‘A celebration for the whole town’ - A reflection on Dewsbury’s 1943 Challenge Cup heroics

And how fitting that this is the case nearly 80 years on from when the club last got their hands on rugby league’s most coveted trophy.

A showpiece occasion in the sport’s calendar, the Challenge Cup final is traditionally played in the capital at Wembley - Dewsbury even had the honour of participating in the first final hosted by the famous stadium in 1929 when current record holders Wigan, with 20 victories, won it for the second time.

Dewsbury, however, didn’t head to London, and Wembley, in 1943. That historic final was, in fact, a two-legged affair with Leeds played over three days in late April.

Dewsbury won the first leg 16-9 at their old Cross Flatt ground on Saturday, April 24, and although Leeds recorded a 6-0 victory at Headingley in the second leg on Monday, April 26, it wasn’t enough to prevent Dewsbury from lifting the Challenge Cup for only the second time in their history.

They haven’t won it since.

The club’s player liaison officer, Ray Abbey, who has had a distinguished career in rugby league, especially at Dewsbury, Leeds, Hunslet and Bramley, was born eight months after this success.

“It would have been a celebration for the whole town,” he revealed. “They would have all been local lads because that was the system.”

Ray experienced this hometown culture of rugby league when he first started watching games at his local club Hunslet Parkside, before playing throughout the school system and eventually reaching a Challenge Cup final of his own in 1965, although Wigan beat Hunslet for their seventh triumph.

He said: “When I first went down to Parkside at Hunslet as a five year old, there were 19 schools in Hunslet that all played rugby league football. That would have been the same in Dewsbury, Batley and Wakefield as well. It was a way of life.

“I was in the Wembley squad in 1965, got the shirt, got the medal, got everything. In that squad, out of the 17, 13 of that team came through the Hunslet schools.

“And when you look back on the history of Dewsbury and their great sides, they are all local lads.

“It’s great to look back on. People walking up the hill to Crown Flatt. It was for local people. It was a way of life every Saturday afternoon. We have a fantastic history at Dewsbury.”

Steeped in history and glory, the final at Wembley brings the whole rugby league community together, with coaches running from amateur clubs to the game from all over the country.

And Ray believes it is a “special event.”

He said: “My first visit to Wembley was with the Hunslet schools when I was 12 and it was special. And it still is. It is a special event. It’s like Wimbledon or Lords Cricket Ground.

“To go down when there used to be over 100,000 there every year, it was a wonderful, wonderful day. I have great memories.

“For any club to get there it is a wonderful achievement. It is a special event in the rugby league calendar. It always will be.”

There is certainly no pressure on the Rams to emulate the success of 1943. But after an encouraging start to their 2023 season, which has seen six league wins out of six, as well as their three victories in the Cup, including the impressive 32-12 win over Widnes Vikings, confidence is high.

And head coach Liam Finn, who has experienced the highs and lows of Challenge Cup finals at Wembley, both as a fan and as a player, hopes his team are doing the town proud.

He said: “When I was growing up, getting to Wembley and the Challenge Cup final was the biggest deal of the year. I was fortunate enough as a really young Halifax fan to go twice to Wembley two years in a row in 1987 and 1988.

“They won it once and what it does for the town and the people of rugby league is huge. That was my abiding memory. I know what the impact it has had on the town. They still talk about it in Halifax now. That shows the magnitude of the achievement.

“I then played in a final for Castleford in 2014 but we lost to Leeds. It is not a nice place to lose.

“It would have been absolutely huge (for Dewsbury winning the Cup in 1943). Probably even more so back then because there was no TV and everybody went to the games.

“I’d imagine the crowds would have swelled significantly and the homecoming, and the how much of a buzz there would have been in the town when they came back, you can picture it.

“We are now just trying to do our bit to improve Dewsbury Rams as a rugby league club and make people proud to come and watch us and make people want to come and watch us. We said that at the start of the season. And a cup run always makes that feel a bit better.”

Reiss Butterworth, who works as an apprentice electrician alongside his role as captain of the semi-professional team, has insisted that the incentive of a more realistic outing at Wembley - in the 1895 Cup - is “massive.”

He said: “It is a privilege and honour, especially as no one expected us to beat Widnes, so to turn up and do them on the day, and get a good draw at London, it is putting things into reality.

“People who don’t know rugby, as soon as you mention the words ‘Challenge Cup’, everyone knows what it is. It is a massive part of our game and it is historic.

“In football they’ve got the FA Cup, we’ve got the Challenge Cup. It was the only rugby that was on BBC growing up and anyone could watch it.

“If we go down there and put a number over London, then we might get one of the big teams and hopefully get a home draw.

“But we’ve firstly got to beat London. We are just focusing on London at the minute and they are a really good side.

“If we win there is also the 1895 Cup and a chance of Dewsbury Rams getting back to Wembley. That is a massive thing as well.

“It’s been quite a few years since we have had a winning culture at Dewsbury and we’re starting to sort that out now. We can tell with the supporters that the crowds are starting to build again and it’s getting better and better.”