Teams and scorers**

| St. Helens | No. | Wigan |
| - | - | - |
| | teams | |
| Glyn Moses | 1 | Jack Cunliffe |
| Steve Llewellyn | 2 | Brian Nordgren |
| Doug Greenall | 3 | Jack Broome |
| Don Gullick | 4 | Ernie Ashcroft |
| Stan McCormick | 5 | Ronnie Hurst |
| Peter Metcalfe | 6 | Jack Fleming |
| Jimmy Honey | 7 | Johnny Alty |
| Alan Prescott | 8 | Ken Gee |
| Reg Blakemore | 9 | Ronald Mather |
| George Parr | 10 | Nat Silcock, Jr. |
| George Parsons | 11 | Frank Collier |
| Bill Bretherton | 12 | Tommy Horrocks |
| Vince Karalius | 13 | Harry Street |
| 16 | score | 8 |
| 4 | HT | 8 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| Jimmy Honey (1) | T | Jack Fleming (1) |
| Glyn Moses (1) | T | Harry Street (1) |
| | Goals | |
| Peter Metcalfe (5) | G | Ken Gee (1) |
| Referee | | M. Coates, Pudsey |

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 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Barrow | Barrow | 31 | | | | | | | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 34 | | | | | | | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 34 | St. Helens | St. Helens | 38 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Swinton | Swinton | 9 | | | | | | | |
| Liverpool City | Liverpool City | 6 | Swinton | Swinton | 9 | | | | | | | |
| Swinton | Swinton | 34 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Swinton | Swinton | 34 | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 17 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Warrington | Warrington | 10 | | | | |
| Warrington | Warrington | 46 | | | | | | | Warrington | Warrington | 10 | | | | |
| Belle Vue Rangers | Belle Vue Rangers | 21 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Belle Vue Rangers | Belle Vue Rangers | 21 | Warrington | Warrington | 12 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Oldham | Oldham | 11 | | | | | | | |
| Whitehaven | Whitehaven | 19 | Oldham | Oldham | 11 | | | | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | 57 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | 57 | | | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 16 |
| | | | | | | | | | | Wigan | Wigan | 8 |
| Salford | Salford | 14 | | | | | | | | | | | Wigan | Wigan | 8 |
| Wigan | Wigan | 35 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Wigan | Wigan | 35 | Wigan | Wigan | 10 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Workington Town | Workington Town | 7 | | | | | | | |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 12 | Workington Town | Workington Town | 7 | | | | | | | |
| Workington Town | Workington Town | 22 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Workington Town | Workington Town | 22 | | | | Wigan | Wigan | 11 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Leigh | Leigh | 6 | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 14 | | | | | | | Leigh | Leigh | 6 | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 39 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 39 | Leigh | Leigh | | | | | | | | |
| | | | bye | bye | | | | | | | | |
| blank | blank | | bye | bye | | | | | | | | |
| blank | blank | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Notes and comments

1 * The attendance of 42,793 was again a record, albeit only beating the previous record by about 250 This attendance record would never ever be equalled or beaten.

The receipts were also a new record, but this would only stand for 5 years. 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 40,000. The actual record attendance was for the Challenge Cup semi-final on 7 April 1951 when 44,621 watched Wigan beat Warrington 3-2

