It is impossible to overstate the scale of Castleford’s achievement in reaching the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final in only their ninth season as a senior club. Although they were surprise semi-finalists in 1928/29, the club’s highest league position in their first seven seasons in the Northern Rugby League was 20th in 1930/31. Then came a breakthrough in 1932/33 when they won the Yorkshire League Championship. This proved to be a springboard to the success they enjoyed during the rest of the decade.

Having beaten the reigning cup holders Hunslet on their way to the final, the “Babes” – as the press had nicknamed them – now faced the 1933 cup winners Huddersfield in the final. At 17-years-old, one of the “Babes”, Bernard Cunniffe, became, at the time, the youngest player ever to have played in the final. Huddersfield had already won the trophy four times and had never lost a final, so Castleford were clear underdogs.

However, the Castleford faithful were confident that their team would be victorious. Hundreds of them turned out early on the Friday morning to see the team as they started their journey to London from Castleford railway station. The team received a rousing reception as they boarded the train and railway staff ensured that the journey started with a bang by planting detonators on the line which exploded as the train ran over them. Their first stop was in Wakefield where they had to wait half an hour for the train from Leeds to London, which they then transferred to. During this time the party were joined by Billy Davies who had missed the train in Castleford having travelled from his home in York. Leslie Adams was already on the train from Leeds having travelled from his home in the city.

The party, which included the club directors and players’ wives and girlfriends, arrived on time at Kings Cross after having lunch on the journey down. In bright afternoon sunshine their first action was to travel to the Cenotaph where club chairman, Gideon Shaw, laid a wreath in remembrance of those lost during the Great War. They then travelled to the Brent Bridge Hotel in Golders Green, which was to be their base for the weekend. Having checked in and deposited their luggage they made the journey to Wembley to get a feel for the stadium. From there they returned to their hotel for a quiet evening and an early night ahead of the big day.

Meanwhile, back in Castleford thousands of supporters were beginning to embark on their journeys to the capital. The first of the special trains left just after midnight and others followed at regular intervals through the night. One of the trains, chartered by the Supporters Club, was christened the “Super Six Express” as a tribute to the Castleford forwards who had played such a big part in the club’s progress to the final.

Supporters arriving in London found themselves in the middle of a city in celebration as Cup Final weekend coincided with festivities marking the Silver Jubilee of King George V. The morning was bright and sunny and the colours worn by supporters of both clubs mingled with the many red, white and blue decorations adorning many buildings as part of the Jubilee celebrations. Many of the visitors from the north spent the morning sightseeing before making their way out of the city centre towards the stadium at Wembley.

Both teams were well supported with thousands of supporters having travelled down from the north. The attendance was further boosted by the players from the French team who had played in a representative match at Headingley the previous Monday to promote the newly formed French Rugby League.

The players were still in a relaxed mood when they arrived at the stadium and were philosophical about losing the toss for the choice of dressing rooms. Having won the toss, Huddersfield chose to use the dressing rooms they occupied when they won the final two years previously. There had been doubts in the build-up to the match regarding the fitness of Adams and Croston, but both were judged as being fit to play. So, Castleford were at full strength which meant there was no place for the unfortunate Donald Knowles who had been a try scorer in both the quarter- and semi-finals. Huddersfield were almost at full strength, with only Australian winger Mills missing through injury.

Castleford: 1 Lewis 2 Cunniffe 3 Atkinson 4 Croston 5 Askin 6 Davies 7 Adams 8 McManus 9 Haley 10 Taylor 11 Crossley 12 Smith 13 Sadler

Huddersfield: 1 Scourfield 2 Mountain 3 Towill 4 Fiddes 5 Markham 6 Richards 7 Davies 8 Roberts 9 Watson 10 Sherwood 11 Tiffany 12 Fuller 13 Talbot

Referee: A E Harding (Broughton)

Attendance: 39,000

Castleford started very confidently and in the first three minutes Adams kicked through from half-way to find touch just three yards from the Huddersfield try line. In the play that followed, Huddersfield were penalised but Lewis missed a very kickable penalty. Shortly afterwards, quick handling provided a chance for Atkinson but he dropped the ball with the line wide open. He failed with another penalty attempt soon afterwards meaning that a possible nine points had been squandered within the first five minutes. Undaunted, the Castleford forwards continued to dominate and Cunniffe pulled off an excellent tackle on Huddersfield’s powerful Australian winger Markham when he threatened the Castleford line.

However, against the run of play Huddersfield took the lead after 18 minutes. Scrum-half Davies made a break from a scrum near half-way and sent his centre Towill away to score the first try. Undeterred, Castleford bounced back with Adams creating space for Atkinson and Cunniffe to break away with Atkinson just failing to hold the final pass with the line begging. They eventually got onto the scoreboard when Atkinson finally converted a penalty with his most difficult attempt so far and shortly afterwards took a deserved lead. On 29 minutes, stand-off Davies made the initial break before moving the ball to Croston. He made good ground, breaking tackles before handing on to Askin who completed the move to score an excellent try. Atkinson failed to convert but Cas had a 5-3 lead as half time approached.

Huddersfield started the second half much more aggressively, finally putting the Castleford try line under pressure. However, Castleford weathered the storm and responded with two tries in a six-minute spell. The first came from a kick which Huddersfield prop forward Sherwood failed to gather when challenged by Sadler. Adams pounced on the loose ball before anyone else could react to put Cas five points ahead. Atkinson missed the conversion but Huddersfield were now rattled and began making mistakes in possession allowing Castleford to extend their advantage. Following a break by Askin, a flowing passing move found Cunniffe on the opposite wing. He was faced by Markham but didn’t hesitate to go round him. Although Markham made the tackle he was unable to prevent Cunniffe from grounding the ball to extend the lead to 11-3.

Although they now had a probable match-winning lead, Castleford continued to play open, attacking rugby and looked likely to extend their lead further. Cunniffe almost put the result beyond doubt, but his score was disallowed after the referee judged that he had made a double movement. However, Huddersfield finally sparked into life and began to threaten the Castleford line. With time running out, their play became more and more desperate and Atkinson pulled off a try saving tackle on Tiffany when he looked a certain scorer. They gained some reward with a penalty goal to bring the score to 11-5 with six minutes remaining. One more desperate attacking move resulted in a try for Fiddes to reduce the margin to three points but there was no time for more with Castleford holding on to their 11-8 lead to win the trophy for the first time.

Castleford were deserved winners and Huddersfield were flattered by the final score, such was Castleford’s dominance. Their forwards dominated the Huddersfield pack and, despite Huddersfield’s late rally, the result was never really in doubt. Arthur Atkinson was able to lead his team up the steps to receive the cup from Lord Cozens-Hardy and the league Chairman, Mr J Lewthwaite.

Following the presentation the team went on the traditional lap of honour around the stadium. As the team made their way round, Arthur Atkinson made a point of taking the cup across to an enclosure containing hundreds of school children, many of whom had made the journey in a party organised by Whitwood Mere Junior School. This act illustrated the strong bond that had developed between the players and the local community.

It had certainly been an unforgettable day for the thousands of Cas supporters who had made the journey. On leaving the stadium many returned to the city centre to join in the Silver Jubilee celebrations before catching their trains back up north. It had been a very long day, but it was one they would never forget. Back in Castleford the celebrations continued through the weekend with many street parties being organised to make the most of the club's achievement.

The team, however, were in no hurry to get home. They stayed in London until the Tuesday after the final before returning by train to Wakefield. Arriving at 5.10pm, the players transferred from the train onto a coach decorated in the club colours for the final leg of their journey by road back to Castleford. Perhaps surprisingly, there were hundreds of people in the area around the station and all the way up Westgate hoping to get a glimpse of the cup. This delayed their departure slightly before heading out of the city. However, they had one more stop before they reached Castleford. The club had accepted an invitation from Normanton Urban Council to attend a civic reception at Normanton Council Chamber. Again, the surrounding streets were lined with supporters keen to greet local lad Jim Crossley and his team-mates. Although the official reception lasted only about 20 minutes, the onward journey to Castleford took considerably longer as the streets were crowded with well-wishers most of the way into the town and further unscheduled stops were made at Whitwood and Hightown.

As the bus made its way down Carlton Street the players held the cup aloft through the open roof as thousands of fans cheered them along. They were escorted by two mounted policemen as the Ambulance Band marched ahead. As the bus passed by, supporters followed as the party made their way towards Castleford Town Hall which was decorated in the club’s black and amber colours. The area around the Town Hall was packed with supporters with the crowd extending far along Ferrybridge Road and Healdfield Road. On disembarking from their coach – 45 minutes later than anticipated – the players were greeted by the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Castleford Urban Council, J Dodd JP and WF Chrispin JP. Then followed speeches on the steps of the Town Hall. The Chairman of the Council gave a speech praising the team’s efforts and thanking them for “putting Castleford on the map”. Arthur Atkinson, Leslie Adams and club Chairman Gideon Shaw responded on behalf of the club, thanking the thousands gathered outside for their support. Following the singing of the National Anthem the players and officials then moved indoors to the Council Chamber of a brief champagne reception.

However, the night was not yet over. The players and officials returned to the coach to fulfil a promise to visit Wheldon Lane, where no fewer than five of the players lived. After stopping all traffic at Bridge Foot the party continued through more crowds down the Lane. One of the locals had organised a house-to-house collection to pay for decorations that were hanging from every possible location. Some houses, including Bernard Cunniffe’s on Princess Street, were covered in Castleford favours. The bus then did a tour of Duke Street, William Street and Smith Street – all of which stood just across the road from the ground – before heading back through Castleford towards the Three Lane Ends home of Frank Smith. The trip finally ended back in Castleford Town Centre where the evening concluded with a victory ball at the Kiosk Ballroom.

So ended one of the most famous events it the club’s history.