The ‘T’owd Tin Pot’ and role of emerging press
9th of 12, 2 3/4l behind Good Shot at Happy Valley(HK) 6f hcp gd in Apr. 18-5 won at Happy Valley(HK) 6f hcp gd in Apr beating Regency Poet by 1 1/2l, 11 ran.
9-2 2nd of 12, 3/4l behind Sky Treasure at Happy Valley(HK) 6f hcp 7th of 12, 2 1/4l behind Simply Fluke at
4th of 12, 3 1/2l behind gd in Apr.
Happy Valley(HK) 6f hcp gd in Apr.
California Rad at Happy Valley(HK) 6f hcp gd in Apr.
5th of 12, 1 1/2l behind Simply Fluke at Happy Valley(HK) 6f hcp gd in Apr.
9th of 14, 6l behind El Jefe at Sha Tin(HK) 5f hcp gd in Feb. 12th of 14, 11l behind Lucky More at Sha Tin(HK) 5f hcp gf in Nov.
6th of 12, 4 1/2l behind Compassion Spirit at Happy Valley(HK) 6f hcp gd in Apr. 12th of 14, 12l behind Valiant Dream at Sha Tin(HK) 5f hcp gd in Dec. 9th of 12, 3l behind Simply Fluke at Happy Valley(HK) 6f hcp gd in Apr. last of 14, 26l behind Good Luck Friend at Sha Tin(HK) 6f hcp in Mar.
WON BALL (14) D J Hall 6 9-7 .............................. M F Poon (2) LARSON (14) J Moore 4 9-6 (BF, CD) ....................... C Schofield
BE READY (28) F C Lor 5 9-3 ...................................... Z Purton
DAY DAY RICH (24) T P Yung 4 9-0 ......................... M L Yeung GRATEFUL HEART (38) C S Shum 4 8-13 ................ A Hamelin KING’S EMINENCE (14) L Ho 5 8-13 ....................... H T Mo (3)
VERY SWEET ORANGE (28) Y S Tsui 6 8-13 (CD4) ...... V Borges FLYING GENIUS (24) A S Cruz 4 8-12 (CD2) ............... K Teetan SPECIAL STARS (14) J Size 5 8-11 (CD3) ................... J Moreira VICTORY IN HAND (21) K W Lui 5 8-7 (C2) ............ C Wong (5) HANDSOME REBEL (7) Y S Tsui 5 8-4 ......................... H W Lai JUMBO ENGINE (14) D J Whyte 3 8-3 ...................... T H So (2) BRIGHT VISION (10) P F Yiu 5 8-10 ................................ RESERVE BETTING: 5-2 Be Ready, 5 Victory In Hand, Flying Genius, Grateful Heart, 6 Handsome Rebel, 8 Larson, Special Stars, 12 Very Sweet Orange, 33 Others.
9-1 2nd of 12, 1l behind Larson at Happy Valley(HK) 5f hcp gd in Apr. 4th of 12, 1 1/2l behind Beauty Spark at Happy Valley(HK) 6f hcp gd in Apr. 7-2 2nd of 14, 3 1/2l behind Baltic Success at Sha Tin(HK) 5f hcp gd in Apr.
11th of 14, 10l behind War Of Courage at Sha Tin(HK) 5f hcp gd in Mar.
6th of 12, 2 1/4l behind Shining Gem at Happy
Valley(HK) 6f hcp gd in Apr. 5th of 12, 3 1/2l behind Allied Agility at Happy Valley(HK) 5f hcp gd in Apr. 8-5fav 2nd of 12, shd behind Allied Agility at Happy Valley(HK) 5f hcp gd in Apr.
6th of 12, 3l behind Larson at Happy Valley(HK) 5f hcp gd in Apr.
11th of 12, 8l behind Allied Agility at Happy Valley(HK) 5f hcp gd in Apr. 10th of 14, 10l behind Baltic Success at Sha Tin(HK) 5f hcp gd in Apr. 6th of 12, 3 1/2l behind Allied Agility at Happy Valley(HK) 5f hcp gd in Apr. last of 12, 8l behind Allied Agility at Happy Valley(HK) 5f hcp gd in Apr.
IN 1876, the rugby section of the Huddersfield Cricket and Athletic Club (HC and AC) joined the Bradford, Hull, Leeds and York rugby football clubs in presenting a cup valued at 50 guineas to the Yorkshire County Rugby Football Committee.
They proposed that it should be played for in an annual competition.
This was the Yorkshire Cup, affectionately known as ‘T’owd Tin Pot.’
It was to be organised as a knockout competition, based on association football’s highly popular and successful FA Cup competition, which had run annually since 1871.
Cup matches had a wider context, formalising comparisons between teams from different places, although Huddersfield quickly found that objective assessment was tempered by the luck of the draw when the powerful Bradford club despatched them from the inaugural competition in the first round.
The introduction of this competition had two major impacts. The first – increased interest, larger crowds and resultant financial benefits – was probably anticipated.
Less anticipated was the competition’s impact on the rules and the spread of the game.
The rules of rugby football had been published on the formation of the RFU in 1871, but there were still differences from place to place in understanding how the game should be played.
To be a fair competition, all Yorkshire Cup matches had to be played to the same rules. This accelerated the progress towards commonality.
The Yorkshire Cup also helped to publicise and raise the profile of rugby football, the local newspapers gradually taking more interest in the progress of their clubs.
Huddersfield’s local press comprised the Huddersfield Weekly Chronicle, founded in 1850 and the Huddersfield Weekly Examiner, which was founded in 1852 and was supplemented during the week by the Huddersfield Daily Examiner (HDE) from 1871. The timing of the
Education Acts of 1870 and 1880, after which all children had to go to school at least until the age of ten, also had unintended benefits in publicising sport, as by the early 1880s there were many more adults who could read.
At the start of the 1883-84 season, the HDE startled its reader by heading one of its columns ‘Football Notes.’
The column explained: ‘The popularity of this winter game is now so great, particularly in the North of England, that more attention than has been hitherto accorded to it is felt to be justly its due owing to the interest taken in it by such a wide and ever-increasing circle of readers.’
Stanley Chadwick, in ‘Claret and Gold: 1895-1945’ confirms that, locally, ‘it marked the beginning of a new type of sporting journalism.’
A symbiotic relationship was developing that still exists today – local newspapers helping to develop interest in the sports clubs and sport helping to sell the newspapers.
■■As rugby football and associated publicity proliferated, it became incumbent on local men to form a team, particularly if a neighbouring town or village had one.
The concept of inter-town and inter-village rivalry was already established in the spheres of industry and music before rugby football began to make its mark.
The Huddersfield Choral Society, founded in 1836, Skelmanthorpe Band (1843) and Meltham Mills Band (1846) were among the groups that helped to establish the Huddersfield district’s fine musical reputation.
Meltham Mills Band were the British Open Champions in 1873, and again from 1876 to 1878, becoming the first to win this title in three consecutive years.
Inherently, sport was the most natural and exciting channel for inter-town and inter-village competition. Having a decent, respected team in association football, rugby football or cricket – and preferably all three – became part of town and village identity, contributing to the collective ego and self-worth of its sporting enthusiasts. Shared sporting interests, pride in local teams, and a sense of achievement when they were successful helped many people, mostly men, to feel part of their community. By the mid-1870s, Huddersfield’s sporting organisations, and the rugby football section of HC and AC in particular, were poised to take such communityaffirming rivalries to a new level.
The rapid developments in rugby football in Huddersfield from the mid-1860s were supported by the town’s existing and growing infrastructure.
Huddersfield came of age in 1868 when it was granted independent status as a county borough with its own corporation. The corporation inherited transport and communications networks that would be fundamental to developing the town. For the HC and AC, they would be vital to the construction of its ground which, as support grew and entrance fees were charged, would need to be secured by fences and gates, and provide basic safe accommodation, and toilet and catering facilities for large numbers.
These networks would also help the club officials to contact players, raise and improve their teams, arrange, travel to and play matches, and to generate and maintain interest and support.
By the 1860s Huddersfield’s road network included turnpike routes to Leeds, Halifax, Rochdale, Penistone, Bradford and Manchester, all checked and repaired by a Board of Highway Surveyors. In 1883 Huddersfield became the first local authority to run its own public transport system – tramcars pulled by steam engines.
Perhaps the most significant transport development for the growth of local rugby was the opening of Huddersfield Railway Station in 1847.