1898–99 Challenge Cup

1899 Challenge Cup
Duration	6 Rounds
Number of teams	64
Highest attendance	15,763
Winners	Oldham
Runners-up	Hunslet
	← 1898 ; 1900 → ;

Last updated August 15, 2025

The 1899 Challenge Cup was the 3rd staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup.^[1]

First round

Date	Team one	Score one	Team two	Score two
01 Mar	Halifax	17	St Helens Recs	0
01 Mar	Rochdale Athletic	0	Whitworth	4
18 Mar	Batley	38	Rochdale Athletic	0
18 Mar	Bowling	12	Warr. St Mary's	0
18 Mar	Bradford	8	Wakefield Trinity	0
18 Mar	Brighouse Rangers	10	Stockport	0
18 Mar	Broughton Rangers	59	Rothwell	8
18 Mar	Castleford	8	Halifax	0
18 Mar	Dewsbury	2	Tyldesley	0
18 Mar	Elland	13	Workington	5
18 Mar	Goole	0	Oldham	63
18 Mar	Groves Utd	3	Wigan	28
18 Mar	Holbeck	9	Birkenhead	3
18 Mar	Hull FC	21	Featherstone	0
18 Mar	Hull Kingston Rovers	11	Manningham	2
18 Mar	Hunslet	11	Maryport	2
18 Mar	Leeds Parish Church	11	Idle	0
18 Mar	Leigh	14	Bramley	0
18 Mar	Liversedge	0	York	4
18 Mar	Millom	24	Ulverston	2
18 Mar	Morecambe	30	Latchford Rangers	0
18 Mar	Outwood Church	8	Altrincham	3
18 Mar	Radcliffe	0	Normanton	5
18 Mar	Rochdale Hornets	28	Dalton	0
18 Mar	Rochdale Rangers	0	Leeds	20
18 Mar	Runcorn Recs	0	Runcorn	77
18 Mar	St Helens	12	Whitworth	3
18 Mar	Saddleworth	2	Huddersfield	43
18 Mar	Salford St Bart's	2	Werneth	4
18 Mar	Salford	63	Luddendenfoot	3
18 Mar	Swinton	40	Fletcher Russell	5
18 Mar	Warrington	12	Barrow	2
18 Mar	Widnes	48	Fleetwood	3

Second round

Date	Team one	Score one	Team two	Score two
25 Mar	Batley	29	York	5
25 Mar	Bradford	19	Rochdale Hornets	5
25 Mar	Broughton Rangers	10	Hull Kingston Rovers	5
25 Mar	Castleford	10	Brighouse Rangers	2
25 Mar	Elland	10	Bowling	3
25 Mar	Huddersfield	17	Heckmondwike	0
25 Mar	Hull FC	21	Millom	0
25 Mar	Leeds	3	Wigan	0
25 Mar	Leigh	4	Runcorn	2
25 Mar	Normanton	7	Holbeck	2
25 Mar	Oldham	14	Warrington	0
25 Mar	Outwood Church	0	Leeds Parish Church	6
25 Mar	St Helens	0	Morecambe	0
25 Mar	Salford	31	Werneth	0
25 Mar	Swinton	0	Hunslet	2
25 Mar	Widnes	28	Dewsbury	0
29 Mar - replay	Morecambe	5	St Helens	5
31 Mar - replay	St Helens	17	Morecambe	5

Third round

Date	Team one	Score one	Team two	Score two
01 Apr	Bradford	3	Oldham	23
01 Apr	Broughton Rangers	6	Leeds Parish Church	7
01 Apr	Huddersfield	23	Normanton	2
01 Apr	Hull FC	86	Elland	0
01 Apr	Hunslet	16	Castleford	0
01 Apr	Leigh	16	Batley	6
01 Apr	Salford	16	St Helens	0
01 Apr	Widnes	11	Leeds	8

Quarterfinals

Date	Team one	Score one	Team two	Score two
08 Apr	Hunslet	9	Hull FC	0
08 Apr	Leeds Parish Church	5	Leigh	10
08 Apr	Oldham	20	Widnes	0
08 Apr	Salford	8	Huddersfield	0

Semifinals

Date	Team one	Score one	Team two	Score two
15 Apr	Hunslet	15	Salford	8
15 Apr	Oldham	16	Leigh	2

Final

29 April 1899

Oldham	19 – 9	Hunslet
Try: Williams (2), S. Lees, Moffatt, J. Lees Goal: Thomas, S. Lees	Report	Try: W. Goldthorpe Goal: A. Goldthorpe (3)

Fallowfield, Manchester
Attendance: 15,763
Referee: T. H. Marshall (Bradford)^[4]


1	Richard L. "Dickie" Thomas
2	Samuel Williams
3	Samuel Lees
4	Thomas Fletcher
5	Thomas D. Davies
6	Arthur Lees (c)
7	Joseph Lawton
8	E. W. Telfer
9	William Barnes
10	George Frater
11	Herbert Ellis
12	Emanuel Bonser
13	James Moffatt
14	Joseph Lees
15	Harry Broome


1	Jack Mitchell
2	Billy Hannah
3	Albert Goldthorpe
4	Walter Goldthorpe
5	John Wright
6	Herbert Robinson
7	William Fletcher
8	Tommy Leach
9	Tom Young
10	Harry Wilson
11	Richard Rubrey
12	Owen Walsh
13	Tommy Walsh
14	James Ramage
15	James Harrison

References

↑ John Huxley; David Howes (1980). Encyclopedia of Rugby League Football. London: Robert Hale. pp. 41–43. ISBN 0-7091-8133-7.
↑ Raymond Fletcher; David Howes (1995). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1995-1996. London: Headline Book Publishing. p. 191. ISBN 0-7472-7817-2.
↑ "RFL Challenge Cup Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
1 2 Hoole, Les (2015). The Rugby League Challenge Cup An Illustrated History 1897-1998. DB Publishing. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-78091-462-6.

External links

Challenge Cup official website Archived 2014-01-22 at the Wayback Machine
Challenge Cup 1898/99 results at Rugby League Project
Oldham Rugby League Player Statistics at Oldham Rugby League Heritage Trust
Player Stats at Hunslet Rugby Foundation

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[Challenge_Cup-1] John Huxley; David Howes (1980). Encyclopedia of Rugby League Football. London: Robert Hale. pp. 41–43. ISBN 0-7091-8133-7.

[Records-2] Raymond Fletcher; David Howes (1995). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1995-1996. London: Headline Book Publishing. p. 191. ISBN 0-7472-7817-2.

[3] "RFL Challenge Cup Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-08-07.

[hoole-4] 1 2 Hoole, Les (2015). The Rugby League Challenge Cup An Illustrated History 1897-1998. DB Publishing. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-78091-462-6.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Challenge Cup
Years	1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Finals (List)	1968 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Related articles	Wembley Stadium 1923 2007 Lance Todd Trophy Abide with Me Rugby Football League Challenge Cup records Double Treble All Four Cups

v t e Oldham squad – 1898–99 Challenge Cup final winners
1 Richard Llewellyn "Dickie" Thomas 2 Samuel Williams 3 Samuel Lees 4 Thomas Fletcher 5 Thomas D. Davies 6 Arthur Lees (c) 7 Joseph Lawton 8 E. W. Telfer 9 William Barnes 10 George Frater 11 Herbert Ellis 12 Emanuel Bonser 13 James Moffatt 14 Joseph Lees 15 Harry Broome Coach: Harry Varley
№14 and №15 were forwards, as the role of interchange/substitute was not introduced until 1964