1987–88 Yorkshire Cup

The 1987–88 Yorkshire Cup was the 80th occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition was held. Bradford Northern won the trophy by beating Castleford by the score of 11–2 in a replay after drawing the first match 12–12. The competition was sponsored by John Smith's Brewery.

1987–88 Yorkshire Cup
Structure	Regional knockout championship
Teams	18
Winners	Bradford Northern
Runners-up	Castleford
← 1986–87 1988–89 →

This was the fifth time in the incredible eleven-year period in which Castleford, previously only once winners in 1977, will make eight appearances in the Yorkshire Cup final, winning on four and ending as runner-up on four occasions. This 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. This in turn resulted in the necessity to continue with a preliminary round to reduce the number of clubs entering the first round to sixteen.

Background

The Rugby Football League's Yorkshire Cup competition was a knock-out competition between (mainly professional) rugby league clubs from the county of Yorkshire. The actual area was at times increased to encompass other teams from outside the county such as Newcastle, Mansfield, Coventry, and even London (in the form of Acton & Willesden).
The Rugby League season always (until the onset of "Summer Rugby" in 1996) ran from around August-time through to around May-time and this competition always took place early in the season, in the Autumn, with the final taking place in (or just before) December (The only exception to this was when disruption of the fixture list was caused during, and immediately after, the two World Wars)

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 2 Sep 1987	Hull F.C.		54-8		Huddersfield Barracudas	Boulevard	2402
P2	Wed 2 Sep 1987	Wakefield Trinity		25-14		Dewsbury	Belle Vue	1723

Round 1

Involved 8 matches (with no byes) and 16 clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sun 13 Sep 1987	Bramley		39-12		Doncaster	McLaren Field	828
2	Sun 13 Sep 1987	Castleford		32-12		Hunslet	Wheldon Road	4748
3	Sun 13 Sep 1987	Featherstone Rovers		28-6		Batley	Post Office Road	1433
4	Sun 13 Sep 1987	Hull Kingston Rovers		12-19		Bradford Northern	Craven Park (1)	3852
5	Sun 13 Sep 1987	Keighley		12-34		Halifax	Lawkholme Lane	4086
6	Sun 13 Sep 1987	Leeds		28-24		Hull F.C.	Headingley	7704
7	Sun 13 Sep 1987	Mansfield Marksman		18-23		York	Lowmoor Road	256
8	Sun 13 Sep 1987	Wakefield Trinity		32-18		Sheffield Eagles	Belle Vue	2111

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 22 Sep 1987	Bramley		6-30		Bradford Northern	McLaren Field	2181
2	Wed 23 Sep 1987	Featherstone Rovers		43-6		York	Post Office Road	1617
3	Wed 23 Sep 1987	Halifax		0-10		Castleford	Thrum Hall	6101
4	Wed 23 Sep 1987	Leeds		36-8		Wakefield Trinity	Headingley	6693

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 30 Sep 1987	Bradford Northern		16-5		Leeds	Odsal	7730
2	Wed 30 Sep 1987	Featherstone Rovers		8-36		Castleford	Post Office Road	5329

Final

The initial match was played at Headingley, Leeds. The score was 12–12, the attendance was 10,947, and receipts were £40,283.^[1] This match was the final appearance for Bradford Northern's Welsh former rugby union international Terry Holmes, who announced his retirement shortly after this game due to a persistent knee problem.^[2]

17 October 1987

Bradford Northern	12 – 12	Castleford
Tries: Fairbank Goals: Mumby (2), Hobbs (2)	[3]	Tries: Plange, Lindner Goals: Ketteridge (2)

Headingley, Leeds Attendance: 10,947 Referee: K. Allatt (Southport) Player of the Match: Paul Harkin

Bradford Northern	№	Castleford
	teams
Gary Mercer	1	David Roockley
Phil Ford	2	David Plange
Steve McGowan	3	Tony Marchant
Roger Simpson	4	Michael Beattie
Richard Francis	5	Gary Hyde
Keith Mumby	6	John Joyner
Paul Harkin	7	Roy Southernwood
Jeff Grayshon	8	Alan Shillito
Brian Noble	9	Kevin Beardmore
Brendan Hill	10	Kevin Ward
Kelvin Skerrett	11	Martin Ketteridge
Karl Fairbank	12	John Fifita
Terry Holmes	13	Bob Lindner
	Substitutes
Neil Roebuck (for Terry Holmes)	14	Robert "Bob" Beardmore (for Alan Shillito)
David Hobbs (for Jeff Grayshon)	15	Dean Sampson (for Kevin Beardmore)
Barry Seabourne	Coach	David Sampson

Final - Replay

The replay was at Elland Road, Leeds. Bradford Northern won the match 11–2, the attendance was 8,175, and receipts were £30,732.^[1] The game was marred by a brawl between both sets of players which took place just before half time. Bradford's Karl Fairbank and Castleford's John Joyner were sent to the sin bin as a result. A further player from each team (Kelvin Skerrett and John Fifita) were sin-binned for separate incidents during the second half.^[4]

31 October 1987

Bradford Northern	11 – 2	Castleford
Tries: Hill, Heron Goals: Hobbs Drop goals: Hobbs	[3]	Goals: Ketteridge

Elland Road, Leeds Attendance: 8,175 Referee: K. Allatt (Southport) Player of the Match: Brendan Hill

Bradford Northern	№	Castleford
	teams
Keith Mumby	1	David Roockley
Phil Ford	2	David Plange
Steve McGowan	3	Tony Marchant
Gary Mercer	4	Michael Beattie
Roger Simpson	5	Gary Hyde
Russell Stewart	6	Roy Southernwood
Paul Harkin	7	Robert "Bob" Beardmore
David Hobbs	8	Kevin Ward
Brian Noble	9	Kenny Hill
Brendan Hill	10	John Fifita
Kelvin Skerrett	11	Martin Ketteridge
Karl Fairbank	12	Keith England
Wayne Heron	13	John Joyner
	Substitutes
Neil Roebuck	14	Giles Boothroyd (for Keith England)
David Redfearn	15	Dean Sampson (for John Fifita)
Barry Seabourne	Coach	David Sampson

The road to success

The following chart excludes any preliminary round fixtures/results

	First round					Second round					Semi-finals					Final
	Bramley		39
	Doncaster		12
						Bramley		6
						Bradford Northern		30
	Hull Kingston Rovers		12
	Bradford Northern		19
											Bradford Northern		16
											Leeds		5
	Leeds		28
	Hull F.C.		24
						Leeds		36
						Wakefield Trinity		8
	Wakefield Trinity		32
	Sheffield Eagles		18
																Bradford Northern		12 (11)
																Castleford		12 (2)
	Featherstone Rovers		28
	Batley		6
						Featherstone Rovers		43
						York		6
	Mansfield Marksman		18
	York		23
											Featherstone Rovers		8
											Castleford		36
	Keighley		12
	Halifax		34
						Halifax		0
						Castleford		10
	Castleford		32
	Hunslet		12

See also

• 1987–88 Rugby Football League season
• Rugby league county cups