Leeds won the trophy by beating the previous season's runner-up, Castleford, with a score of 33-12.
This was the sixth time in an eleven-year period in which Castleford, previously only winners once (in 1977), made eight appearances in the Yorkshire Cup final, winning four and finishing runners-up on the other four occasions.
It was also the second season in succession that Castleford appeared, and lost, in the final within that eleven-year period.
In the 1988–89 season there were no junior/amateur clubs taking part, no new entrants and no "leavers" and so the total of entries remained the same at eighteen.
[1] Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs Involved 5 matches (with three byes) and 13 clubs Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs [1][2][4] Scoring - Try = four points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = one point The following chart excludes any preliminary round fixtures/results 1 * The first Yorkshire Cup match played by the newly renamed Huddersfield who dropped the "Barracudas"'s suffix 2 * The record score (and highest winning margin) at the time for a Yorkshire Cup match, beating the previous record win of 79-5 (1948) 3 * The receipts are given as £76,658 by the Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook of 1991-92[3] and 1990-91[4] but the details given in a section of the Huddersfield v Ryedale-York match programme[6][7] for the preliminary round on Sunday 23 August 1992 (and all verified by The Rugby League Record Keepers Club), show the receipts as £83,591