All Four Cups
Encyclopedia
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
side:
- Challenge CupChallenge CupThe Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
- Rugby Football League Championship
- County leagueRugby league county leaguesThe Yorkshire League and the Lancashire League formed two sections of the Rugby Football League Championship for much of its history. Initially, the 22 clubs that broke away in 1895 played in one combined league, however the following season saw the addition of many clubs, and the League was split...
(Lancashire League or Yorkshire League) - County cupRugby league county cupsHistorically, British rugby league clubs competed for the Lancashire Cup and the Yorkshire Cup, known collectively as the county cups. The leading rugby clubs in Yorkshire had played in a cup competition for several years prior to the schism of 1895...
(Lancashire Cup or Yorkshire Cup)
To win "All Four Cups" in a single season was long regarded as the holy grail for a team. The feat was achieved on three occasions.
Hunslet
The first club to win All Four Cups was HunsletHunslet Hawks
Hunslet Hawks is a professional rugby league club based in Hunslet, West Yorkshire, England. The club, sometimes known as 'the Parksiders' after their former stadium, are currently champions of Championship One.-History:-Early years:...
, which they did in the 1907-08 season. They were captained by Albert Goldthorpe
Albert Goldthorpe
Albert Goldthorpe was an English rugby footballer from the period around 1895's schism in English rugby, which led to the formation of rugby league football around the turn of the century.One of five brothers , Goldthorpe made his first...
, who operated in the back line. Hunslet’s forward pack of that season was equally (in)famous, going by the name of "The Terrible Six".
Hunslet did not top the championship table at the end of the season, coming behind Oldham
Oldham Roughyeds
Oldham Roughyeds is an English professional rugby league club based in Oldham, Greater Manchester. They currently play in the Championship One. Oldham is one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895....
, whom they defeated 10-12 in a championship replay after the first match was drawn 7 apiece. They ran out 14-0 winners in the Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
Final in front of 18,000 spectators at Fartown, Huddersfield
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a large market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England, situated halfway between Leeds and Manchester. It lies north of London, and south of Bradford, the nearest city....
. They took the Yorkshire Cup by virtue of a 17-0 victory over Halifax
Halifax RLFC
Halifax RLFC is one of the most historic rugby league clubs in the game, formed over a century ago, in 1873 in the Yorkshire town of Halifax. Known as 'Fax', the official club colours are blue and white hoops, blue shorts and blue socks . They share The Shay stadium with football club FC Halifax Town...
.
Huddersfield
The feat was next repeated by HuddersfieldHuddersfield Giants
Huddersfield Giants are a professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire who play in the European Super League competition. They play their home games at the Galpharm Stadium which is shared with Huddersfield Town F.C....
in the 1914-15 season by the Fartowners famous "Team of all the Talents". This was the culmination of a staggering period of dominance in the game, as they had already picked up two championships, the challenge cup, three Yorkshire Cups and three Yorkshire league titles in the preceding five seasons.
They were captained by Harold Wagstaff
Harold Wagstaff
Harold Wagstaff was an English rugby league footballer of the early 20th century. He played as a and was nicknamed the Prince of Centres...
, immortalised as the "Prince of Centres", and included several foreign internationals. In many ways Huddersfield went one better than Hunslet's achievement six years previously in that they also topped the championship table (for which no trophy was awarded). They easily defeated Leeds
Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos is an English professional rugby league football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The club won the 2011 Super League and became the most successful club in the Super League era, beating St Helens 32-16 on 8th October 2011. Formed in 1890, Leeds competes in Europe's Super League...
35-2 in the Championship final, and managed an even greater margin of victory in the Challenge Cup, crushing St Helens 37-3 at Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
.
The season saw Huddersfield's wing-three-quarter Albert Rosenfeld
Albert Rosenfeld
Albert Aaron Rosenfeld was a pioneer Australian rugby league footballer, a national representative whose club career was played in Sydney and in England...
score an impressive 56 tries. However this figure paled into insignificance when it is remembered that Rosenfeld, a Jewish Australian who had come over to Britain with the 1908 Kangaroos, had scored 80 tries the previous season. This record has never yet been beaten.
The team of all the Talents could well have gone on to even greater exploits, however sadly the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
intervened, and the team broke up. The Huddersfield club was unable to field a team, reforming only after the war ended.
Swinton
The final team to win All Four Cups was SwintonSwinton Lions
Swinton Lions is an English professional rugby league club from Swinton, Greater Manchester. The club has won the Championship six times and three Challenge Cups. They currently play in the Championship.-Early years:...
, who thus became the only side ever to achieve a Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
version of the feat. The 1927-28 season saw the Lions sweep aside all before them, under the captaincy of centre Hector Halsall
Hector Halsall
Hector Halsall was an English professional rugby league footballer of the 1920s and 1930s who at representative level has played for Great Britain, and at club level for Swinton, playing at , i.e. number 3 or 4...
. They topped both the League and the Lancashire League, having already defeated Wigan in the Lancashire Cup. In a tense Challenge Cup final they squeezed past Warrington
Warrington Wolves
Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league football club based in Warrington, England that competes in Super League. They play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2003....
5-3, and three weeks later the Holy Grail was achieved when they comfortably eased past Featherstone Rovers
Featherstone Rovers
Featherstone Rovers are a semi-professional rugby league club, based in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. They currently play in the Championship. The Rovers are one of the last vestiges of "small town teams" that were once common in rugby league during the early twentieth century...
11-0 to take the Championship.
Modern developments
The county leagues were abolished in 1970, and the county cups followed in 1993. New competitions have replaced them, and at times there have been up to six cups. The only team to win all the silverware on offer since Swinton was WiganWigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors is an English rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club's first team squad competes in the engage Super League and the team are the current Challenge Cup holders as of the 27th August 2011....
, who achieved a four cup triumph in 1994-95. They won the championship, beat Leeds
Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos is an English professional rugby league football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The club won the 2011 Super League and became the most successful club in the Super League era, beating St Helens 32-16 on 8th October 2011. Formed in 1890, Leeds competes in Europe's Super League...
69-24 in the Premiership final
Rugby League Premiership
The Rugby League Premiership was a competition for British rugby league clubs that operated between 1973 and 1995. As the Super League Premiership the competition continued to operate until 1997....
, defeated Leeds again 30-10 in the Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
final and overcame Warrington 40-10 in the Regal Trophy
Regal Trophy
The Regal Trophy was a knock-out competition for British rugby league football clubs between 1971 and 1996.It was initially for professional clubs with the exception of two amateur teams who were finalists of the BARLA National Cup...
final.
Bradford
Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league....
won the 2002-03 Challenge Cup
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
final 22-20 against Leeds
Leeds Rhinos
Leeds Rhinos is an English professional rugby league football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The club won the 2011 Super League and became the most successful club in the Super League era, beating St Helens 32-16 on 8th October 2011. Formed in 1890, Leeds competes in Europe's Super League...
, were the Super League leaders in 2003, won the 2003 Championship 25-12 against Wigan
Wigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors is an English rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club's first team squad competes in the engage Super League and the team are the current Challenge Cup holders as of the 27th August 2011....
and beat Penrith Panthers
Penrith Panthers
The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith. They compete in the National Rugby League premiership, the top rugby league football competition in Australasia. For the 2012 NRL season they will be coached by Ivan...
22-4 in February 2004 for the World Club Challenge
World Club Challenge
The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league football match held between the champions of the Australasian National Rugby League and the European Super League competitions to determine the world's best rugby league club...
. They thus held all four 'modern' cups at once, though they were not from the same season, strictly speaking.
St. Helens repeated Bradford's feat by winning the Challenge Cup, League Leader's Shield and the Championship in 2006 and the World Club Challenge in February 2007.
There are currently four trophies available to the top clubs:
- Challenge CupChallenge CupThe Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
(available to all clubs) - Super LeagueSuper LeagueSuper League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...
Championship - League Leader's ShieldLeague Leader's ShieldThe League Leader’s Shield, often called The Hubcap is a trophy awarded to the team finishing the season top of Super League in the sport of rugby league football. Currently the championship is decided on the basis of a play-off series, and the Shield is thus regarded as a lesser prize...
- World Club ChallengeWorld Club ChallengeThe World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league football match held between the champions of the Australasian National Rugby League and the European Super League competitions to determine the world's best rugby league club...
See also
- Challenge CupChallenge CupThe Challenge Cup is a knockout cup competition for rugby league clubs organised by the Rugby Football League. Originally it was contested only by British teams but in recent years has been expanded to allow teams from France and Russia to take part....
- Rugby Football League Championship
- Super LeagueSuper LeagueSuper League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...
- Rugby league county leaguesRugby league county leaguesThe Yorkshire League and the Lancashire League formed two sections of the Rugby Football League Championship for much of its history. Initially, the 22 clubs that broke away in 1895 played in one combined league, however the following season saw the addition of many clubs, and the League was split...
- Rugby league county cupsRugby league county cupsHistorically, British rugby league clubs competed for the Lancashire Cup and the Yorkshire Cup, known collectively as the county cups. The leading rugby clubs in Yorkshire had played in a cup competition for several years prior to the schism of 1895...
- Rugby League PremiershipRugby League PremiershipThe Rugby League Premiership was a competition for British rugby league clubs that operated between 1973 and 1995. As the Super League Premiership the competition continued to operate until 1997....
- Regal TrophyRegal TrophyThe Regal Trophy was a knock-out competition for British rugby league football clubs between 1971 and 1996.It was initially for professional clubs with the exception of two amateur teams who were finalists of the BARLA National Cup...
- World Club ChallengeWorld Club ChallengeThe World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league football match held between the champions of the Australasian National Rugby League and the European Super League competitions to determine the world's best rugby league club...