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1947–48 Challenge Cup

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1947–48 Challenge Cup
Duration5 Rounds
Number of teams32
Broadcast partnersBBC TV
Winners Wigan
Runners-up Bradford Northern
Lance Todd Trophy Frank Whitcombe

The 1947–48 Challenge Cup was the 47th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup.[1]

The final was contested by Wigan and Bradford Northern at Wembley Stadium, and was the first ever rugby league match to be televised. Wigan won the match 8–3, with Bradford's Frank Whitcombe receiving the Lance Todd Trophy – the first time the trophy had been awarded to a player on the losing team.

First round

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Date Team One Score One Team Two Score Two
07 Feb Barrow 18 Halifax 4
07 Feb Batley 0 Dewsbury 2
07 Feb Bramley 3 Vine Tavern 3
07 Feb Featherstone Rovers 3 Leigh 18
07 Feb Huddersfield 6 Bradford Northern 2
07 Feb Hull FC 23 Swinton 2
07 Feb Hull Kingston Rovers 12 Oldham 5
07 Feb Keighley 11 Risehow & Gillhead 0
07 Feb Leeds 23 York 9
07 Feb Liverpool 0 Belle Vue Rangers 9
07 Feb Rochdale Hornets 13 Pemberton Rovers 0
07 Feb St Helens 48 Buslingthorpe 0
07 Feb Salford 2 Wakefield Trinity 13
07 Feb Warrington 10 Workington Town 0
07 Feb Widnes 5 Hunslet 3
07 Feb Wigan 27 Castleford 0
12 Feb Pemberton Rovers 0 Rochdale Hornets 11
14 Feb Belle Vue Rangers 10 Liverpool 8
14 Feb Bradford Northern 15 Huddersfield 2
14 Feb Buslingthorpe 2 St Helens 13
14 Feb Castleford 7 Wigan 19
14 Feb Dewsbury 10 Batley 4
14 Feb Halifax 17 Barrow 4
14 Feb Hunslet 5 Widnes 3
14 Feb Leigh 10 Featherstone Rovers 6
14 Feb Oldham 22 Hull Kingston Rovers 4
14 Feb Risehow & Gillhead 10 Keighley 2
14 Feb Swinton 12 Hull FC 2
14 Feb Vine Tavern 6 Bramley 17
14 Feb Wakefield Trinity 20 Salford 15
14 Feb Workington Town 0 Warrington 7
14 Feb York 0 Leeds 13
19 Feb Widnes 0 Hunslet 3
21 Feb Bramley 10 Vine Tavern 2

Second round

[edit]
Date Team One Score One Team Two Score Two
28 Feb Barrow 2 Keighley 6
28 Feb Dewsbury 2 Hunslet 2
28 Feb Hull FC 22 Bramley 0
28 Feb Oldham 5 St Helens 0
28 Feb Rochdale Hornets 3 Belle Vue Rangers 2
28 Feb Wakefield Trinity 3 Bradford Northern 3
28 Feb Warrington 8 Leigh 2
28 Feb Wigan 17 Leeds 3
06 Mar Bradford Northern 9 Wakefield Trinity 2
06 Mar Hunslet 11 Dewsbury 0

Quarter-finals

[edit]
Date Team One Score One Team Two Score Two
13 Mar Bradford Northern 30 Oldham 0
13 Mar Hunslet 5 Hull FC 0
13 Mar Keighley 4 Rochdale Hornets 6
13 Mar Warrington 10 Wigan 13

Semi-finals

[edit]
3 April 1948
Hunslet 7 – 14 Bradford Northern

Final

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1 May 1948
Wigan 8 – 3 Bradford Northern
Try: Hilton, Barton
Goal: Ward
Report
Try: Edwards
Wembley Stadium, London
Attendance: 91,465
Referee: George Phillips (Widnes)[2]
Player of the Match: Frank Whitcombe[3]
FB 1 Martin Ryan
RW 2 Gordon Ratcliffe
RC 3 Ted Ward
LC 4 Ernie Ashcroft
LW 5 Jack Hilton
SO 6 Cecil Mountford
SH 7 Tommy Bradshaw
PR 8 Ken Gee
HK 9 Joe Egan (c)
PR 10 Frank Barton
SR 11 Les White
SR 12 Billy Blan
LF 13 Bill Hudson
Coach:
Jim Sullivan
FB 1 Billy Leake
RW 2 Eric Batten
RC 3 Des Case
LC 4 Ernest Ward (c)
LW 5 Alan Edwards
SO 6 Willie Davies
SH 7 Donald Ward
PR 8 Frank Whitcombe
HK 9 Vic Darlison
PR 10 Herbert Smith
SR 11 Barry Tyler
SR 12 Trevor Foster
LF 13 Ken Traill
Coach:
Dai Rees

Coverage

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The final was broadcast live on BBC television, with George Duckworth providing commentary,[4] and was the first time a rugby league match had ever been televised.[5] The match was only broadcast to viewers in the London area, as the first television transmitter in the North of England was not completed until 1951.[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Challenge Cup 1947/48". Rugby League Project.
  2. ^ "1st May 1948: Wigan 8 Bradford Northern 3 (1948 Challenge Cup Final)". cherryandwhite.co.uk. RLFANS.COM. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  3. ^ "Wigan's Challenge Cup Victory: Bradford Beat Themselves in Game of Many Errors Wigan 8, Bradford 3". The Manchester Guardian. 3 May 1948. p. 6.
  4. ^ "Rugby League Challenge Cup Final: Bradford Northern v. Wigan". BBC Genome. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  5. ^ "Key Dates & Anniversaries". The Rugby Football League. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  6. ^ "From the archive, 10 October 1951: The North gets its first television transmitter". The Guardian. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
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