[1] However, as the difference in playing standard between the two classes was deemed too high at this early stage of the game's development, it was decided that this inaugural edition would only include the ten teams from the French professional championship.

Béziers, which was struggling in the championship standings, did not take the field for its preliminary round fixture in Perpignan, and the match was cancelled at the last minute, with the referee and fans already inside XIII Catalan's Stade du Vernet.

[6] According to contemporary press, Béziers purposely no-showed the game in order to aggravate the opposing side, due to a personal conflict between executives of both organizations.

French league pioneer Jean Galia originally tried to book downtown Toulouse's Parc des Sports, but the price tag was too high, and he had to make do with Stade Jacques-Thomas, an undersized and off-center venue.

[17] However, the league was criticized for grossly overbooking the stadium, which may partly have been a product of unauthorized admissions, as some sources quoted attendance as high as 15,000 when including those.

[17] The quality of the pitch was also criticized,[20] and more work was done on it to bring it to an acceptable level in time for the upcoming semifinal between Paris and XIII Catalan.

When he chose to award a contentious try to Lyon-Villeurbanne's Robert Samatan at the end of the first period, the Roanne players refused to return to the pitch for the second, and forfeited the game in protest.

It is prior to that game, rather than directly after the Coupe de France final, that RFL representatives handed over to the French the trophy that would become the emblem of their main knockout competition, the Lord Derby Cup.