Castleford 11-8 Huddersfield — 1934/35 Challenge Cup Final

Wembley Stadium, London · Attendance: 39,000

Data last verified: 11 August 2026.

1934/35 Challenge Cup Final: Castleford 11-8 Huddersfield, at Wembley Stadium, London.

Sourcing caveat: Huddersfield's full scoring breakdown and lineup, and the referee for both sides, could not be confirmed. Castleford's full 13-man lineup was pieced together from a Cas Tigers Heritage Project photo page naming the 13 players present at the 1935 final plus each individual player's own Wikipedia biography (each of which independently confirms that player's appearance and position in this specific final) — except William H. Davies, the second half-back, whose position for this match specifically is not independently confirmed and is inferred only from the closely-following 1935 Cup Winners' Match programme pairing him with Adams at half-back. No squad numbers are given since numbered shirts were not yet standard practice in this period. Fourth-attempt update: after three prior passes found no Huddersfield lineup source at all, one Huddersfield (team2) player — Frederick Talbot, at loose forward — was added via his own Wikipedia biography, which independently confirms his appearance and position in this specific final (the same biography separately confirms further appearances in the 1932/33 and 1936/37 finals, added to those entries too). No further Huddersfield players could be found.

Scorers

CastlefordTries: Bernard Cunniffe; Tom Askin; Les Adams
Goals: Arthur Atkinson (1 conversion)
HuddersfieldGoals: Sherwood

Teams

CastlefordHuddersfield
George LewisFullbackFrederick Talbot

Match officials

Referee—

Match report

Castleford beat Huddersfield 11-8 at Wembley to win the Challenge Cup in their first-ever final appearance, while handing Huddersfield their first final defeat after six previous appearances (a run that included the string of wins in the 1910s-20s and their 1932/33 triumph). Castleford's 11 points came from three tries — wingers Bernard Cunniffe and Tom Askin, and scrum-half Les Adams — with captain and right-centre Arthur Atkinson converting one of them; Sherwood kicked for Huddersfield, though the rest of Huddersfield's scoring detail could not be confirmed. Castleford went on to play a post-season international friendly against French Cup winners US Lyon-Villeurbanne, which they won 24-21, underlining the cross-Channel exchanges that were becoming a feature of the sport's calendar. The Rugby League Challenge Cup is rugby league's oldest and most prestigious knockout competition, first contested in 1896/97 under what was then the Northern Union. Its history has been interrupted only by the two World Wars, with four editions lost between 1915/16 and 1918/19 and one more in 1939/40; the finals played either side of those gaps, and during the Second World War itself, were sometimes contested as regional or two-legged fixtures under wartime emergency arrangements rather than the usual single showpiece match. For much of the competition's early history the final rotated around northern club and representative grounds such as Headingley, Fartown, Central Park and the Athletic Ground, Rochdale, before Wembley Stadium became the final's permanent home from 1928/29 onward (with a short break during Wembley's 2000-2007 reconstruction, when finals were staged at Murrayfield, Twickenham and the Millennium Stadium instead). Since 1946/47, the competition's individual award, the Lance Todd Trophy, has been presented to the final's outstanding player, voted for by a panel of media representatives at the final whistle — on several notable occasions the trophy has gone to a player on the losing side, an unusual honour that reflects the award's focus on individual performance rather than simply reflecting the final scoreline. This was the 35th Challenge Cup final played, and, under the name “Castleford,” the 1st Challenge Cup title for the club.

Round by round

Round 1

ResultVenueAttendanceDate
Astley & Tyldesley 4–33 CastlefordWheldon Road—1935-02-09
Barrow Marsh 18–28 Rochdale HornetsAthletic Ground—1935-02-09
Barrow 28–3 Sharlston RoversCraven Park—1935-02-09
Featherstone Rovers 2–8 Broughton RangersPost Office Road—1935-02-09
Hunslet 11–0 Hull Kingston RoversParkside—1935-02-09
Keighley 24–4 BramleyLawkholme Lane—1935-02-09
Leeds 3–4 HuddersfieldHeadingley—1935-02-09
Leigh 0–44 WiganMather Lane—1935-02-09
Manchester Salford City 9–28 DewsburyCanal St—1935-02-09
Oldham 3–0 St HelensWatersheddings—1935-02-09
Salford 16–11 HalifaxThe Willows—1935-02-09
Swinton 2–10 Liverpool StanleyStation Road—1935-02-09
Wakefield Trinity 23–8 St Helens RecsBelle Vue—1935-02-09
Warrington 11–11 HullWilderspool—1935-02-09
Widnes 34–0 BatleyNaughton Park—1935-02-09
York 12–12 Bradford NorthernWigginton Road—1935-02-09
Bradford Northern 0–2 YorkOdsal—1935-02-13
Hull 16–2 WarringtonBoulevard—1935-02-14

Round 2

ResultVenueAttendanceDate
Barrow 17–5 YorkCraven Park—1935-02-23
Huddersfield 6–0 OldhamFartown—1935-02-23
Hull 21–0 Broughton RangersBoulevard—1935-02-23
Hunslet 22–2 SalfordParkside—1935-02-23
Liverpool Stanley 2–8 CastlefordStanley—1935-02-23
Wakefield Trinity 18–6 KeighleyBelle Vue—1935-02-23
Widnes 13–4 Rochdale HornetsNaughton Park—1935-02-23
Wigan 25–5 DewsburyCentral Park—1935-02-23

Round 3

ResultVenueAttendanceDate
Barrow 13–4 WiganCraven Park—1935-03-09
Castleford 10–3 HunsletWheldon Road—1935-03-09
Huddersfield 4–0 WidnesFartown—1935-03-09
Wakefield Trinity 0–7 HullBelle Vue—1935-03-09

Semi Final

ResultVenueAttendanceDate
Castleford 11–5 BarrowStation Road, Swinton244691935-03-30
Huddersfield 21–5 HullHeadingley, Leeds371111935-03-30

Final

ResultVenueAttendanceDate
Castleford 11–8 HuddersfieldWembley Stadium, London390001935-05-04

Early rounds feature amateur and community clubs alongside professional ones; team names are linked only where this site has a team page for that exact club, matching the same safety-first approach used for the Final's own results table.

Sources

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