Posted by... quigs eraofthebiff - on ... Friday, May 04, 2012
1954 CHALLENGE CUP REPLAY, WARRINGTON -V- HALIFAX
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MEMORABLE MATCHES #14
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Get some more beers, or make another coffee, take your time and have some fun.
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from Quigs "As mentioned previously, I am not a rugby league historian, a rugby league expert. I am just a lover of this era of Rugby League." ... This is a recollection of some of the battles, and the trench warfare that I, and others watched over time. Some are matches that I was told about, or read about.
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MATCH SUMMARY: Played at Bradford's Odsal Stadium before a then world record crowd of over 102,000 spectators. Harry Bath played a leading hand in this game.
View the Vid of the match - click the link (Note there is no sound so a timeline of the game is posted FYI)
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Odsal Stadium, Bradford, Yorkshire. (Timeline of match video)
Warrington bursting through for their first try. Challinor receives, and dashes through to touch down. Players congratulate. SV crowd. Score, Warrington 3-0. SV other end, Halifax pressing, they break loose from scrum. Quick passing a forward pass, more passing until Lynch receives, dashes over line to touch down. Halifax players congratulate but point disallowed because of forward pass. SV crowd. S. Griffiths kicking penalty goal. Score, Warrington 3-2. GV crowds still swarming into the stadium at half-time. SV Halifax players resting at half time. SV Warrington players resting at half time. SV crowd sitting on touch lines. LV Warrington attacking and bursting through the Halifax "25". A brilliant solo run is halted just short of the line. SV crowd. SV Bath kicking penalty goal to make score Warrington 5-2. Ball over post. SV crowd. SV Warrington at other end, working ball across field, but they concede a penalty. LV Griffiths kicking a great penalty goal, ball over. Pan crowd cheering. 5-4. LV Halifax fighting to stop Warrington break away. SV Halifax fighting - tough play. SV Crowd. LV Gerry Helme at other end, bursting through to somersault over line, for Warrington's last try. Score 8-4. LV crowd, storm pitch. SCU Captain receiving cup.
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This Vid found on good old Youtube
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| Link Status: .. Still Active |
Players involved ... 23, 103,
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The 1954
Wembley Challenge Cup Replay which was played before
103,000 spectators, a then world record.
(In my mind it is still a record- not thousands
of freebies as with our Aussie claim - these guys
just stopped counting back in 1954)
THIS ENTRY IS KINDLY REPRODUCED FROM THE BRADFORD
INDEPENDENT SUPPORTERS ASSOCIATION WEBSITE.-
- why not pay their website a visit just click on
the link below
The Era has received a brilliant recollection of
this game from Prof. John Shepherd, who as a 15
year old was part of the crowd on that day......it
is a great read....see your stories for link or
just click here
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Odsal History
World Record Crowd
A still of a newsreel from the record crowd match-
Odsal has been at the forefront of many aspects of rugby
league and holds many records relating to the sport and
its supporters. When many people think of Odsal one image
springs to mind. The picture of the world record breaking
crowd for a rugby league match. Now officially held by
Stadium Australia when in 1999 they had a crowd of 107,
558 for the 1999 NRL Grand Final. The crowd at Odsal on
5th May 1954 for the Warrington v Halifax Challenge Cup
Final replay was officially announced as 102,569 however
it is widely acknowledged that the correct figure should
have been in the region of 120,000.
When it was decided the replay of the final was to be
at Odsal nobody realised that the capacity of the stadium
would ever be under jeopardy. They had planned it to be
an evening kick off, but it was changed to 7.00pm to avoid
the rush hour traffic and the match was on a Wednesday
night. As the original game had been thought by many to
be a let down and the fact that Laurel & Hardy were
playing at the Alhambra on the same night nobody realised
what the extent of the crowd would actually be.
A set of shuttle buses were put on from town starting
at 4:25pm, and at the same time 20 trains that had been
specially laid on from Warrington were turning up at the
nearby (now unused) Low Moor railway station. The trains
People sat several deep on the pitch up to the edge
of the playing area due to the vast amount spectators
at the match
carried an estimated 12,000 passengers. On the day there
were 100 gatemen and 150 policemen on duty, more than
enough for the expected crowd of 70,000. The gates opened
at 5.00 pm by which time some people had already been
queuing an hour and a half. At an hour before kick off
there were already an estimated 60,000 in the ground.
As the picture shows people were even sat on the pitch
because of the vast size of the crowd, however despite
the numbers that turned up and the primitive nature of
the ground no untoward incidents were recorded. There
were some casualties but these were only from people fainting
because people who realised they were not going to be
able to see the match tried to leave which resulted in
some people being slightly crushed and fainting.
The reason many people today still say the actual crowd
figure was around 120,000 is that many fences were found
flat after the match giving the appearance many had found
their way into the ground without paying. Due to the nature
of the old stadium there were also many places young children
could sneak through and men could climb over. Since Stadium
Australia took the record there has been talk of the crowd
figure being re-calculated to what many people believe
it should be. However this could prove difficult.
Program from Halifax v Warrington Replay.
This attracted a crowd of 64,453. You can tell it isn't
the World Record crowd as there is no-one on the pitch
which is clearly shown in the other photo. However it
does make you wonder where the other 60,000 spectators
fitted into at the World Record game.
If only a fifth of a crowd of that size turned up at Odsal
today the traffic chaos would be enormous. But 45 years
ago few families owned one car let alone two. It was reported
that by 10pm - an hour or so after the final whistle -
all traffic had been dispersed from the Odsal area. It
takes longer than that nowadays to get away from some
grounds and there's nowhere near the 102,000 crowd they
had at Odsal.
The final score on the night was 8-4 to Warrington, with
the match winning try being scored by Gerry Helme.
THIS ENTRY IS KINDLY REPRODUCED FROM THE BRADFORD INDEPENDENT
SUPPORTERS ASSOCIATION WEBSITE.- - why not pay their
website a visit just click on the link below
(The Era has received a brilliant recollection of this
game from Prof. John Shepherd, who as a 15 year old was
part of the crowd on that day......it is a great read....see
your stories for link or just click
here.)
(See Favorite
Moments Page - I had wonderful experience
when I visited Bradford and the Odsal Stadium)
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