1896–97 Challenge Cup

The 1897 Challenge Cup was the inaugural staging of the Northern Rugby Football Union's Challenge Cup and involved 52 clubs from across England from the 1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season.

The tournament was played over six rounds in March and April 1897, culminating in the final which was won by Batley.

12 clubs (Batley, Bradford Church Hill, Brighouse Rangers, Crompton, Heckmondwike, Liversedge, St Helens Recs, Stockport, Swinton Church, Thornton Rangers, Tyldesley and Werneth) were given a bye to the next round.

The game between Batley and Warrington, played at Fartown, Huddersfield did go ahead on a very soft pitch.

[14] The rearranged game between St Helens and Swinton was played on Easter Monday, 19 April, watched by a crowd of 20,000 taking advantage of the bank holiday to attend.

[15] Batley wore white shirts and black shorts and socks in place of their normal cerise and fawn colours.

Early in the second half St Helens scored a try when centre David Traynor took the ball on the halfway line and beat four Batley players before touching down.