YORKSHIRE LEAGUE 1930-1950 – From the edge of extinction to post-war expansion

 

The region was badly hit by the Great Depression and this was reflected in the first few years of Yorkshire league history covered here.  A number of departures from the competition in 1930 and only two clubs joining meant there were just 12 clubs playing in the 1930-1931 season.  This reduced to a membership of 7 for the following campaign, with 10 the year after.  During these three seasons, member clubs played two rounds of games.  In 1933, however, the size of the Yorkshire League grew to 13 clubs, followed by a rise in numbers to 20 by 1939.  After World War II the 20-club structure was soon restored, with an expansion to two divisions beginning in 1949 when membership reached 36.

 

1930-1931

 

Main Competition

 

1	Leeds United ‘A’	22	19	1	2	103	29	39
2	York City*	22	18	0	4	87	40	36
3	Selby Town	22	13	5	4	81	50	31
4	Goole Town	22	13	3	6	68	40	29
5	Yorkshire Amateur	22	10	2	10	52	51	22
6	Huddersfield Town ‘A’	22	10	1	11	59	51	21
7	Halifax Town*	22	7	3	12	49	77	17
8	Harrogate	22	8	0	14	71	87	16
9	Bridlington Town	22	6	4	12	48	72	16
10	O.C.O. Selby	22	7	1	14	51	75	15
11	Brodsworth Main	22	7	1	14	44	83	15
12	East Riding Amateurs	22	3	1	18	37	95	7
		264	121	22	121	750	750	264

 

Subsidiary Competition – Section A

 

1	York City*	10	9	0	1	46	17	18
2	Selby Town	10	5	1	4	28	27	11
3	Bridlington Town	9	4	1	4	27	25	9
4	Goole Town	9	4	0	5	22	22	8
5	East Riding Amateurs	10	2	3	5	23	39	7
6	O.C.O. Selby	10	2	1	7	15	31	5
		58	26	6	26	161	161	58

 

Subsidiary Competition – Section B

 

1	Leeds United ‘A’	10	9	1	0	47	14	19
2	Yorkshire Amateur	10	6	3	1	28	16	15
3	Huddersfield Town ‘A’	10	5	1	4	22	23	11
4	Halifax Town*	10	2	2	6	25	35	6
5	Harrogate	10	2	1	7	15	41	5
6	Brodsworth Main	10	2	0	8	20	28	4
		60	26	8	26	157	157	60

 

In the Subsidiary Competition Final Leeds United ‘A’ beat York City Reserves 5-4

 

Brodsworth Main, East Riding Amateurs, Harrogate, Olympia Cake & Oil Selby and York City Reserves all left the Yorkshire league, which now continued with seven clubs.

 

1931-1932

 

First Competition

 

1	Huddersfield Town ‘A’	12	7	1	4	28	18	15
2	Selby Town	12	6	3	3	30	23	15
3	Leeds United ‘A’	12	6	2	4	28	18	14
4	Halifax Town*	12	6	0	6	29	26	12
5	Yorkshire Amateur	12	6	0	6	35	35	12
6	Goole Town	12	4	2	6	18	37	10
7	Bridlington Town	12	2	2	8	24	35	6
		84	37	10	37	192	192	84

 

Second Competition

 

1	Yorkshire Amateur	12	6	4	2	26	18	16
2	Halifax Town*	12	7	0	5	31	25	14
3	Selby Town	12	5	4	3	25	21	14
4	Leeds United ‘A’	12	4	4	4	33	20	12
5	Huddersfield Town ‘A’	12	3	5	4	22	29	11
6	Goole Town	12	3	4	5	19	18	10
7	Bridlington Town	12	3	1	8	23	48	7
		84	31	22	31	179	179	84

 

In the Championship Decider, played at South Kirkby Colliery on May 4^th, Huddersfield Town ‘A’ beat Yorkshire Amateur 1-0.

 

Brodsworth Main, Sheffield University and Thorne Colliery joined the Yorkshire League.

 

1932-1933

 

First Competition

 

1	Selby Town	18	13	3	2	58	20	29
2	Leeds United ‘A’	18	12	3	3	45	25	27
3	Huddersfield Town ‘A’	18	10	5	3	55	31	25
4	Goole Town	18	11	2	5	41	24	24
5	Yorkshire Amateur	18	9	5	4	46	26	23
6	Halifax Town*	18	7	2	9	41	46	16
7	Brodsworth Main	18	5	5	8	36	46	15
8	Thorne Colliery	18	3	2	13	28	60	8
9	Bridlington Town	18	3	2	13	31	65	8
10	Sheffield University	18	2	1	15	28	66	5
		180	75	30	75	409	409	180

 

Only seven teams took part in the second competition apparently.

 

Second Competition

 

1	Huddersfield Town ‘A’	12	8	1	3	38	13	17
2	Goole Town	12	7	1	4	31	21	15
3	Leeds United ‘A’	12	6	2	4	32	25	14
4	Selby Town	12	6	1	5	23	19	13
5	Bridlington Town	12	5	1	6	25	37	11
6	Halifax Town*	12	4	2	6	21	29	10
7	Thorne Colliery	12	1	2	9	11	37	4
		84	37	10	37	181	181	84

 

In the Championship Decider, played at Huddersfield on April 25^th, Selby Town beat Huddersfield Town ‘A’ 3-2.  Bradford City ‘A’, South Kirkby Colliery and Upton Colliery joined the Yorkshire League.

 

1933-1934

 

1	Huddersfield Town ‘A’	24	16	3	5	62	25	35
2	South Kirkby Colliery	24	14	6	4	42	24	34
3	Selby Town	24	15	3	6	71	36	33
4	Upton Colliery	24	11	6	7	63	54	28
5	Leeds United ‘A’	24	12	3	9	57	45	27
6	Bridlington Town	24	11	4	9	42	33	26
7	Halifax Town*	24	10	5	9	45	41	25
8	Yorkshire Amateur	24	10	4	10	42	43	24
9	Goole Town	24	11	1	12	68	55	23
10	Bradford City ‘A’	24	9	5	10	55	64	23
11	Thorne Colliery	24	7	5	12	53	58	19
12	Sheffield University	24	2	4	18	30	87	8
13	Brodsworth Main	24	3	1	20	26	91	7
		312	131	50	131	656	656	312

 

Altofts West Riding Colliery, Castleford Town, Sheffield United ‘A’, Sheffield Wednesday ‘A’ and York City Reserves joined the competition.

 

1934-1935

 

1	Selby Town	34	25	2	7	127	58	52
2	Upton Colliery	34	24	4	6	88	46	52
3	Sheffield Wednesday ‘A’	34	23	4	7	125	60	50
4	Leeds United ‘A’	34	19	8	7	90	59	46
5	Yorkshire Amateur	34	19	5	10	85	66	43
6	Huddersfield Town ‘A’	34	17	8	9	79	53	42
7	Halifax Town*	34	18	4	12	110	66	40
8	South Kirkby Colliery	34	13	9	12	83	66	35
9	York City*	34	16	2	16	82	79	34
10	Bradford City ‘A’	34	11	10	13	73	74	32
11	Sheffield United ‘A’	34	12	4	18	87	104	28
12	Thorne Colliery	34	11	5	18	79	92	27
13	Castleford Town	34	11	3	20	74	114	25
14	Bridlington Town	34	10	4	20	77	108	24
15	Altofts West Riding Colliery	34	9	6	19	69	111	24
16	Goole Town	34	9	6	19	69	119	24
17	Brodsworth Main	34	7	5	22	52	115	19
18	Sheffield University	34	5	5	24	49	108	15
		612	259	94	259	1498	1498	612

 

Brodsworth Main left at the end of the season, but three new entrants (Barnoldswick Town, Bradford park Avenue ‘A’ and Worksop Town) increased league membership 20.

 

1935-1936

 

1	Selby Town	38	25	5	8	144	67	55
2	Sheffield Wednesday ‘A’	38	26	3	9	124	62	55
3	Worksop Town	38	23	7	8	116	60	53
4	Thorne Colliery	38	24	5	9	113	65	53
5	Bradford City ‘A’	38	21	8	9	111	66	50
6	Leeds United ‘A’	38	20	6	12	112	70	46
7	Huddersfield Town ‘A’	38	19	6	13	88	59	44
8	Upton Colliery	38	19	5	14	78	75	43
9	South Kirkby Colliery	38	16	10	12	102	83	42
10	Goole Town	38	17	8	13	88	76	42
11	Halifax Town*	38	17	6	15	91	70	40
12	York City*	38	14	6	18	99	103	34
13	Bridlington Town	38	13	6	19	76	104	32
14	Yorkshire Amateur	38	13	6	19	75	102	32
15	Altofts West Riding Colliery	38	14	4	20	101	123	32
16	Barnoldswick Town	38	11	8	19	83	125	30
17	Bradford Park Avenue ‘A’	38	10	9	19	83	119	29
18	Sheffield United ‘A’	38	12	5	21	95	91	29
19	Castleford Town	38	4	5	29	61	157	13
20	Sheffield University	38	2	2	34	30	193	6
		760	320	120	320	1870	1870	760

 

Barnoldswick Town, Castleford Town and Sheffield University all departed.  Dinnington Athletic and Ollerton Colliery Reserves joined.

 

1936-1937

 

1	Goole Town	36	23	8	5	101	49	54
2	York City*	36	23	3	10	99	59	49
3	Upton Colliery	36	20	9	7	108	69	49
4	South Kirkby Colliery	36	19	8	9	109	74	46
5	Worksop Town	36	17	12	7	86	60	46
6	Huddersfield Town ‘A’	36	18	7	11	75	55	43
7	Sheffield Wednesday ‘A’	36	17	6	13	94	73	40
8	Leeds United ‘A’	36	17	5	14	114	75	39
9	Dinnington Athletic	36	15	7	14	90	79	37
10	Selby Town	36	14	6	16	92	87	34
11	Bridlington Town	36	14	5	17	76	81	33
12	Halifax Town*	36	14	5	17	77	84	33
13	Bradford City ‘A’	36	13	4	19	83	92	30
14	Sheffield United ‘A’	36	12	5	19	93	104	29
15	Thorne Colliery	36	11	6	19	73	103	28
16	Bradford Park Avenue ‘A’	36	9	10	17	72	112	28
17	Yorkshire Amateur	36	10	6	20	61	89	26
18	Altofts West Riding Colliery	36	6	8	22	70	145	20
19	Ollerton Colliery*	36	9	2	25	65	148	20
		684	281	122	281	1638	1638	684

 

Bradford City ‘A’ left the competition, but Barnsley ‘A’ and Bolsover Colliery joined to restore membership to 20 clubs.  Ollerton Colliery’s first team took over from the club’s reserve section.

1937-1938

 

1	York City*	38	26	7	5	118	60	59
2	Ollerton Colliery	38	23	5	10	101	53	51
3	Selby Town	38	23	4	11	114	62	50
4	Dinnington Athletic	38	21	7	10	91	72	49
5	Worksop Town	38	19	5	14	82	59	43
6	Bridlington Town	38	17	9	12	74	61	43
7	Leeds United ‘A’	38	18	6	14	83	54	42
8	Huddersfield Town ‘A’	38	15	10	13	74	66	40
9	Sheffield Wednesday ‘A’	38	17	4	17	100	91	38
10	Halifax Town*	38	17	4	17	84	85	38
11	Goole Town	38	17	4	17	61	83	38
12	Bolsover Colliery	38	15	6	17	78	84	36
13	Thorne Colliery	38	15	5	18	75	76	35
14	Yorkshire Amateur	38	13	8	17	65	82	34
15	Barnsley ‘A’	38	15	3	20	72	81	33
16	Sheffield United ‘A’	38	12	7	19	76	85	31
17	South Kirkby Colliery	38	11	7	20	61	82	29
18	Upton Colliery	38	11	5	22	59	91	27
19	Bradford Park Avenue ‘A’	38	11	5	22	63	108	27
20	Altofts West Riding Colliery	38	7	3	28	39	135	17
		760	323	114	323	1570	1570	760

 

Bradford Park Avenue ‘A’ left and were replaced by Chesterfield ‘A’.

 

1938-1939

 

1	Sheffield Wednesday ‘A’	38	31	3	4	138	44	65
2	Leeds United ‘A’	38	30	1	7	125	47	61
3	York City*	38	24	8	6	121	44	56
4	Ollerton Colliery	38	21	5	12	83	64	47
5	Huddersfield Town ‘A’	38	19	8	11	91	71	46
6	Bridlington Town	38	17	11	10	99	71	45
7	Worksop Town	38	18	8	12	92	64	44
8	Chesterfield ‘A’	38	15	9	14	77	69	39
9	Upton Colliery	38	16	6	16	78	76	38
10	Dinnington Athletic	38	14	8	16	85	78	36
11	Sheffield United ‘A’	38	13	9	16	103	85	35
12	Barnsley ‘A’	38	12	11	15	87	87	35
13	Thorne Colliery	38	15	5	18	80	90	35
14	South Kirkby Colliery	38	13	8	17	90	94	34
15	Goole Town	38	14	4	20	74	91	32
16	Halifax Town*	38	11	8	19	81	112	30
17	Bolsover Colliery	38	11	8	19	82	125	30
18	Yorkshire Amateur	38	10	6	22	58	103	26
19	Selby Town	38	9	6	23	84	118	24
20	Altofts West Riding Colliery	38	0	2	36	30	225	2
		760	313	134	313	1758	1758	760

 

Altofts West Riding Colliery, Bolsover Colliery and Dinnington Athletic left the Yorkshire League at the end of the season.  Gainsborough Trinity Reserves, Ransome & Marles (Newark) and Scunthorpe United Reserves were elected to the 3 vacant places.  However, the competition was suspended on the outbreak of the 2^nd World War.

 

When the Yorkshire League started again in 1945 there were several changes to the line-up.  Bridlington Town, Gainsborough Trinity Reserves, Ollerton Colliery, Ransome & Marles, Upton Colliery, Worksop Town and the ‘A’ teams of Barnsley, Chesterfield, Leeds United, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday did not rejoin – a total of 11 pre-war members.  Six clubs did join, however – Bradford City ‘A’, Bradford United, Firbeck Main Colliery, Hull Aateurs, Ossett Town and Wombwell Athletic.

 

1945-1946

 

1	Wombwell Athletic	28	24	0	4	103	36	48
2	Thorne Colliery	28	17	5	6	67	50	39
3	Huddersfield Town ‘A’	28	16	6	6	82	58	38
4	Goole Town	28	11	7	10	81	54	29
5	Bradford United	28	12	5	11	72	60	29
6	Yorkshire Amateur	28	13	3	12	72	61	29
7	Scunthorpe United*	28	11	6	11	57	71	28
8	Firbeck Main Colliery	28	11	5	12	78	74	27
9	Bradford City ‘A’	28	11	5	12	71	71	27
10	Selby Town	28	9	8	11	65	76	26
11	York City*	28	8	10	10	48	57	26
12	Halifax Town*	28	8	7	13	52	83	23
13	Ossett Town	28	8	4	16	52	77	20
14	South Kirkby Colliery	28	5	6	17	51	74	16
15	Hull Amateurs	28	6	3	19	51	100	15
		420	170	80	170	1002	1002	420

 

Bradford City ‘A’ and Firbeck Main Colliery departed at the end of the season, but membership was restored to the 20-club level of 1939 through the election of Chesterfield ‘A’, Gainsborough Trinity Reserves, Harworth Colliery, Keighley Town, Leeds United ‘A’, Sheffield Wednesday ‘A’ and Upton Colliery.

 

1946-1947

 

1	Thorne Colliery	38	25	6	7	117	56	56
2	Bradford United	38	25	5	8	151	68	55
3	Huddersfield Town ‘A’	38	21	7	10	125	64	49
4	York City*	38	22	5	11	115	74	49
5	Ossett Town	38	20	9	9	96	87	49
6	Selby Town	38	20	6	12	106	75	46
7	Halifax Town*	38	18	9	11	109	77	45
8	Wombwell Athletic	38	20	4	14	114	95	44
9	Scunthorpe United*	38	20	3	15	105	74	43
10	Chesterfield ‘A’	38	15	9	14	101	83	39
11	Goole Town	38	16	5	17	88	87	37
12	Harworth Colliery	38	14	8	16	82	76	36
13	Sheffield Wednesday ‘A’	38	14	7	17	69	88	35
14	South Kirkby Colliery	38	13	8	17	79	85	34
15	Leeds United ‘A’	38	15	4	19	83	99	34
16	Yorkshire Amateur	38	16	2	20	94	130	34
17	Gainsborough Trinity*	38	9	9	20	63	107	27
18	Keighley Town	38	9	5	24	63	87	23
19	Hull Amateurs	38	6	6	26	49	155	18
20	Upton Colliery	38	2	3	33	46	188	7
		760	320	120	320	1855	1855	760

 

Hull Amateurs, Upton Colliery and York City Reserves left the Yorkshire League and were replaced by Barnsley ‘A’, Brodsworth Main and Sheffield United ‘A’.

 

1947-1948

 

1	Goole Town	38	29	5	4	118	48	63
2	Gainsborough Trinity*	38	24	3	11	99	53	51
3	Selby Town	38	20	10	8	92	73	50
4	Harworth Colliery	38	22	4	12	92	70	48
5	Bradford United	38	20	6	12	104	56	46
6	Ossett Town	38	17	11	10	91	95	45
7	Barnsley ‘A’	38	18	8	12	68	59	44
8	Thorne Colliery	38	19	2	17	90	83	40
9	Scunthorpe United*	38	15	9	14	83	90	39
10	Wombwell Athletic	38	17	4	17	85	92	38
11	Chesterfield ‘A’	38	15	5	18	82	70	35
12	Halifax Town*	38	13	9	16	77	72	35
13	Sheffield Wednesday ‘A’	38	15	5	18	81	83	35
14	South Kirkby Colliery	38	14	6	18	82	92	34
15	Yorkshire Amateur	38	15	2	21	89	97	32
16	Leeds United ‘A’	38	12	8	18	78	93	32
17	Sheffield United ‘A’	38	11	7	20	61	105	29
18	Brodsworth Main	38	11	5	22	80	98	27
19	Huddersfield Town ‘A’	38	6	7	25	53	118	19
20	Keighley Town	38	6	6	26	53	111	18
		760	319	122	319	1658	1658	760

 

Bradford United and Keighley Town departed at the end of the season.  Bradford Park Avenue ‘A’ and Rotherham United ‘A’ took their places.  Goole Town also left the Yorkshire League, but placed their reserve team in the competition instead of their first team.

 

1948-1949

 

1	Sheffield United ‘A’	38	26	4	8	98	49	56
2	Goole Town*	38	26	3	9	114	55	55
3	Gainsborough Trinity*	38	22	6	10	99	60	50
4	Selby Town	38	20	4	14	93	69	44
5	Ossett Town	38	19	6	13	94	73	44
6	Rotherham United ‘A’	38	17	9	12	79	62	43
7	Halifax Town*	38	18	7	13	86	82	43
8	Huddersfield Town ‘A’	38	15	9	14	65	72	39
9	Leeds United ‘A’	38	17	5	16	85	93	39
10	Wombwell Athletic	38	15	8	15	74	81	38
11	Chesterfield ‘A’	38	14	9	15	68	92	37
12	Scunthorpe United*	38	12	12	14	83	82	36
13	Barnsley ‘A’	38	13	9	16	79	86	35
14	Sheffield Wednesday ‘A’	38	13	8	17	70	78	34
15	Harworth Colliery	38	10	13	15	90	98	33
16	Yorkshire Amateur	38	11	9	18	62	74	31
17	Thorne Colliery	38	12	5	21	68	91	29
18	Brodsworth Main	38	9	8	21	65	106	26
19	South Kirkby Colliery	38	11	3	24	85	107	25
20	Bradford Park Avenue ‘A’	38	10	3	25	65	112	23
		760	310	140	310	1622	1622	760

 

After the end of the season the decision was taken to introduce a 2-division structure to the Yorkshire League, with 18 clubs in each section.  Bradford Park Avenue ‘A’ and South Kirkby Colliery were therefore ‘relegated’ to the new 2^nd Division, joining the League’s 16 new members there.  The 18 remaining clubs formed the new Division 1.  These included Halifax Town ‘A’, who replaced the club’s reserve team in the section.

 

1949-1950

 

Division 1

 

1	Goole Town*	34	27	3	4	91	37	57
2	Wombwell Athletic	34	22	6	6	73	29	50
3	Ossett Town	34	22	4	8	120	61	48
4	Scunthorpe United*	34	17	11	6	75	44	45
5	Yorkshire Amateur	34	19	5	10	85	55	43
6	Gainsborough Trinity*	34	15	10	9	79	57	40
7	Rotherham United ‘A’	34	15	7	12	64	54	37
8	Selby Town	34	15	6	13	82	63	36
9	Sheffield United ‘A’	34	15	4	15	75	52	34
10	Barnsley ‘A’	34	13	7	14	53	49	33
11	Sheffield Wednesday ‘A’	34	12	7	15	52	55	31
12	Huddersfield Town ‘A’	34	12	6	16	58	65	30
13	Brodsworth Main	34	11	8	15	53	68	30
14	Leeds United ‘A’	34	11	7	16	62	67	29
15	Halifax Town ‘A’	34	11	4	19	52	71	26
16	Chesterfield ‘A’	34	6	7	21	48	90	19
17	Thorne Colliery	34	7	5	22	62	124	19
18	Harworth Colliery	34	2	1	31	31	174	5
		612	252	108	252	1215	1215	612

 

Scunthorpe United Reserves moved to the Midland League and Harworth Colliery resigned.  This meant only two sides were relegated – Chesterfield ‘A’ and Thorne Colliery.

 

Division 2

 

1	Retford Town*	34	23	5	6	91	55	51
2	Beighton Miners’ Welfare	34	21	7	6	103	60	49
3	Scarborough*	34	20	8	6	95	47	48
4	Dinnington Athletic	34	21	6	7	82	53	48
5	Norton Woodseats	34	20	4	10	86	49	44
6	Bentley Colliery	34	19	6	9	96	69	44
7	Stocksbridge Works	34	20	3	11	78	68	43
8	Farsley Celtic	34	16	5	13	100	76	37
9	Bradford Park Avenue ‘A’	34	15	6	13	71	65	36
10	Sheffield	34	14	4	16	89	79	32
11	Hull City ‘A’	34	14	4	16	99	89	32
12	Worksop Town*	34	12	6	16	78	86	30
13	Doncaster Rovers ‘A’	34	11	8	15	60	78	30
14	South Kirkby Colliery	34	9	6	19	61	86	24
15	Frickley Colliery*	34	8	7	19	71	109	23
16	Maltby Main	34	4	8	22	48	117	16
17	York City ‘A’	34	4	7	23	54	94	15
18	Kiveton Park	34	3	4	27	47	129	10
		612	254	104	254	1409	1409	612

 

Beighton Miners’ Welfare, Dinnington Athletic, Retford Town Reserves and Scarborough Reserves were promoted.  Bradford United re-joined the Yorkshire League.  Division 2 now had 17 clubs.