All Golds v North Wales Crusaders LCC3 FINAL

6
CHALLENGE
CUP GLORY
GEORGE COWBURN TAKES A LOOK
THROUGH THE CHALLENGE CUP’S
120-YEAR HISTORY AND PICKS OUT
SOME GREAT MOMENTS.
The Northern Union was only in its second
season after the breakaway from the RFU
when the first Challenge Cup Final was
played in 1897 at Headingley, Leeds between
Batley and St Helens. The “Gallant Youths” of
Batley won that game 10-3 and succeeded
again the year after, defeating Bradford
7-0. Oldham were the only other side to
win the Cup in the nineteenth century -
beating Hunslet 19-9 at Fallowfield Stadium,
Manchester.
Cup competitions were well established in
the North of England before the breakaway
so the Northern Union commissioned
Fattorini and Sons of Bradford to make a
suitably ornate trophy to be presented to the
winning team. At a cost of just £60, a three
foot high, solid silver cup was produced.
This original cup now lives at Rugby League
Headquarters.
It was last presented at the 2001 final and
was showing considerable signs of wear and
tear so a replica was made by Jack Spencer
Goldsmiths of Sheffield. This is the cup
which was on display when the All Golds
played Skirlaugh at Cheltenham in the 2015
Challenge Cup.
The competition has long been synonymous
with Wembley Stadium but it wasn’t until
1929 that the re-christened Rugby Football
League took the plunge and staged the final
there; Wigan becoming the first Wembley
winners, beating Dewsbury 13-2. Prior to that,
Oldham were the “Cup Kings” of the 1920s
appearing in four successive Challenge Cup
Finals, a record that was shattered by the allconquering
Wigan teams who played in and
won eight successive finals between 1988
and 1995.
Whilst the new Wembley Stadium was being
built, the finals took place at the Millennium
Oldham - Challenge Cup Winners 1925
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