1953–54 Challenge Cup
Introduction The '''1954 Challenge Cup''' was the 53rd staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. It featured clubs from the 1953–54 Northern Rugby Football League season and is particularly notable for its final, which had to be replayed at Odsal after a drawn match at Wembley, with the replay attracting possibly the largest ever crowd in world rugby league history.
First round  Date Team one Score one Team two Score two6 February 1954Halifax	19	Dewsbury	06 February 1954Hull  	24	Widnes	06 February 1954Keighley	12	Barrow	116 February 1954Latchford Albion	20	Wigan	406 February 1954Leeds	13	Batley	206 February 1954Liverpool	5	Oldham	156 February 1954Wakefield Trinity	24	Whitehaven	136 February 1954York	18	Hull Kingston Rovers	013 February 1954Barrow	6	Keighley	1013 February 1954Batley	6	Leeds	2313 February 1954Castleford	8	Doncaster	513 February 1954Oldham	18	Liverpool	1113 February 1954Rochdale Hornets	9	Bradford Northern	913 February 1954Leigh	13	Swinton	413 February 1954St Helens	26	Featherstone Rovers	713 February 1954Warrington	17	Bramley	013 February 1954Wheldale	6	Workington Town	3213 February 1954Whitehaven	15	Wakefield Trinity	313 February 1954Widnes	2	Hull FC	513 February 1954Wigan	41	Latchford Albion	215 February 1954Belle Vue Rangers	15	Huddersfield	2016 February 1954Dewsbury	9	Halifax	517 February 1954Bradford Northern	11	Rochdale Hornets	217 February 1954Bramley	5	Warrington	3017 February 1954Featherstone Rovers	16	St Helens	2717 February 1954Huddersfield	31	Belle Vue Rangers	617 February 1954Hunslet	20	Salford	517 February 1954Swinton	2	Leigh	1717 February 1954Workington Town	50	Wheldale	218 February 1954Doncaster	7	Castleford	218 February 1954Hull Kingston Rovers	0	York	022 February 1954Salford	3	Hunslet	18
Second round  Date Team one Score one Team two Score two6 March 1954Halifax	24	Keighley	56 March 1954Huddersfield	12	St Helens	56 March 1954Hull	5	Workington Town	56 March 1954Hunslet	10	Whitehaven	26 March 1954Leeds	12	Leigh	36 March 1954Oldham	4	Warrington	76 March 1954Wigan	15	Bradford Northern	106 March 1954York	11	Doncaster	211 March 1954Workington Town	17	Hull FC	14
Quarterfinals  Date Team one Score one Team two Score two20 March 1954Hunslet	16	Huddersfield	720 March 1954Leeds	31	Workington Town	1120 March 1954Warrington	26	York	520 March 1954Wigan	0	Halifax	2
Semifinals  Date Team one Score one Team two Score two3 April 1954Halifax	18	Hunslet	33 April 1954Warrington	8	Leeds	4
Final Halifax and Warrington, the teams who had finished first and second respectively on the Championship ladder (separated by only one competition point), reached the Challenge Cup final Saturday 24 April 1954.The game was played at Wembley, and 81,841 spectators saw what turned out to be a comparatively lacklustre match. After a couple of penalties, Halifax held a 4-0 lead at half time. In the second half Warrington drew level, also kicking two penalties. There was no further scoring and the match finished in a draw, at 4 - 4.This match remains the only occasion on which Wembley hasn't seen a single try scored on Cup final day. The replay was initially scheduled for 5pm on Wednesday 5 May 1954 at Odsal Stadium, Bradford.
Final replay Around 70,000 spectators were expected at Odsal for the replay, which was rescheduled for a 7pm kick-off in order to allow for rush hour traffic in Bradford. The twenty trains and fifty buses (specially arranged for the match, as well as the 100 gatesmen and 150 policemen on duty at the ground) were believed to be adequate to deal with the expected crowd. However, the competitive closeness with which the two teams were matched, together with the enticing prospect of the Challenge Cup decider coming north for the first time in a decade, seems to have generated far greater public interest than was supposed.People had started queuing outside the stadium a good hour before the shuttle buses started running from 4:25pm. The gates opened at 5.00pm, and by that time some people had already been queuing for an hour and a half. With over an hour remaining before kick off, there were already an estimated 60,000 in the ground. The traffic on the roads in the surrounding area was at a standstill as more and more spectators converged on the stadium. Some squatted around the pitch, while others climbed onto rooftops for a better view. Fences around the ground had collapsed, as more people struggled to cram into the bowl of Odsal before the match started. The official attendance figure for the crowd was announced as 102,575  however it is widely believed that a more realistic figure for the number of spectators present is closer to 120,000.WarringtonPosit.Halifax Eric Frodsham (c)  1.FB  Tyssul Griffiths Brian Bevan  2.WG  Arthur Daniels Jim Challinor  3.CE  Tommy Lynch Ron Ryder  4.CE Billy Mather Stan McCormick  5.WG  Dai Royston Bevan Ray Price  6.SO  Ken Dean Gerry Helme  7.SH Stan Kielty Danny Naughton  8.PR  John Thorley Frank Wright  9.HK  Alvin Ackerley (c) Gerry Lowe  10.PR  Jack Wilkinson Harry Bath  11.SR Albert Fearnley Austin Heathwood  12.SR  Derrick Schofield Bob Ryan  13.LF  Des ClarksonThe match itself was another tense, low-scoring struggle, but an improvement on the first game. Jim Challinor opened the scoring with a try for Warrington after nine minutes. Half an hour later, Tyssul Griffiths kicked a penalty for the Halifax side, who had also had two tries disallowed. This meant a half time score of 3 - 2 in favour of Warrington.The third quarter of the match saw additional goals kicked by both Griffiths and Harry Bath, bringing the score to 5 - 4, still just one point in favour of Warrington. Then Gerry Helme scored a try, which Bath couldn't convert, putting Warrington four points clear of Halifax, but still within a converted try. Controversy reared just before full-time, when Halifax had a third try disallowed by referee Ron Gelder. Warrington had claimed their 4th Challenge Cup, with Helme winning the Lance Todd Trophy for his match-winning performance, the first player to do so twice.
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