1906-1907

At the Annual Meeting of the Northern Union on June 12th, another revolutionary step was taken with the decision to reduce the number of players in a team to thirteen. Further, with the object of maintaining interest in the League right up to the end of the season, it was agreed that the top four clubs should play-off to decide the Championship, the club finishing first in the table to play the fourth and the second club to play the third, the first and second clubs having choice of grounds. The Championship Final, it was decided, should be played on a neutral ground but in the County of the club (taking part in the final), having the greater number of points.

The first game at Headingley resulted in a Leeds victory over Wakefield Trinity by 37 points to nil. The spectators were treated to a brilliant exhibition of fast, open play and it was apparent that a spectacular season?s rugby was going to result from the reduction in the number of players. This splendid start to the league programme was maintained and at the end of January we had sustained only four losses out of twenty-one matches and were strong challengers for a place in the? first-four?.

Several games in this successful spell are worthy of special mention. The victory at Parkside was dramatic in the extreme as Hunslet held a five points lead with only twenty minutes left for play when a try by Birch, which was converted by Brayshaw, touched off a brilliant Leeds rally which resulted in them scoring a further twelve points in the last ten minutes. The victory at Fartown, which incidentally completed a Leeds double, raised the ire of the Fartown spectators some of whom assaulted Wainwright and T. Llewellyn as the players left the field. As a result of such unsavoury incidents the Huddersfield club was reported to the Northern Union, but the Fartown officials had great consolation in the fact that the now famous Harold Wagstaff, who had made his first home appearance in the? claret and gold? jersey, had covered himself with glory, scoring a try and showing exceptional promise. The away victory against Oldham was particularly meritorious in view of the fact that Hughes, the Leeds winger. sustained a broken collar bone just before the interval.

It is rather remarkable that the team were called upon to play eight consecutive league games away from home in the closing weeks of the season. This was a tough assignment and only the most optimistic could have anticipated that Leeds would gain a place in the League semi-finals. Of these matches one only was won, and two were drawn, so that there was little at stake when Hunslet were entertained at Headingley in the last match of the season. A large crowd assembled, however, to witness a Leeds victory which gave them sixth place in the table, but Albert Goldthorpe had the last word as usual. receiving the ball from the serum and dropping a goal with the very last kick of the match.

Our interest in the Yorkshire Cup was again short lived. A brilliant 1st Round victory over Wakefield Trinity at Belle Vue, was followed by an equally deplorable display against Bradford at Park Avenue.

Rochdale Hornets, who were the 1st Round visitors to Headingley, gave Leeds a comfortable passage into the next stage of the N.U. Cup Competition. The luck of the draw then called for a trip to Broughton and the manner of the Leeds victory was nothing short of miraculous. Losing by seven points to nil with only fifteen minutes left for play, Leeds made a determined rally but were unable to pierce the home defence. Two penalty goals by Brayshaw did however make the game open and excitement became intense when Young dropped a beautiful left foot goal nine minutes from the end. The defenders would not yield as Leeds made one last desperate bid for the winning points and then in the very last minute Young tried another drop at goal. The ball never rose sufficiently to have gone over the cross-bar, but in its flight it struck a Broughton player and was diverted into the hands of Rhodes, who was thus put? on-side? and scored a gift try which Brayshaw had no difficulty in converting. Salford, at Weaste, in the 3rd Round were losing by three points to two at the interval, but in the second half Jimmy Lomas proved to be the pivot on which the fortunes of the game turned and Leeds forfeited ten points without making reply.

W. Rhodes, winger, and F. Harrison, forward, were promoted from the ?A? team and made their debut performances in the Dewsbury match at Headingley in September. Rhodes was to have only a short career, but Fred Harrison developed into a real Leeds stalwart. After making ten first team appearances he was advised to join his original club, Streethouse, for a short spell, but he was back at Headingley for the commencement of the 1907-08season and soon became one of the mainstays of the team.