1897–98 Challenge Cup

1898 Challenge Cup

Highest attendance	27,941
Winners	Batley
Runners-up	Bradford

The 1898 Challenge Cup was the 2nd staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup.^[1]

The final was contested by Batley and Bradford at Headingley Stadium in Leeds.

The final was played on Saturday 23 April 1898, where Batley beat Bradford 7–0 at Headingley in front of a crowd of 27,941.^[2]

First round

Date	Team One	Team Two	Score
26 Feb	Altrincham	Salford St Bart's	8-0
26 Feb	Barrow	Dalton	13-3
26 Feb	Barton	Rochdale Rangers	16-3
26 Feb	Batley	St Helens	12-7
26 Feb	Birkenhead	Runcorn Recs	17-0
26 Feb	Bradford	Swinton	7-2
26 Feb	Castleford	Wigan	18-2
26 Feb	Eastmoor	Smallbridge	22-3
26 Feb	Fleetwood	Warr. St Mary's	6-3
26 Feb	Hull	Morecambe	8-0
26 Feb	Hull Kingston Rovers	Hull Marlborough	46-0
26 Feb	Hunslet	Lancaster	8-3
26 Feb	Leeds Parish Church	Bramley	7-10
26 Feb	Leigh	Heckmondwike	7-0
26 Feb	Manningham	Huddersfield	5-11
26 Feb	Millom	Salford	2-9
26 Feb	Mossley	Lees	0-9
26 Feb	Oldham	Leeds	8-3
26 Feb	Rochdale Hornets	Holbeck	10-6
26 Feb	Stockport	Brighouse Rangers	5-6
26 Feb	Tyldesley	Broughton Rangers	2-3
26 Feb	Ulverston	Runcorn	2-19
26 Feb	Wakefield Trinity	Warrington	5-3
26 Feb	Walkden	Swinton Church	22-0
26 Feb	Werneth	Oldham Jnrs	14-0
26 Feb	Whitworth	Rochdale Athletic	2-2
26 Feb	Widnes	Liversedge	26-0
1 Mar	Halifax	St Helens Recreation	17-0
1 Mar - Replay	Rochdale Athletic	Whitworth	0-4

Second round

Date	Team One	Team Two	Score
05 Mar	Abbey Hills	Leigh	0-2
05 Mar	Altrincham	Eastmoor	11-2
05 Mar	Barton	Werneth	16-4
05 Mar	Birkenhead	Bradford	0-5
05 Mar	Brighouse Rangers	Runcorn	3-3
05 Mar	Broughton Rangers	Wakefield Trinity	3-0
05 Mar	Castleford	Whitworth	14-7
05 Mar	Halifax	Oldham	3-8
05 Mar	Huddersfield	Barrow	14-6
05 Mar	Hull Kingston Rovers	Morley	11-0
05 Mar	Lees	Salford	2-65
05 Mar	Lostock Gralam	Fleetwood	0-10
05 Mar	Radcliffe	Hull	0-18
05 Mar	Rochdale Hornets	Bramley	3-4
05 Mar	Walkden	Batley	0-8
05 Mar	Widnes	Hunslet	8-7
09 Mar - replay	Runcorn	Brighouse Rangers	11-0

Third round

Date	Team One	Team Two	Score
19 Mar	Altrincham	Salford	0-16
19 Mar	Barton	Bramley	3-9
19 Mar	Castleford	Batley	4-10
19 Mar	Fleetwood	Hull Kingston Rovers	0-31
19 Mar	Huddersfield	Broughton Rangers	0-6
19 Mar	Hull	Bradford	2-6
19 Mar	Leigh	Widnes	3-3
19 Mar	Oldham	Runcorn	11-0
23 Mar - Replay	Widnes	Leigh	22-3

Quarter-finals

Date	Team One	Team Two	Score
26 Mar	Batley	Oldham	3-0
26 Mar	Bradford	Broughton Rangers	7-5
26 Mar	Hull Kingston Rovers	Widnes	0-0
26 Mar	Salford	Bramley	12-2
30 Mar - replay	Widnes	Hull Kingston Rovers	6-5

Semi-finals

Batley	5–0	Salford

Watersheddings, Oldham Attendance: 15,000

Bradford	13–0	Widnes

Hanson Lane, Halifax, West Yorkshire Attendance: 14,000

Final

23 April 1898

Batley	7–0	Bradford
Try: J. Goodall, Davies Goal: J. Goodall	Report

Headingley, Leeds Attendance: 27,941 Referee: J. H. Smith (Widnes)[3]

1 Arthur Garner 2 Wattie Davies 3 John B. Goodall 4 Dai Fitzgerald 5 Fred 'Ted' Fozzard 6 Joe Oakland 7 Harry Goodall 8 Mark Shackleton 9 Jim Gath 10 George Main 11 Robert 'Bob' Spurr 12 Fred Fisher 13 Charlie Stubley 14 John T. 'Paudy' Munns 15 Jack Rogers

1 B. Patrick 2 T. H. Dobson 3 F. W. Cooper 4 W. Murgatroyd 5 F. Murgatroyd 6 R. Wood 7 H. Prole 8 T. Broadley 9 J. Fearnley 10 R. J. Robertson 11 H. Holden 12 E. Kelsey 13 B. Holt 14 J. McLoughlin 15 J. Toothill

References

1. John Huxley; David Howes (1980). Encyclopedia of Rugby League Football. London: Robert Hale. pp. 41–43. ISBN 0-7091-8133-7.
2. "RFL Challenge Cup Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
3. Hoole, Les (2015). The Rugby League Challenge Cup An Illustrated History 1897-1998. DB Publishing. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-78091-462-6.

External links

• The Challenge Cup Archived 2014-01-22 at the Wayback Machine
• Challenge Cup 1897/98 results at Rugby League Project