1951–52 Challenge Cup

1951–52 Challenge Cup

Duration	5 rounds
Winners	Workington Town
Runners-up	Featherstone Rovers

The 1951–52 Challenge Cup was the 51st staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup.

First Round

Date	Team One	Score One	Team Two	Score Two
09 Feb	Batley	9	Bramley	9
09 Feb	Bradford Northern	6	Doncaster	5
09 Feb	Cardiff	7	Dewsbury	7
09 Feb	Castleford	4	Swinton	5
09 Feb	Huddersfield	5	Halifax	13
09 Feb	Hull FC	8	Oldham	6
09 Feb	Leeds	44	Hull Kingston Rovers	14
09 Feb	Leigh	11	Keighley	4
09 Feb	Rochdale Hornets	7	Featherstone Rovers	8
09 Feb	St Helens	6	Belle Vue Rangers	5
09 Feb	Salford	13	Hunslet	6
09 Feb	Wakefield Trinity	18	Wigan	13
09 Feb	Warrington	28	Liverpool	4
09 Feb	Whitehaven	16	Rylands Recs	0
09 Feb	Widnes	5	Barrow	5
09 Feb	York	7	Workington Town	18
16 Feb	Barrow	8	Widnes	2
16 Feb	Belle Vue Rangers	4	St Helens	9
16 Feb	Bramley	0	Batley	9
16 Feb	Dewsbury	16	Cardiff	0
16 Feb	Doncaster	4	Bradford Northern	7
16 Feb	Featherstone Rovers	17	Rochdale Hornets	2
16 Feb	Halifax	5	Huddersfield	5
16 Feb	Hull Kingston Rovers	3	Leeds	5
16 Feb	Hunslet	6	Salford	3
16 Feb	Keighley	0	Leigh	8
16 Feb	Liverpool	6	Warrington	6
16 Feb	Oldham	24	Hull FC	0
16 Feb	Rylands Recs	9	Whitehaven	9
16 Feb	Swinton	2	Castleford	9
16 Feb	Wigan	40	Wakefield Trinity	3
16 Feb	Workington Town	42	York	5

Second Round

Date	Team One	Score One	Team Two	Score Two
01 Mar	Batley	4	Featherstone Rovers	11
01 Mar	Castleford	6	Leigh	7
01 Mar	Leeds	12	Oldham	9
01 Mar	Salford	6	Barrow	11
01 Mar	Warrington	26	Dewsbury	9
01 Mar	Whitehaven	7	Halifax	5
01 Mar	Wigan	28	Bradford Northern	12
08 Mar	Workington Town	15	St Helens	4

Quarter Finals

Date	Team One	Score One	Team Two	Score Two
15 Mar	Featherstone Rovers	14	Wigan	11
15 Mar	Leigh	9	Leeds	5
15 Mar	Whitehaven	2	Barrow	10
15 Mar	Workington Town	14	Warrington	0

Semi Finals

Date	Team One	Score One	Team Two	Score Two
29 Mar	Barrow	2	Workington Town	5
29 Mar	Featherstone Rovers	6	Leigh	2

Final

Workington Town beat Featherstone Rovers 18-10 in the Challenge Cup Final played at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 19 April 1952 in front of a crowd of 72,093. Workington full-back and captain-coach Gus Risman became the oldest player to appear in a Cup final at age 41. Three Australians, Tony Paskins, John Mudge and Bevan Wilson came up with decisive plays to help relative newcomers Workington to victory. It was the club's first Cup Final win in their first Final appearance. Billy Ivison, Workington Town's loose forward, was awarded the Lance Todd Trophy for man-of-the-match.

Final

19 April 1952

Workington Town	18 – 10	Featherstone Rovers
Try Lawrenson (2), Mudge, Wilson Goals Risman (3)		Try Batten, Evans Goals Miller (2)

Wembley, London Attendance: 72,093 Referee: A F Appleton (Warrington) Player of the Match: Billy Ivison

1 Gus Risman (c) 2 Johnny H. Lawrenson 3 Tony Paskins 4 Eppie Gibson 5 George Wilson 6 John H. Thomas 7 Albert Pepperell 8 Jimmy Hayton 9 Vince McKeating 10 James "Jimmy" V. Wareing 11 Rupert Mudge 12 Bevan Wilson 13 Billy Ivison Coach: Gus Risman

1 Freddie Miller 2 Eric Batten (c) 3 Donald Metcalfe 4 Alan Tennant 5 Norman Mitchell 6 Ray Cording 7 Ray Evans 8 Ken Welburn 9 Bill Bradshaw 10 John Daly 11 Laurie Gant 12 Fred Hulme 13 Cliff Lambert Coach: Eric Batten