When we look back on great achievements one accomplishes, we always have to have a starting point. For example, Wigan's famous eight Challenge Cup successes were started on a muddy pitch with a 2-0 win over Bradford Northern on 30th January 1988, and Wigan's survival revival from relegation in 2006 could arguably be dated back to 20th April 2006 when Brian Noble took over as head coach. The Greatest story that runs right through the Wigan club is that of the Challenge Cup. Since the competition began back in March 1897, Wigan had failed to lift the already famous trophy up until 1924. In that 27 year period, Wigan had won everything under the sun and were the biggest name on a rugby pitch but somehow the Challenge Cup had eluded the Central Park Club for over a quarter of a century. The 1923/24 season saw to that and with Wigan's first triumph saw a love affair with a piece of silverware that is just as strong today as it was back in 1924.
Before the 1923/24 season however, Wigan had only reached the Final on two occasions, losing both to Broughton Rangers in 1911 and Huddersfield in 1920. Wigan hadn't been at the races at all in the competition and with their 2 Final losses, they had also lost in 4 other Semi Finals. Hopefully, that was to change in the 1923/24 season. Wigan now boasted a terrifying back line that included free-scoring wingers Johnny Ring and Attie van Heerden, along with goal-kicking prince Jim Sullivan at fullback. In the League campaign, Wigan got off to a flyer by winning their first four matches against Wigan Highfield, Halifax, Salford and Hull FC before losing away to Leigh 13-9 (Johnny Ring scoring a hat-trick). A win against Barrow and another 13-9 loss, this time to Batley, gave Wigan a bit of time to think where they were at. By the end of October, Wigan started another run of form with four more comfortable wins on the trot before Oldham stopped the Central Park march on the 1st December with a 10-2 win at Watersheddings. It was only a blip however, as Wigan went through December unbeaten by thrashing Salford 49-0, defeating Huddersfield (18-10) and Swinton (10-4), thrashing local rivals St Helens 44-2 (four players scored 2 tries each) on Boxing Day before ending the year by narrowly pushing aside Broughton Rangers 5-0. 1923 ended with Wigan at the top of the League competition having played 17, winning 14 and losing 3 giving Wigan a leading total of 82.35% win rate. Batley were sat in second place on 73% whilst Hunslet occupied third on 69%. As you can see, things were looking bright for Wigan who were a full 10% of wins clear of Batley. The form continued throughout January though Wigan lost twice to Widnes (2-0) and Broughton Rangers (8-2). Although Wigan had now lost 5 games, their greatest loss was by 8 points or fewer which says a lot about the Wigan defence at the time. Even better, Wigan had 5 Great Britain Tourists called up for their Tour which included Jim Sullivan, Tommy Howley, Jack Price, Johnny Ring and Danny Hurcombe. You couldn't have asked for five better British players in the same team at the time, Wigan were lucky!
As February came around, people were starting to get excited again for the Challenge Cup. Wigan's involvement in the Lancashire did not last long, losing in the second round to Oldham at the end of October, so the Wigan public were feeling hungry for a bit of Cup rugby. They were soon to get it! The back story so far in the League is that Wigan were doing fine, clear in the table with a tight defence. The league form people hoped, would elevate Wigan to their first Final triumph but first they had to negotiate three rounds before any thought of a Final appearance. Wigan were due to play Leigh in the first round on Saturday 16th February and Wigan surely got a perfect warmup courtesy of Hull Kingston Rovers. A week before the first round tie, Hull K.R. travelled to Central Park in harsh sleety conditions. Wigan won 36-5 yet Attie van Heerden managed to cross the line five times in front of nearly 9,000 spectators. The mean Wigan defence managed to keep Hull KR out for most of the match but with the win, Wigan were first in the League, having played 26, losing 5 with a win rate of 80.76%. A local derby was next, in the Challenge Cup! An interesting fact thus far was that Wigan had only lost on one occasion at Central Park in the Challenge Cup, that was to Huddersfield, so the omens were good.
Saturday 16th February 1924. Challenge Cup Round 1 vs. Leigh @ Central Park, Wigan. 7-5 att: 32,226
Local derbies are always fun affairs. Households are divided by loyalty and workplaces are like battle grounds. Wigan started their 1924 Cup campaign at home to bitter rivals Leigh, a team that had previously defeated Wigan in the league 13-9 at Hilton Park. Such was the attraction of this Cup tie, the Central Park secretaries had decided not to take any monies at the ground on match day but instead, told supporters to pre-purchase tickets beforehand or entry would be refused. The idea of this was to keep the crowd levels DOWN so that there wasn't to be thousands of fans locked out on gameday. Due to a big crowd being expected, the Central Park pitch was convered a couple of days before gameday just in case the weather got to it. In all, 32,226 spectators were in attendance which was comfortably the biggest attendance the game had seen in many a year with gate recepits of £1,786 breaking many records of the time. In comparison, the next best attended game of Challenge Cup First Round day was that of Oldham vs. Rochdale where 15,790 had taken the trouble to witness Oldham progress. You can imaging the scenes beforehand, train cars brimming with Leythers en route to Wigan Wallgate with Hindley and Ince being swarmed with an army of people marching towards Central Park from the Eastern frontiers of the Borough. A large crowd expected a classic match, and they got it
The Wigan Observer reported on the day of Hull Kingston Rover' maulings, that Leigh had gone into special training, similar to when they won the Cup a few years earlier against Leeds. New foods, 'less' alcohol, longer walks etc... were all in preparation for the Challenge Cup. Leigh were up for this one.
It was a thrilling game by all accounts. The conditions were harsh but the ground was playable thanks to it previously being covered. The cartoon (left) gives an idea as to how the game went. Leigh took the lead via Wally Mooney, the Pocket Hercules with a try that was converted by Boardman to give Leigh a 5-0 start. The Leythers were on the front foot for most of the first half, always attacking thewigan line but the defence held firm. Wigan's league form had shown that whatever was thrown at Wigan, the defence would hold firm. And so it did. Johnny Ring managed to scramble over late in the first half to peg the game back to 5-3 but Wigan captain Jim Sullivan missed the conversion attempt.
With twelve minutes left on the timekeepers watch, Wigan took the lead through a penalty kick by Sullivan. Leigh had gifted Wigan the 2 points when Leigh were penalised for obstruction in their own half. Sullivan landed the goal amongst "scenes of great enthusiasm" by the home support. Through the second half, the Leigh defence held firm, as did Wigans. Leigh could have snatched it towards the end when Wigan back Owens made a mistake which gave Leigh the opportunity to score. Thankfully, Wigan had Jim Sullivan in the team and with a fine tackle saved a score at the end. Wigan were now through to the second round draw, which would be made at Headingley, Leeds the following Monday. Wigan were drawn at home to play Broughton Rangers two weeks later in Round Two.
Saturday 1st March 1924. Challenge Cup Round 2 vs. Broughton Rangers @ Central Park, Wigan. 49-0 att: 22,000
After the well received Cup win against neighbours Leigh, Wigan were now drawn to play Broughton Rangers at central Park in Round 2. The clubs had met twice in the league, both games being an extremely close affair. Just before 1923 came to a close, Wigan edged out Broughton 5-0 thanks to Johnny Ring and Jim Sullivan. The Rangers got their own back at The Cliff, defeating Wigan 8-2 in mid-January to make meetings between the two sides 1-1 for the season. Broughton had already won the Cup twice, in 1902 and 1911 where they defeated Wigan 4-0 in the Final at Salford. Surely it was now time for Wigan to get their own back but who knew which was the score would go after the two league meetings had been close encounters. In the league game that was sandwiched between the early rounds of the Cup, Wigan comfortably defeated Huddersfield 27-8 to extend their lead at the top of the Championship over second placed Leigh. Wigan were now winning at 81.48% whilst the Leythers in second were at 69%. Broughton went into this Cup game sitting in ninth place winning at 58%.
Broughton had rugby legend and Great British winger Billy Bentham in their ranks that day but could he do one over Wigan? With the Wigan public still on a high from their hard fought victory over Leigh, it was only fair that 22,000 attended this game with gate receipts of £1,120. The next best attended game for Round Two was that of Leeds v Wakefield Trinity which had 20,000 at Headingley taking in £860. Cup fever had gripped the Wigan public's imagination yet again and for most of those 22,000 in attendance, not many left Central Park disappointed (save for the 1,000 or so Broughton supporters). Many critics were expecting a close game and any other day, Wakefield Trinity's win over holders Leeds would have been the shock result had it not been for the fine form of Wigan.
Wigan started the game on the front foot, eager to gain the upper ground and control the game through their forwards. Broughton had a reputation for having some of spediest backs in the game but Wigan's Howley, Ring and van Heerden ran riot against Bentham's lot whilst Jerram and Hurcombe in the halves controlled and dominated the game from the scrum. Jim Sullivan was again faultless at fullback in defence whenever he was called upon whilst his attacking movements which included several turns of speed and accurate passing mesmerised the Broughton defence repeatedly. Up front in the forwards, where the game first and foremost had to be won, the Wigan pack of Price, van Rooyen and Roffey dominated their opponents.
Today, Jack Price captained Wigan but lost the toss in the gleaming sunshine at Central Park. Wigan started the better and after a kicking exchange that, would have bored many at Twickenham, between the fullbacks, Sullivan eventually found touch near the Broughton ten yard line. From the scrum, Johnny Ring dashed to within a yard of the line before Jerram picked up and darted over after just four minutes of play. Although the angle for Sullivan to convert wasn't hard, Old Jim misjudged the wind and missed. Wigan continued to press against the Rangers line when Hurcombe and Howley nearly forced their way over before Van Heerden was forced into touch after a terrific pass by Parker. Wigan furthered their lead shortly after when, despite Broughton making way up field for once, Sullivan kicked a penalty from 3 yards inside his own half after Broughton were penalised for being offside. When Broughton thought they were just about to get back into the game after being under pressure since the start, Johnny Ring intercepted a pass to run in unopposed under the posts. After an exchange of penalties Wigan went further ahead by Howley. Good play from Jerram and Hurcombe ensured that a well placed pass sent the Wigan centre under the posts and another 2 point gift for Jim Sullivan. The game was over by now with half time approaching but Billy Bentham refused to give in. After a break, he scooted down field with only Sullivan to beat but decided to kick and have a foot chase to the line. Sullivan was too good and fielded perfectly to stop the Great British Tourist from letting the Rangers get a foothold in the match. Immediately afterward, Van Heerden was loudly cheered for wonderful play. The South African received a pass from his own 25 yard line near the touchline and sprinted downfield. He was chalenged by the Broughton fullback Rowlands but cleverly, Attie kicked over Rowlands head, collected and scored under the sticks. Wigan could have scored twice more before halftime when Ring was bundled into touch and Parker knocked on a yard from the try line after a low pass by Howley. The whistle sounded with Wigan going into the Pavilion 20-0 at half time.Wigan immediately carried on as they had finished in the first half. Sullivan floated a pass out to Van Heerden who again ran up most of the field. This time the fullback Rowlands got his man and Van Heerden was tackled. Luckily for Wigan, Jerram was close by and a quick pick up saw him score. Had Jerram not have been near the scene, the referee would have surely given Wigan a penalty try as Van Heerden was obstructed earlier in play. Four minutes into half time, Roffey scored near the posts with Sullivan adding the conversion. Wigan now were going to score at will and that they did. Sullivan kicked a penalty from the halfway line after Broughton gave away a penalty whilst Sullivan and Van Heerden linked up well. Ring scored twice more with Roffey gaining another to end the game 49-0 to Wigan. This was one of Broughton's heaviest defeats and one they would rather forget at the time. Wigan were electric that day, the backs' of Ring, Howley, Parker and Van Heerden were unplayable with their passing moves being top quality. Many people said Wigan had never played a game of rugby league any better in thirty years. Wigan's record of losing only once in the Cup at Central Park would be carried over to 1925 (Flimby & Fothergill anyone?) as the Quarter Final draw meant that Wigan were to travel to Hunslet in a draw made at the Griffin Hotel, Leeds on Monday 3rd March.
Look for Part 2...
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