1903-1904

10th May, 2017 By Phil Daly

Promotion into the First Division led, quite naturally, to greatly increased support, and the membership rose from 657 to 2,267. This was very encouraging to the management who were able to point at the end of the year to a profit of ?773. This was the first time the accounts had been on the right side since 1897-98.

When the Annual meeting of the Northern Union clubs was held at Huddersfield on July ?4th, some eight weeks before the commencement of the season, the delegates voted strongly in favour of a proposal that the Rugby game should be played by twelve players on each side. Indeed, the ?ayes? had it by 54 votes to 24, but the necessary three-fourths majority was not obtained and the reformers had to yield to the minority. This question of minority rule was to be the stumbling block to many other reforms half a century later.

The League programme opened with an away defeat at the hands of Broughton Rangers, but a grand crowd assembled at Headingley a week later to witness the match with Hunslet. Leeds had to take the field without their crack three-quarters, T. Llewellyn and T. D. Davies, but they succeeded in holding their rivals to a pointless first half. Shortly after the interval J. W. Stead had to retire through injury, but there was still no score with only ten minutes remaining for play, and none seemed likely until Albert Goldthorpe dropped a neat goal from behind the serum. That goal rattled Leeds and inspired Hunslet who then scored tries through H. Whiteley and Hannah in the closing minutes. The teams which did duty rouse many memories: Leeds-Farrimond; Evans, Smithson, Mosley, Jenkins; Grace, Ward; Moffatt, Woolf, Webster, Moon, Stead, Hewlett, Crumpton, McNicholas. Hunslet-Place; J. Whiteley, H. Whiteley, W. Goldthorpe, Hannah; A. Goldthorpe, Jackson; Shooter, Wilson, Glew, Walsh, Uttley, Hopkinson, Brook, Wray.

Following this disappointing start to the season there was much destructive criticism, but the team rallied well and as a result of losing only three out of their next twenty-three matches they were making a bid for Championship honours when the Cup Ties started in March.

A weakened Leeds team (T. D. Davies, Moffatt, and Evans were absentees) gained a fine away victory over Hull Kingston Rovers in the Ist Round, the only try of the match being scored by G. W. Andrew, a winger who had made only very rare appearances in the two previous seasons. When Keighley were decisively beaten at Headingley in the 2nd Round there were high hopes of the team finishing the season in a blaze of glory, but April brought frustration. On? All Fools? Day? our Championship aspirations were negatived by a narrow defeat at Hull, and the following day Halifax ended our run in the Cup competition after a closely fought game at Thrum Hall. Halifax were, of course, the Cup holders and they went on to retain the Cup for another year.

This was, however, a highly successful campaign and the team fully merited the fifth position in the final League table.

Many new players were introduced: J. Farrimond, full back, from Birkenhead; F. Wormald, forward, from Oldham; E. Watts, forward, the ex-Millom captain; J. A. Naylor, winger, from Idle; W. D. Llewellyn, centre or wing, from Whitchurch; G. Mennell, forward; H. Smithson, centre; T. Waite, winger; E. Holder, full back.

It is interesting to note that R. Ward and J. P. Jenkins had to serve periods of suspension as they were deemed to have violated the? employment clause ?, the Professional Sub-Committee ruling that these players were not in bona-fide employment.

The Cup Final, between Halifax and Warrington, was played at Salford and attracted only 17,500 spectators, thus increasing the outstanding claims of Headingley as the best centre for all big match occasions. Indeed the attendances and receipts at each final since the institution of the Northern Union Cup Competition afforded eloquent testimony to the superiority of Headingley.

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