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A collection of Challenge Cup Final memories

1957 Wembley Stadium Leeds v Barrow. My first Rugby League Cup Final. Leeds won 9-7. Fantastic! Irvine Lawrence


I’ll always remember thinking that when Leeds won the Challenge Cup final in 1977 and Steve Pitchford won the Lance Todd Trophy for the man of the match, that it had gone to the wrong man. For me, it should have been Stan Fearnley. He stood across Wembley like a barn door and allowed Kevin Dick to play. I’ve always liked loose forwards, they were specialists and I think that they are lacking from the same today. If we had a little bit more craft in midfield and at the base of the scrum, I’m sure we could even beat the Aussies, but that kind of individualism has been replaced. Ruth Walker


Wembley Leeds v St Helen's my Granddad took me on a Wallace Arnold coach to the Silver Jubilee Challenge Cup final 1978. Fantastic memories! David Wild Leeds won the 1978 Challenge Cup Final 14-12

When the Rhinos players brought the cup round to show us at Wembley, with all their children in tow, I was in floods of tears. I've cried a lot at Leeds matches in the past but this was a different kind of emotion, it was as much relief as ecstasy because all of a sudden we had actually won something, we were no longer under achievers- we were at that moment the best team in the game which is what I had followed them for so many years to be able to say. All of a sudden some of the ghosts of the past, matches and memories where we had fallen short or not lived up to our billing or the huge weight of expectation, had been exorcised. I hugged and shouted at our current heroes that somehow the crossbar incident in 1982 at Swinton didn't feel so bad now - finally our day had come. Sarah Gilmore, "Headingley Rugby Voices"

In the 1982 semi-final at Swinton against Widnes Leeds were one play away from the Final when a Widnes kick bounced back off their cross-bar and into the hands of Widnes' Keiron O'Loughlin, who had the easy task of scoring the try and sending Widnes through to Wembley.

Memory added on July 13, 2014

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