1955–56 Lancashire Cup
# 1955–56 Lancashire Cup

1955–56 was the forty-third occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion had been held. Leigh won the trophy by beating Widnes by the score of 26-9. The match was played at Central Park, Wigan, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 26,504 and receipts were £4,090.

## Background

The end of last season saw the demise of Belle Vue Rangers. With this and the retention of the invitation to juniors, Lancashire Amateurs the number of clubs was reduced by one to a total of 15. The same pre-war fixture format was retained, and due to reduction in the number of clubs this resulted in one bye in the first round. The whole tournament was again played on a knock-out basis, and there would be no return to the two legged fixtures during the life of the competition.

## Competition and results

### Round 1

Involved 7 matches (with one bye but no “blank” fixture) and 15 clubs

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Sat 27 Aug 1955 | Barrow | 18-12 | St. Helens | Craven Park | 9,732 |
| 2 | Sat 27 Aug 1955 | Blackpool Borough | 8-18 | Oldham | St Anne's Road Greyhound Stadium | |
| 3 | Sat 27 Aug 1955 | Leigh | 71-14 | County Amateurs | Kirkhall Lane | |
| 4 | Sat 27 Aug 1955 | Rochdale Hornets | 26-17 | Whitehaven | Athletic Grounds | |
| 5 | Sat 27 Aug 1955 | Salford | 8-33 | Widnes | The Willows | |
| 6 | Sat 27 Aug 1955 | Wigan | 15-16 | Warrington | Central Park | |
| 7 | Sat 27 Aug 1955 | Workington Town | 24-10 | Liverpool City | Borough Park | |
| 8 | | Swinton | | bye | | |

### Round 2 - quarterfinals

Involved 4 matches (with no bye) and 8 clubs

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Tue 06 Sep 1955 | Barrow | 24-10 | Workington Town | Craven Park |
| 2 | Tue 06 Sep 1955 | Rochdale Hornets | 12-26 | Warrington | Athletic Grounds |
| 3 | Wed 07 Sep 1955 | Oldham | 11-13 | Leigh | Watersheddings |
| 4 | Thu 08 Sep 1955 | Widnes | 9-3 | Swinton | Naughton Park |

### Round 3 – semifinals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue width=30 abbr="Att" |Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Thu 22 Sep 1955 | Barrow | 7-11 | Leigh | Craven Park | | | |
| 2 | Thu 22 Sep 1955 | Widnes | 11-6 | Warrington | Naughton Park | | | |

### Final

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Saturday 15 October 1955 | Leigh | 26-9 | Widnes | Central Park | 26,504 | £4,090 | 1 | |

**Teams and scorers**

| Leigh | № | Widnes |
| - | - | - |
| | teams | |
| | 1 | John Sale |
| | 2 | Gordon Williamson |
| | 3 | Harold 'Lal' Kinsey |
| | 4 | Tommy Galligan |
| | 5 | Peter Ratcliffe |
| | 6 | Roy Butler |
| | 7 | Percy Davies |
| Bill Robinson (position uncertain) | 8 | Ron Rowbottom |
| | 9 | Jack Hayes/J. J. Hayes |
| | 10 | Harold Tomlinson |
| | 11 | Derek Smith/Tom Smith/Vin Smith |
| | 12 | Gordon Murray |
| | 13 | George Kemel |
| 26 | score | 9 |
| 8 | HT | 4 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| | T | Gordon Williamson (1) |
| | T | |
| | T | |
| | T | |
| | T | |
| | Goals | |
| | G | John Sale (3) |
| | G | |
| | Drop Goals | |
| | DG | |
| Referee | | |

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 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Barrow | Barrow | 18 | | | | | | | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 12 | | | | | | | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 12 | Barrow | Barrow | 24 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Workington Town | Workington Town | 10 | | | | | | | |
| Workington Town | Workington Town | 24 | Workington Town | Workington Town | 10 | | | | | | | |
| Liverpool City | Liverpool City | 10 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Liverpool City | Liverpool City | 10 | | | | Barrow | Barrow | 7 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Leigh | Leigh | 11 | | | | |
| Blackpool Borough | Blackpool Borough | 8 | | | | | | | Leigh | Leigh | 11 | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | 18 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | 18 | Oldham | Oldham | 11 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Leigh | Leigh | 13 | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 71 | Leigh | Leigh | 13 | | | | | | | |
| County Amateurs | County Amateurs | 14 | | | | | | | | | | |
| County Amateurs | County Amateurs | 14 | | | | | | | | Leigh | Leigh | 26 |
| | | | | | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 9 |
| Salford | Salford | 8 | | | | | | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 9 |
| Widnes | Widnes | 33 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 33 | Widnes | Widnes | 9 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Swinton | Swinton | 3 | | | | | | | |
| Swinton | Swinton | | Swinton | Swinton | 3 | | | | | | | |
| bye | bye | | | | | | | | | | | |
| bye | bye | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 11 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Warrington | Warrington | 6 | | | | |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 26 | | | | | | | Warrington | Warrington | 6 | | | | |
| Whitehaven | Whitehaven | 17 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Whitehaven | Whitehaven | 17 | Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 12 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Warrington | Warrington | 26 | | | | | | | |
| Wigan | Wigan | 15 | Warrington | Warrington | 26 | | | | | | | |
| Warrington | Warrington | 16 | | | | | | | | | | |

## Notes and comments

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

