1902–03 Challenge Cup

1903 Challenge Cup
Duration	6 rounds
Highest attendance	32,507
Winners	Halifax
Runners-up	Salford
	← 1902 ; 1904 → ;

Last updated March 28, 2025

The 1903 Challenge Cup was the 7th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup.^[1] It featured clubs from the 1902-03 Northern Rugby Football Union season.

First round

Date	Team one	Score one	Team two	Score two
14 Feb	Birkenhead	15	Werneth	0
14 Feb	Bradford	10	Huddersfield	5
14 Feb	Bramley	10	Pontefract	5
14 Feb	Broughton Rangers	0	Oldham	2
14 Feb	Castleford	2	Thrum Hall	0
14 Feb	Dewsbury	0	Leeds	15
14 Feb	Halifax	34	Salterhebble	0
14 Feb	Hull Kingston Rovers	2	York	6
14 Feb	Hunslet	18	Cleckheaton	5
14 Feb	Keighley	37	Heckmondwike	0
14 Feb	Kendal Hornets	3	Morecambe	5
14 Feb	Kinsley	0	Brighouse Rangers	8
14 Feb	Leigh	0	Swinton	0
14 Feb	Manningham	0	Idle	0
14 Feb	Millom	10	Lancaster	0
14 Feb	Ossett	0	Otley	0
14 Feb	Parton	9	Workington	5
14 Feb	Rochdale Hornets	33	Alverthorpe	0
14 Feb	Runcorn	7	Widnes	2
14 Feb	St Helens	6	Warrington	3
14 Feb	Seaton Rangers	2	Barrow	5
14 Feb	South Shields	58	St. Paul's	0
14 Feb	Sowerby Bridge	5	Batley	14
14 Feb	Stockport	0	Wigan	8
14 Feb	Wakefield Trinity	3	Holbeck	0
14 Feb	Wath Brow Hornets	5	Whitehaven Recs	0
14 Feb	Windhill	0	Normanton	8
18 Feb	Idle	0	Manningham	12
18 Feb	Otley	2	Ossett	0
18 Feb	Swinton	5	Leigh	7

Second round

Date	Team one	Score one	Team two	Score two
21 Feb	Bramley	0	Bradford	9
21 Feb	Brighouse Rangers	12	South Shields	2
21 Feb	Castleford	0	Halifax	0
21 Feb	Hull Marlborough	0	Hull FC	45
21 Feb	Maryport	2	Parton	2
21 Feb	Morecambe	0	Millom	0
21 Feb	Normanton	2	Batley	9
21 Feb	Oldham	4	Wigan	0
21 Feb	Outwood Church	0	Hunslet	7
21 Feb	Runcorn	18	Birkenhead	0
21 Feb	St Helens	2	Rochdale Hornets	8
21 Feb	Salford	11	Leigh	0
21 Feb	Wakefield Trinity	0	Leeds	13
21 Feb	Wath Brow Hornets	5	Barrow	15
21 Feb	York	17	Otley	2
24 Feb	Keighley	12	Manningham	0
25 Feb	Halifax	10	Castleford	3
25 Feb	Millom	10	Morecambe	2
25 Feb	Parton	0	Maryport	5

Third round

Date	Team one	Score one	Team two	Score two
07 Mar	Barrow	7	Batley	2
07 Mar	Bradford	0	Oldham	2
07 Mar	Halifax	0	Brighouse Rangers	0
07 Mar	Hunslet	5	Leeds	2
07 Mar	Keighley	2	York	2
07 Mar	Millom	0	Hull FC	7
07 Mar	Rochdale Hornets	0	Salford	15
07 Mar	Runcorn	17	Maryport	3
10 Mar	Brighouse Rangers	2	Halifax	8
11 Mar	York	12	Keighley	9

Quarterfinals

Date	Team one	Score one	Team two	Score two
21 Mar	Barrow	0	Hull FC	3
21 Mar	Oldham	8	Hunslet	0
21 Mar	Runcorn	0	Halifax	2
21 Mar	York	2	Salford	25

Semifinals

Date	Team one	Score one	Team two	Score two
04 Apr	Halifax	8	Hull FC	5
04 Apr	Salford	0	Oldham	0
08 Apr	Salford	8	Oldham	0

Final

The final was contested by Halifax and Salford at Headingley Stadium in Leeds.^[2] on Saturday 25 April 1903, in front of a crowd of 32,507. Halifax were victorious, beating Salford 7–0.^[3]

25 April 1903

Halifax	7 – 0	Salford
	Report

Headingley, Leeds
Attendance: 32,507


1	William Little
2	William Wedgwood
3	W. "Wax" Williams
4	Archie Rigg
5	Herbert Hadwen
6	Johnny Morley
7	Joe Riley
8	Jack Riley
9	Ike Bartle
10	Fred Mallinson
11	Jack Swinbank
12	Walter Morton
13	Fred Hammond
14	Billy Bulmer
15	R. S. "Bob" Winskill


1	Dan Smith
2	Archie Norris
3	Robert Messer
4	James Lomas
5	Thomas Bell
6	Zeke Harter
7	Ben Griffiths
8	Jack Williams
9	Jack Rhapps
10	Pat Tunney
11	George Heath
12	William Brown
13	Herbert Buckler
14	Robert Shaw
15	Hugh Shore

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 3 April 2009. Retrieved 27 January 2017.

External links

Challenge Cup official website Archived 2014-01-22 at the Wayback Machine
Challenge Cup 1902/03 results at Rugby League Project

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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 3 April 2009. Retrieved 27 January 2017.

[1]

[2]

[3]

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
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