Burnley St. Andrews were well clear of Settle and Barnoldswick for the 1894 championship. Whalley won the first of their 15 championships the following year and the Clitheroe Times report of their return from the last match at Barnoldswick shows what interest the league was arousing in those days.

"The team on its way back came through Clitheroe in waggonettes and on reaching the scene of so many battles they celebrated the occasion with a good display of lights, fireworks etc. to the great envy, we should fancy, of our own X1 in Clitheroe. Further than this, a band was in attendance

and on reaching Whalley the little village was quite en fete…. About 1000 in the streets.”

As is quite clear from the newspaper reports of the time, the brass band was a crucial feature of all great occasions.

Barnoldswick became the fourth different team to lift the Cup (as the championship was always known) in 1896 followed by Burnley St. Andrews in 1897, their second win. It was a reward for St. Andrews go‑ahead spirit. The Burnley Express review of' prospects for 1896 reported:

‑‑‑The club has gone to the expense of enlarging the dressing pavilion to almost twice its former size. It is expected  the cost will he about £20 ... The debt on the club at the close of the season was £50 but guarantors have been got ... It is a rather singular fact that the medals which were won along with the Cup in 1894 have not yet arrived but are expected shortly.‑­

And the second cup win in 1897 was clinched by winning the last three games narrowly: Whalley by 4 runs, Barnoldswick just in the nick of' time and Read by 2 runs (76‑74 after Read collapsed from 69‑4). Read, incidentally, had arrived for the decider at 3.30 p.m. "But they are to be excused. When coming through Padiham in an open waggonette they were overtaken by a heavy shower of rain which caused them to seek shelter in a friendly house".

The 1897 season had seen the first change in the make‑up of the league.

Barnoldswick C.C. ‑ 1896 Champions

Back Row  J Eastwood (scorer) H Watson (senior), E. Fleetwood (Pro), Dr. Nielson, E. Whipp,

E. Sugden, C.R. Pollard, H. Watson Jnr.

Front Row:  0. Berridge, J. Chadwick, D.E. Garlick, A Chadwick

Barrow after finishing bottom for three seasons went to the West Lancashire League to be replaced by Darwen Etrurians and Earby. This brought the league up to 10 teams and increased the travelling required. Indeed it was the costs of the travelling which eventually led Earby to resign after four seasons and revert to the easier life of' having no professional and no umpire's expenses. They reported to the League AGM in February 1901 a loss of £70 in the previous two seasons and even a decision at that AGM to reduce clubs' expenses by reverting to home‑appointed umpires could not deter Earby from insisting on withdrawal. Darwen Etrurians stayed for two seasons, 1897 and 1898, finishing bottom in both years but the reason for their withdrawal is not clear.

1898 saw Whalley's second championship in four years, again with the help of Jack Usher as all rounder professional in his fourth year with the Club, but without Amos Hindle who had gone to Clitheroe its professional. The win was celebrated with a torchlit procession through the streets of Whalley featuring an ingenious representation of the Whalley coat of arms, three fishes hanging from a pole, and re representations of the Abbey Monks, the Whalley and Billington Band and the Whalley fire engine. In 1899 it was Clitheroe's turn to lift the Championship Cup for the first time by beating Barnoldswick on the last day of the season, R. Hanson contributing a rare century, 101 not out, to a total of 203‑5. Amos Hindle took 4 wickets in Barnoldswick's total of 95 to bring his season's tally to 64 wickets. Meanwhile Burnley St. Andrews were foiled by rain at Read and finished one point behind. The decision at a league meeting in mid‑August to restore 4 points to Burnley St. Andrews, which had been deducted for allegedly fielding ineligible players, made for an exciting finish to the season! The points system had, incidentally, been changed since 1896 season to two for a win or tie and one for a draw. The individual feat of' the season was Amos Hindle's 7 for 1 at Great Harwood which along with Tom Bourn's 2 for 3 put Great Harwood all out for 6. The analysis as shown in the Clitheroe Times makes interesting reading (they were still 5 ball overs in those days)

And an interesting sidelight on communications in those days comes with the end of the newspaper report.‑‑‑As usual a telegram was sent to the second team to let them know how their comrades were going on and as may be supposed there were not a few who thought the thing was a hoax.‑­

1900 was Great Harwood's year, their one and only championship in what was now an eight team league, Settle having withdrawn because they could not afford the travelling expenses. Finney had 100 wickets for the season. Clearly the league was still struggling. At the AGM at the Starkies Arms Hotel in Clitheroe in February 1901 a report was asked for of the interview held by a sub‑committee with the committee of the Lancashire League as to the formation of' a second division and the inclusion in it of the clubs of the Ribblesdale League. The response of the new secretary, T. Spencer of Padiham, was that the interview had not actually been held owing to pressure of' business on the part of' the Lancashire League Committee but that, as far as he was aware, there was no possibility of the proposition being entertained.

Great Harwood C.C. 1900 Champions

And an article in the Clitheroe Times the previous September had posed the question quite starkly.

Will the Ribblesdale league survive another year? Such seams to be the question uppermost in the league representatives and all well wishes of cricket, ourselves included, Interest in the tournament seems to be at ebb and flow for some time now but this season has been visited with a steady waning current and at present we have the notification that two clubs have designs on severing their connections with the league: in fact they have almost unanimous decisions decided to withdraw. Earby have tendered their withdrawal and Tuesday evening brought a similar design from an extraordinary meeting at Barnoldswick C. C. the expenses are too great and the main item in the expenditure account appears to be the umpires fee.

In fact Barnoldswick remained in what a seven team league for 1901. Clitheroe took their second title and celebrated in customary fashion.

On Saturday afternoon last the members of the Clitheroe Cricket Team and the Borough Band went it Harwood to receive the Cup. The presentation was made on the field. The Band rendered various selections after which the members returned to Clitheroe and the principal streets of the town were paraded, ending at the New Inn, the headquarters of the club, where various toasts were proposed.

The close season following the 1901 season saw the biggest crisis the Ribblesdale League has ever faced. The Annual General Meeting at Barnoldswick in late October heard that invitations to Low Moor, Sabden and Barrow had been turned down because they could not afford professionals. Read, thereupon, proposed that the remaining seven clubs should not play clubs which had withdrawn (which was defeated) and that each club should play the other four times. Those with a strong tradition of friendlies were naturally against but the voting ended 4‑4 (Barnoldswick had both a representative and the Vice‑ President). The President Mr. Thompson of Whalley used his casting vote in favour of the motion but by the end of the meeting realised that the objections of Whalley, Clitheroe and Barnoldswick were so strong that the motion could not be put into effect. The fixtures, which were usually, arranged at the AGM, were left in abeyance and representatives were instructed to return in two weeks time to discuss the possibility of each club playing the other three times, a compromise suggested by the Clitheroe representative, Mr. N. Aldersley. The adjourned meeting at Padiham agreed on the proposed system but Whalley wrote three weeks later to say that they refused to play three matches against every club. A special league meeting was called in Whalley at which Whalley Chairman, Mr, J.H. Thompson, stated that they would play two league matches and a friendly. It was pointed out to him that at certain league matches as much as £8 was drawn at the gate while the friendly match played by the same Club under similar weather conditions only realised 18/‑(90p). But Whalley were adamant and since they refused to withdraw from the league they were expelled by 4 votes to 1. Clitheroe thereupon withdrew from the league in sympathy, the President Mr. J.R. Thompson resigned and it was agreed that the remaining members of the league would not play against Whalley and Clitheroe. Yet another meeting was held in late December at Burnley at which Barnoldswick requested permission to play Whalley and Clitheroe, were refused and withdrew, "after which there was a noisy discussion and the meeting ultimately broke up in disorder". With only four teams left, the original plan of having each club playing the others four times was revived.

So the 1902 championship was contested between Burnley St. Andrews, who won the Cup for the third time, Padiham, Read and Great Harwood, Burnley St. Andrews' professional Holsinger from Ceylon took 73 wickets in the 12.