1988–89 Yorkshire Cup
The 1988–89 Yorkshire Cup was the eighty-first occasion on which this rugby league Yorkshire Cup competition was held.
Leeds won the trophy by beating the previous season's runner-up, Castleford, with a score of 33-12.
The match was played at Elland Road, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 22,968 and receipts were £83,591.
This was the sixth time in an incredible eleven-year period in which Castleford, previously only winners once, in 1977, made eight appearances in the Yorkshire Cup final, winning four and finishing runners-up on the other four occasions. It was also the second season in succession that Castleford appeared, and lost, in the final within that eleven-year period.
Background
In the 1988–89 season there were no junior/amateur clubs taking part, no new entrants and no "leavers" and so the total of entries remained the same at eighteen.As a result, a preliminary round was required to reduce the number of clubs entering the first round to sixteen.
Competition and Results
Preliminary Round
Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| P1 | Wed 31 Aug 1988 | Bramley | 16-38 | Leeds | McLaren Field | 4,258 | |||||
| P2 | Wed 31 Aug 1988 | Sheffield Eagles | 8-28 | Wakefield Trinity | Owlerton Stadium | 1,356 |
Round 1
Involved 5 matches and 13 Clubs| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| 1 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | Castleford | 94-12 | Huddersfield | Wheldon Road | 3,144 | 1 2 | ||||
| 2 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | Featherstone Rovers | 38-8 | Doncaster | Post Office Road | 2,682 | |||||
| 3 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | Halifax | 36-14 | Batley | Thrum Hall | 5,370 | |||||
| 4 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | Hull F.C. | 53-0 | Hunslet | Boulevard | 3,153 | |||||
| 5 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | Keighley | 22-28 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Lawkholme Lane | 1,596 | |||||
| 6 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | Leeds | 24-21 | Bradford Northern | Headingley | 10,992 | |||||
| 7 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | Wakefield Trinity | 46-20 | Dewsbury | Belle Vue | 3,733 | |||||
| 8 | Sun 18 Sep 1988 | York | 25-4 | Mansfield Marksman | Clarence Street | 1,370 |
Round 2 - Quarter Finals
Involved 4 matches and 8 Clubs| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| 1 | Tue 27 Sep 1988 | Hull F.C. | 18-0 | Featherstone Rovers | Boulevard | 4,010 | |||||
| 2 | Wed 28 Sep 1988 | Castleford | 40-14 | York | Wheldon Road | 3,155 | |||||
| 3 | Wed 28 Sep 1988 | Halifax | 24-2 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Thrum Hall | 6,296 | |||||
| 4 | Wed 28 Sep 1988 | Leeds | 15-10 | Wakefield Trinity | Headingley | 11,150 |
Round 3 – Semi-Finals
Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| 1 | Wed 5 Oct 1988 | Halifax | 8-12 | Castleford | Thrum Hall | 8,432 | |||||
| 2 | Wed 5 Oct 1988 | Leeds | 12-8 | Hull F.C. | Headingley | 10,384 |
Final
Teams and Scorers
| Leeds | № | Castleford |
| teams | ||
| Gary Spencer | 1 | Gary Belcher |
| Andrew Ettingshausen | 2 | David Plange |
| Garry Schofield | 3 | Tony Marchant |
| David Stephenson | 4 | Giles Boothroyd |
| Carl Gibson | 5 | Chris Chapman |
| Cliff Lyons | 6 | Grant Anderson |
| Ray Ashton | 7 | Robert "Bob" Beardmore |
| Lee Crooks | 8 | Kevin Ward |
| Colin Maskill | 9 | Kevin Beardmore |
| Hugh Waddell | 10 | Keith England |
| Roy Powell | 11 | Martin Ketteridge |
| Mark Brooke-Cowden | 12 | Ron Gibbs |
| David Heron | 13 | John Joyner |
| Paul Medley | 14 | David Roockley |
| Sam Backo | 15 | Dean Sampson |
| Malcolm "Mal" Reilly | Coach | Darryl van der Velde |
| - | ||
| 33 | score | 12 |
| 15 | HT | 12 |
| Scorers | ||
| Tries | ||
| Garry Schofield | T | Giles Boothroyd |
| Carl Gibson | T | John Joyner |
| Paul Medley | T | |
| Goals | ||
| David Stephenson | G | Martin Ketteridge |
| Drop Goals | ||
| Garry Schofield | DG | |
| Referee | Robin Whitfield | |
| White Rose Trophy for Man of the match | Cliff Lyons - Leeds - | |
| sponsored by | ||
| Competition Sponsor | John Smith's Brewery Tadcaster |
Scoring - Try = four points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = one point
The road to success
The following chart excludes any preliminary round fixtures/resultsGeneral information about the Rugby League Yorkshire Cup competition
The Rugby League Yorkshire Cup competition was a knock-out competition between rugby league clubs from Yorkshire. However teams were sometimes included from outside the county such as Newcastle, Mansfield, Coventry, and even London.The Rugby League season always ran from around August to May. This competition always took place early in the season, in Autumn, with the final taking place in December.