Yorkshire Cup (rugby union)

Yorkshire Cup
Sport	Rugby Union
Instituted	1877; 147 years ago
Number of teams	15
Country	England
Holders	Driffield RUFC (1st title) (2023/24)
Most titles	Halifax RUFC (13 titles)
Website	Yorkshire RFU

The Yorkshire Cup is an English Rugby Football Union competition founded in 1878. It is organised by the Yorkshire Rugby Football Union and is open to all eligible clubs in the Yorkshire area. It was initially known as the Yorkshire Challenge Cup. Current Champions are Driffield RUFC

The Yorkshire Senior Cup is currently the premier county cup competition for club sides based in Yorkshire that play in tier 4 (National League 2 North), tier 5 (National League 3 North) and tier 6 (North 1 East) of the English rugby union league system. The current format is as a knock-out cup with a first round, second round, quarter-final, semi-final and final, which is to be played at neutral ground in the county. Teams ranked lower than tier 6 play in the Yorkshire Shield or Yorkshire Trophy.^[1]

History

In 1877, despite reservations within the Rugby Football Union, the committee of the Yorkshire County Football Club (composed from the clubs of Bradford FC, Huddersfield FC, Leeds FC, Hull FC and York FC) sanctioned a knock-out tournament - the first of its kind in the UK.

The notion of competing for a trophy appealed to the public of Yorkshire as much as it appalled the guardians of amateurism. The proceeds from the final were distributed among local charities.The trophy itself is known as "T'owd Tin Pot", pronounced with a Yorkshire accent.

In the first season, 16 teams battled it out for the T'owd Tin Pot, with York eventually losing out to Halifax in the final.

In its early years the competition was dominated by clubs who now play rugby league. Since the schism of 1895 which led to the formation of the Northern Rugby Football Union and the development of rugby league football, the cup has been competed for by clubs who remained with the Rugby Football Union or were founded after 1895.

According to the Hallmarks on the trophy it was made by Martin, Hall & Co. Sheffield and London, in 1877. It is made of Sterling Silver .925.

The trophy was won by Morley Rugby Club in the two seasons prior to the Second World War, and was kept "in a drawer under the secretary's bed" for the duration of the war.

Finals

	Year	Winner	Score	Runner Up	Venue
1	1878	Halifax Panthers	1g, 1t, 9m - 0g, 0t, 0m^[a]	York	Recreation Ground, Leeds
2	1879	Wakefield Trinity	2g, 1t, 7m - 0g, 0t, 0m	Kirkstall	Thrum Hall, Halifax
3	1880	Wakefield Trinity (2)	3g, 6g, 7m - 0g, 1t, 2m	Heckmondwike	Cardigan Fields, Leeds
4	1881	Dewsbury Rams	1g, 0t, 0m - 0g, 0t, 4m	Wakefield Trinity
5	1882	Thornes	1g, 0t, 5m - 0g, 1t, 5m	Wakefield Trinity
6	1883	Wakefield Trinity (3)	1g, 2t, 11m - 0g, 0t, 0m	Halifax Panthers
7	1884	Bradford	1g, 4t, 5m - 0g, 1t, 3m	Hull F.C.
8	1885	Batley Bulldogs	0g, 0t, 6m - 0g, 0t, 2m	Manningham
9	1886	Halifax Panthers (2)	1g, 0t, 3m - 0g, 0t, 2m	Bradford
10	1887	Wakefield Trinity (4)	2g, 0t, 2m - 0g, 0t, 2m	Leeds Rhinos	Thrum Hall, Halifax
11	1888	Halifax Panthers (3)	0g, 2t, 2m - 0g, 1t, 1m	Wakefield Trinity	Cardigan Fields, Leeds
12	1889	Otley	1g, 1t,4m - 1g, 0t, 3m	Liversedge	Cardigan Fields, Leeds
13	1890	Huddersfield Giants	1g, 0t, 1m - 0g, 0t, 0m	Wakefield Trinity	Thrum Hall, Halifax
14	1891	Pontefract	1g, 1t, 3m - 1g, 0t, 3m	Wakefield Trinity	Headingley, Leeds
15	1892	Hunslet	21-0	Leeds Rhinos	Huddersfield
16	1893	Halifax Panthers (4)	8-2	Batley Bulldogs	Headingley, Leeds
17	1894	Halifax Panthers (5)	38-9	Castleford
18	1895	Brighouse Rangers	16-4	Morley
19	1896	Castleford	3-0	West Riding	Scatcherd Lane, Morley
20	1897	Hull Kingston Rovers	11-5	Shipley	West Riding F. C, Leeds
21	1898	Ossett	13-3	Hebden Bridge	Wortley, Leeds
22	1899	Alverthorpe	0-0	Sowerby Bridge	Keighley
22	Replay	Sowerby Bridge	4-0	Alverthorpe	Keighley
23	1900	Mytholmroyd	11-0	Castleford	Claro Road, Harrogate
24	1901	Castleford (2)	20-6	Morley
25	1902	Castleford (3)	9-5	Old Dewsburians
26	1903	Castleford	6-6 ^[b]	Skipton
26	Replay	Skipton	^[c]	Castleford	Wakefield
27	1904	Skipton (2)	3-0	Mytholmroyd	Claro Road, Harrogate
28	1905	Harrogate	5-5	Wakefield Balne Lane	Castleford
28	Replay	Harrogate	7-5	Wakefield Balne Lane	Castleford
29	1906	Castleford (4)	11-0	Wakefield Balne Lane	Clarence Fields, Leeds
30	1907	Harrogate (2)	11-6	Headingley	Castleford
31	1908	Castleford (5)	29-0	Skipton	Cross Green, Otley
32	1909	Headingley	3-0 ^[d]	Skipton	Ilkley
33	1910	Otley (2)	6-0	Hull & East Riding	Claro Road, Harrogate
34	1911	Otley (3)	12-0	Hull & East Riding	Ilkley
35	1912	Skipton (3)	7-0	Otley
36	1913	Headingley (2)	20-5	Harrogate Old Boys
37	1914	Headingley (3)	18-5	Harrogate Old Boys	Cross Green, Otley
38	1920	Wakefield RFC	9-4	Bradford RFC	Cross Green, Otley
1915-1920: Competitions cancelled due to First World War
39	1921	Headingley (4)	13-3	Wakefield RFC	Cross Green, Otley
40	1922	Wakefield RFC (2)	3-0	Leeds University	Cross Green, Otley
41	1923	Bradford RFC	6-0	Wakefield RFC	Skipton
42	1924	Bradford RFC (2)	14-3	Wakefield RFC	Cross Green, Otley
43	1925	Bradford RFC (3)	22-9	Otley	Ilkley
44	1926	Halifax RUFC	8-0	Otley	Lidget Green, Bradford
45	1927	Halifax RUFC (2)	17-0	Otley
46	1928	Halifax RUFC	6-6	Otley
46	Replay	Halifax RUFC (3)	11-0 (AET)	Otley
47	1929	Otley (4)	9-0	Morley
48	1930	Halifax RUFC (4)	17-4	Ilkley	Cross Green, Otley
49	1931	Otley (5)	13-6	Halifax RUFC	Lidget Green, Bradford
50	1932	Morley	18-0	Huddersfield Old Boys	Lidget Green, Bradford
51	1933	Halifax RUFC (5)	22-14	Bradford RFC	Cross Green, Otley
52	1934	Otley (6)	19-3	Sandal	Lidget Green, Bradford
53	1935	Halifax RUFC (6)	14-0	Harrogate Old Boys	Cross Green, Otley
54	1936	Otley (7)	26-0	Harrogate Old Boys	Lidget Green, Bradford
55	1937	Otley (8)	16-3	Wakefield RFC	Skipton
56	1938	Morley (2)	5-0	Wakefield RFC	Ovenden Park, Halifax
57	1939	Morley (3)	10-0	Bradford RFC	Cross Green, Otley
1940-1946: No competition held due to Second World War
-	1947 Competition abandoned due to bad weather
59	1948	Keighley	14-9	Otley	Skipton
60	1949	Harrogate (3)	20-6	Skipton	Cross Green, Otley
61	1950	Halifax RUFC (7)	11-0	Wakefield RFC
62	1951	Halifax RUFC (8)	9-6	Morley
63	1952	Royal Signals	11-10	Halifax RUFC
64	1953	Morley (4)	8-3	Goole Grammar School Old Boys	Clarence Fields, Leeds
65	1954	Royal Signals (2)	17-3	Roundhay	Cross Green, Otley
66	1955	Morley (5)	16-9	Bramley Old Boys	Cross Green, Otley
67	1956	Goole Grammar School Old Boys	3-3	Old Pomfretians	Lidget Green, Bradford
67	Replay	Goole Grammar School Old Boys	6-0	Old Pomfretians	Selby
68	1957	West Leeds Old Boys	13-3	Old Roundhegians	Clarence Fields, Leeds
69	1958	Old Roundhegians	11-0	Sandal	Lidget Green, Bradford
70	1959	Old Hymerians	15-11	West Leeds Old Boys	Scatcherd Lane, Morley
71	1960	Old Crossleyans	9-0	Sandal
72	1961	Old Thornensians	6-3	West Leeds Old Boys
73	1962	Old Thornensians	3-3	York Railway Institute
	Replay	Old Thornensians	0-0	York Railway Institute	Cross Green, Otley
	2nd Replay	Old Thornensians (2)	12-6	York Railway Institute	Cross Green, Otley
-	1963 Competition abandoned due bad weather
75	1964	Halifax RUFC (9)	8-6	Otley	Lidget Green, Bradford
76	1965	Harrogate (4)	9-8	Wakefield RFC	Cross Green, Otley
77	1966	Bradford RFC (4)	8-3	Harrogate
78	1967	Halifax RUFC	0-0	Roundhay
78	Replay	Halifax RUFC (10)	11-9	Roundhay
79	1968	Bradford RFC	3-3	Halifax RUFC
79	Replay	Bradford RFC (5)	8-6	Halifax RUFC
80	1969	Wakefield RFC (3)	15-12 (AET)	Roundhay
81	1970	Bradford RFC (6)	19-6	Huddersfield RUFC	Scatcherd Lane, Morley
82	1971	Halifax RUFC (11)	9-3	Old Thornensians	Cross Green, Otley
83	1972	Morley (6)	16-3	Bradford RFC	Cross Green, Otley
84	1973	Morley (7)	10-9	Roundhay	Clarence Fields, Leeds
85	1974	Morley (8)	27-16	Roundhay	Clarence Fields, Leeds
86	1975	Headingley	13-13	Roundhay	Cross Green, Otley
86	Replay	Roundhay	20-16	Headingley
87	1976	Middlesbrough	10-9 (AET)	Roundhay
88	1977	Morley (9)	23-9	Halifax RUFC	Clarence Fields, Leeds
89	1978	Wakefield RFC (4)	18-9	Middlesbrough	Cross Green, Otley
90	1979	Morley (10)	9-9	Harrogate	Clarence Fields, Leeds
91	1980	Roundhay	15-6	Morley	Clarence Fields, Leeds
92	1981	Harrogate (5)	12-3	Morley	Cross Green, Otley
93	1982	Wakefield RFC (5)	23-3	Sheffield Tigers	Clarence Fields, Leeds
94	1983	Headingley (5)	8-3	Morley	Cross Green, Otley
95	1984	Headingley (6)	17-3	Wakefield RFC
96	1985	Headingley (7)	7-0	Wakefield RFC
97	1986	Wakefield RFC (6)	18-6	Morley	Clarence Fields, Leeds
98	1987	Headingley (8)	18-4	Morley
99	1988	Headingley (9)	21-9	Wakefield RFC	Scatcherd Lane, Morley
100	1989	Headingley (10)	48-9	Otley	Scatcherd Lane, Morley
101	1990	Wakefield RFC (7)	16-3	Sheffield Tigers	Clarence Fields, Leeds
102	1991	Harrogate (6)	23-4	Otley	Scatcherd Lane, Morley
103	1992	Harrogate (7)	12-7	Bradford & Bingley
104	1993	Otley (9)	22-5	Rotherham	Clarence Fields, Leeds
105	1994	Wakefield RFC (8)	35-9	Sandal	Scatcherd Lane, Morley
106	1995	Rotherham	39-3	Harrogate	Clarence Fields, Leeds
107	1996	Morley (11)	16-10	Rotherham
108	1997	Sandal (2)	17-13	Doncaster	Cross Green, Otley
109	1998	Leeds Tykes	21-11	Doncaster	Scatcherd Lane, Morley
110	1999	Doncaster	13-10	Sandal	Brantingham Park, Hull
111	2000	Doncaster (2)	29-26	Morley	Lockwood Park, Huddersfield
112	2001	Sandal	26-24	Middlesbrough	Claro Road, Harrogate
113	2002	Harrogate (8)	24-19	Wharfedale	Cross Green, Otley
114	2003	Harrogate (9)	13-12	Doncaster	Scatcherd Lane, Morley
115	2004	Halifax RUFC (12)	23-21	Otley	Claro Road, Harrogate
116	2005	Halifax RUFC (13)	19-14	Cleckheaton	Wagon Lane, Bingley
117	2006	Leeds Tykes (2)	22-11	Wharfedale	Wagon Lane, Bingley
118	2007	Doncaster (3)	31-6	Wharfedale	York
119	2008	Doncaster (4)	24-17	Wharfedale	Claro Road, Harrogate
120	2009	Leeds Tykes U19(3)^[2]	23-13	Beverley	Brantingham Park, Hull
121	2010	Wharfedale	36-13	Sheffield Tigers	Huddersfield YMCA, Huddersfield
122	2011	Huddersfield RUFC	25-18	Hull RUFC	York
123	2012	Hull RUFC	20-10	Wharfedale	York
-	2013 Competition abandoned due to bad weather
125	2014	Wharfedale (2)	34-29	Otley	Wagon Lane, Bingley
126	2015	Harrogate (10)	16-12	Wharfedale	The Sycamores, Leeds
127	2016	Harrogate (11)	38-3	Sheffield Tigers	Moor Lane, Pontefract
128	2017	Harrogate (12)	^[e]^[3]^[4]	Sheffield Tigers	Scatcherd Lane
129	2018	Hull RUFC (2)	34-7	Doncaster Phoenix	Clifton Park, York
130	2019	Sandal (3)	33-14	Sheffield	Scatcherd Lane, Morley
2020-2021: Competitions cancelled due to COVID-19 Pandemic
131	2023	Middlesbrough	30-24	Sandal	Castle Park

Results

§ Denotes club now defunct
± Denotes club plays rugby league following the schism
Teams in bold are active clubs currently competing in rugby union competitions.

	Club	Wins	Runners up	Winning Years
1	Halifax RUFC	13	4	1926, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1933, 1935, 1951, 1951, 1964, 1967, 1971, 2004, 2005
2	Harrogate	12	2	1905, 1907, 1949, 1965, 1981, 1991, 1992, 2002, 2003, 2015, 2016, 2017
3	Morley	11	9	1932, 1938, 1939, 1953, 1955, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1979, 1996
4	Headingley§	10	3	1909, 1913, 1914, 1921, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989
5	Otley	9	11	1889, 1910, 1911, 1929, 1931, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1993
6	Wakefield RFC§	7	10	1920, 1922, 1969, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994
7	Bradford & Bingley	6	4	1923, 1924, 1925, 1966, 1968, 1970
8	Castleford§	5	4	1896, 1901, 1902, 1906, 1908
9	Halifax Panthers±	5	1	1878, 1886, 1888, 1893, 1894
10	Wakefield Trinity±	4	5	1879, 1880, 1883, 1887
11	Doncaster	4	3	1999, 2000, 2007, 2008
12	Skipton	3	3	1903, 1904, 1912
13	Sandal		2	1997, 2001, 2019
14	Leeds Tykes		0	1998, 2006, 2009
15	Wharfedale	2	6	2010, 2014
16	Roundhay§		5	1975, 1980
17	Old Thornisions		1	1961, 1962
18	Hull RUFC		1	2012, 2018
19	Royal Signals		0	1952, 1954
1	West Leeds Old Boys§	1	2	1957
1	Middlesbrough		2	1976, 2023
1	Bradford±§		1	1884
1	Batley Bulldogs±			1885
	Mytholmroyd			1900
1	Goole Grammar School Old Boys			1956
1	Old Roundheigians			1958
1	Rotherham			1995
1	Huddersfield RUFC			2011
1	Dewsbury Rams±		0	1881
1	Thornes§			1882
1	Huddersfield Giants±			1890
1	Pontefract			1891
1	Hunslet±§			1892
1	Brighouse Rangers±§			1895
1	Hull Kingston Rovers±			1897
1	Ossett			1898
1	Sowerby Bridge			1899
1	Keighley			1948
1	Old Hymerians			1959
1	Old Crossleyions			1960
1	West Park Leeds			2022
1	Sheffield Tigers	0	4
1	Hull & East Riding	0	2
1	Wakefield Balne Lane	0	2
1	Old Pomfretians	0	2
1	Alverthorpe	0	1
1	Beverley	0	1
1	Bramley Old Boys	0	1
1	Cleckheaton	0	1
1	Doncaster Phoenix	0	1
1	Heckmondwike±	0	1
1	Hebden Bridge	0	1
1	Hull F.C.±	0	1
1	Ilkley	0	1
1	Kirkstall	0	1
1	Liversedge±	0	1
1	Manningham±	0	1
1	Old Dewsburians	0	1
1	Sheffield	0	1
1	Shipley	0	1
1	West Riding	0	1
1	York Railway Institute	0	1
1	York RUFC	0	1
1	York±§	0	1

Bibliography

Cup final programmes, including the 1978 Centenary Programme.
Wakefield Rugby Football Club—1901-2001 A Centenary History. Written and compiled by David Ingall in 2001.
Yorkshire Rugby Union Centenary 1869-1969 book produced by Yorkshire RFU.

Notes

^ Until 1891, the scoring system in place used goals (g), tries (t) and minor points (m) to decide the winners
^ Skipton contested result on grounds that Castleford had included an ineligible player, therefore a replay was arranged.
^ Castleford refused to play. Skipton were declared the winners.
^ Cup awarded to Headingley after Skipton, objecting to one of the referees decisions, walked off the field five minutes before half time.
^ Harrogate won by walkover as Sheffield Tigers could not agree a date to play the final citing player welware. Final had originally been scheduled for 26 April 2017 at Scatcherd Lane in Morley but was ultimately cancelled.

References

^ "2016-2017 Yorkshire Competitions". Yorkshire RFU. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Pellow's Praise For Young Chiefs". Exeter Chiefs. 16 April 2017.
^ "Yorkshire Cup 2016-17". Rolling Maul. 19 April 2017.

External links

Yorkshire Cup results on Yorkshire RU

[2] Until 1891, the scoring system in place used goals (g), tries (t) and minor points (m) to decide the winners

[3] Skipton contested result on grounds that Castleford had included an ineligible player, therefore a replay was arranged.

[4] Castleford refused to play. Skipton were declared the winners.

[5] Cup awarded to Headingley after Skipton, objecting to one of the referees decisions, walked off the field five minutes before half time.

[7] Harrogate won by walkover as Sheffield Tigers could not agree a date to play the final citing player welware. Final had originally been scheduled for 26 April 2017 at Scatcherd Lane in Morley but was ultimately cancelled.

[1] "2016-2017 Yorkshire Competitions". Yorkshire RFU. Retrieved 19 April 2017.

[6] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[8] "Pellow's Praise For Young Chiefs". Exeter Chiefs. 16 April 2017.

[9] "Yorkshire Cup 2016-17". Rolling Maul. 19 April 2017.

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