1931–32 Lancashire Cup
# 1931–32 Lancashire Cup

The 1931–32 Lancashire Cup was the twenty-fourth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup competition had been held. Once again a new name was to be added to the trophy this year as it was the turn of Salford, who won the trophy for the first time by beating neighbours and close rivals Swinton in the final by 10-8.

## Background

At the time of the great schism in 1895, Salford had initially remained loyal to the Rugby Football Union but in April 1896 the board met and only three members opposed the motion to switch to the new code. The change of heart was partly brought about by the sudden lack of “interesting” or derby fixtures for the club.

## Competition and results

The number of teams entering this year’s competition remained at 13 but from this season the fixture format was changed. There was only one bye in the first round but now also a “blank” or “dummy” fixture. This also resulted in one bye in the second round.

### 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 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Sat 10 Oct 1931 | Broughton Rangers | 8-13 | Wigan | The Cliff |
| 2 | Sat 10 Oct 1931 | Oldham | 13-13 | Barrow | Watersheddings |
| 3 | Sat 10 Oct 1931 | Wigan Highfield | 7-7 | Leigh | Tunstall Lane |
| 4 | Sat 10 Oct 1931 | Salford | 16-5 | St. Helens | The Willows |
| 5 | Sat 10 Oct 1931 | Warrington | 11-2 | St Helens Recs | Wilderspool |
| 6 | Sat 10 Oct 1931 | Widnes | 10-3 | Rochdale Hornets | Lowerhouse Lane |
| 7 | | Swinton | | bye | |
| 8 | | blank | | blank | |

### Round 1 – replays

Involved 2 matches

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Wed 14 Oct 1931 | Leigh | 11-7 | Wigan Highfield | Mather Lane | | | | |
| 2 | Thu 15 Oct 1931 | Barrow | 27-9 | Oldham | Craven Park | | | 1 | |

### Round 2 – quarterfinals

Involved 3 matches (with one bye) and 7 clubs

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Wed 21 Oct 1931 | Leigh | 7-37 | Swinton | Mather Lane |
| 2 | Wed 21 Oct 1931 | Warrington | 7-17 | Salford | Wilderspool |
| 3 | Thu 22 Oct 1931 | Widnes | 7-6 | Wigan | Lowerhouse Lane |
| 4 | | Barrow | | bye | |

### Round 3 – semifinals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Wed 04 Nov 1931 | Swinton | 37-0 | Widnes | Station Road | 7,000 | | | |
| 2 | Wed 11 Nov 1931 | Salford | 21-0 | Barrow | The Willows | | | | - |

### Final

The final was played at the Cliff, Broughton, Salford, (historically in the county of Lancashire) and on the banks of the River Irwell. The attendance was 26,471 and receipts £1,030. The attendance was a new record beating the 25,656 of 1924.

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Saturday 21 November 1931 | Salford | 10-8 | Swinton | The Cliff | 26,471 | £1,654 | 2 3 | |

**Teams and scorers**

| Salford | № | Swinton |
| - | - | - |
| | teams | |
| Gus Risman | 1 | Bob Scott |
| Fergie Southward | 2 | Frank Buckingham |
| Emlyn Jenkins | 3 | George Whittaker |
| Sammy Miller | 4 | Johnny Jones |
| Barney Hudson | 5 | Jack Kenny |
| Reg Meek | 6 | Hughie Salmon |
| Billy Watkins | 7 | Bryn Evans (c) |
| Billy Williams | 8 | Miller Strong |
| Fred Shaw | 9 | Tommy Armitt |
| Joe Bradbury | 10 | Joe Wright |
| Alf Middleton | 11 | Martin Hodgson |
| Teddy Haines | 12 | Fred Beswick |
| Jack Feetham | 13 | Fred Butters |
| 10 | score | 8 |
| 3 | HT | 3 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| Emlyn Jenkins (2) | T | Johnny Jones (1) |
| | T | Hughie Salmon (1) |
| | Goals | |
| Fergie Southward (2) | G | Martin Hodgson (1) |
| | G | |
| | Drop Goals | |
| | DG | |
| Referee | | Frank Peel (Bradford) |

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 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Warrington | Warrington | 11 | | | | | | | | | | |
| St Helens Recs | St Helens Recs | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| St Helens Recs | St Helens Recs | 2 | Warrington | Warrington | 7 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Salford | Salford | 17 | | | | | | | |
| Salford | Salford | 16 | Salford | Salford | 17 | | | | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 5 | | | | Salford | Salford | 21 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Barrow | Barrow | 0 | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | 13 - 9 | | | | | | | Barrow | Barrow | 0 | | | | |
| Barrow | Barrow | 13 - 27 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Barrow | Barrow | 13 - 27 | Barrow | Barrow | | | | | | | | |
| | | | bye | bye | | | | | | | | |
| blank | blank | | bye | bye | | | | | | | | |
| blank | blank | | | | | | | | | | | |
| blank | blank | | | | | | | | | Salford | Salford | 10 |
| | | | | | | | | | | Swinton | Swinton | 8 |
| Wigan Highfield | Wigan Highfield | 7 - 7 | | | | | | | | | | | Swinton | Swinton | 8 |
| Leigh | Leigh | 7 - 11 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 7 - 11 | Leigh | Leigh | 7 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Swinton | Swinton | 37 | | | | | | | |
| Swinton | Swinton | | Swinton | Swinton | 37 | | | | | | | |
| bye | bye | | | | | | | | | | | |
| bye | bye | | | | | Swinton | Swinton | 37 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 0 | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 10 | | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 0 | | | | |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 3 | Widnes | Widnes | 7 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Wigan | Wigan | 6 | | | | | | | |
| Broughton Rangers | Broughton Rangers | 8 | Wigan | Wigan | 6 | | | | | | | |
| Wigan | Wigan | 13 | | | | | | | | | | |
