1965–66 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
StructureFloodlit knockout championship
Teams8
WinnersCastleford
Runners-upSt. Helens

The 1965–66 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the inaugural season of the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition. Castleford won the trophy by beating St. Helens with a score of 4–0. The match was played at Knowsley Road, Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. The attendance was 11,510 and receipts were £3,548. This was to be the first of Castleford's three victories in successive seasons in the first three Floodlit competitions.

Background

This season there were only eight teams entering, all by invite, playing eleven matches for which the BBC paid the RFL a grand total of £9,000.00. The entrants included the seven clubs with permanent floodlights: Castleford, Leigh, Oldham, St Helens, Swinton, Warrington and Widnes together with Leeds, who installed floodlights in September 1966. The competition was played in the form of a mini-league with the semi-finals and final stages being on a knock out basis.

Competition and results

Qualifying rounds

Each team played two matches in the qualifying round. All teams played one home game each except Leeds, who played both games away from home as their floodlights still needed to be installed.[1]

The four teams with the best points difference qualified for the semi-finals.

Round 1

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Tue 6 Oct 1965St. Helens25–19LeighKnowsley Road13000[2][3]
2Tue 12 Oct 1965Warrington10–20WidnesWilderspool[4][5]
3Tue 19 Oct 1965Swinton21–5OldhamStation Road
4Tue 26 Oct 1965Castleford7–7LeedsWheldon Road

Round 2

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Tue 2 Nov 1965Leigh13–9WarringtonHilton Park[4]
2Tue 9 Nov 1965Widnes19–8SwintonNaughton Park[5]
3Tue 16 Nov 1965St. Helens21–9LeedsKnowsley Road5600[2]
4Tue 25 Nov 1965Oldham4–6CastlefordWatersheddings

Table

Pos Club P W D L PF PA Pts PD
1Widnes22003918421
2St. Helens22004628418
3Swinton2101292425
4Castleford2110131132
5Leigh210132342-2
6Leeds201116281-12
7Warrington200219330-14
8Oldham20029270-18

Pos = Finishing position P = Games played W = Wins D = Draw L = Lose
PF = Points scored PA = Points against Pts = League points PD = Points scored difference

Semi-finals

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Tue 30 Nov 1965Widnes9–12CastlefordNaughton Park[5]
2Tue 7 Dec 1965St. Helens9–5SwintonKnowsley Road9000[2]

Final

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Tuesday 14 December 1965St. Helens0–4CastlefordKnowsley Road11,510£3,5481[2][6][7]

Teams and scorers

Castleford № St. Helens
teams
Derek Edwards1Frank Barrow
Colin Battye2Tom van Vollenhoven
Malcolm Battye3David Wood
Ron Willett4Billy Benyon
Trevor Briggs5Len Killeen
Alan "Chuck" Hardisty6Alex Murphy
Roger Millward7Bob Prosser
Abe Terry8Ray French
John Ward9Robert "Bob" Dagnall
Clive Dickinson10Cliff Watson
Wiliam "Bill" Bryant11Merv Hicks
John Taylor12John Mantle
Peter Small13Doug Laughton
Trevor Bedford (unused?)14
John Walker (unused?)15
George ClintonCoachJoe Coen
4score0
2HT0
Scorers
Goals
Ron Willett (2)G
RefereeLaurie Gant (Wakefield)

Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points

[2][7]

The play-offs

Semi-Finals Final
      
2 St. Helens 9
3 Swinton 5
St. Helens 0
Castleford 4
1 Widnes 9
4 Castleford 12

Notes and comments

Knowsley Road was the home of St Helens R.F.C. from 1890 until its closure in 2010. The final capacity was 17,500 although the record attendance was 35,695 set on 26 December 1949 for a league game between St Helens and Wigan.

General information

The Rugby League BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was a knock-out competition sponsored by the BBC and between rugby league clubs, entrance to which was conditional upon the club having floodlights. Most matches were played on an evening, and those of which the second half was televised, were played on a Tuesday evening.

Despite the competition being named as 'Floodlit', many matches took place during the afternoons and not under floodlights, and several of the entrants, including Barrow and Bramley, did not have adequate lighting. When in 1973, due to the world oil crisis, the government restricted the use of floodlights in sport, all of the matches, including the Trophy final, had to be played in the afternoon rather than at night. The Rugby League season always (until the onset of "Summer Rugby" in 1996) ran from around August-time through to around May-time and this competition always took place early in the season, in the Autumn, with the final taking place in December (the only exception to this was when disruption of the fixture list was caused by inclement weather).

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Rugby League Project".
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  3. ↑ Club Programme dept. Match Programme. St Helens RLFC.
  4. 1 2 "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 6 July 2010.
  5. 1 2 3 "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  6. ↑ Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
  7. 1 2 Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.
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