1975–76 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
StructureFloodlit knockout championship
Teams22
WinnersSt. Helens
Runners-upDewsbury

The 1975–76 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the eleventh occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held.

St. Helens won the trophy by beating Dewsbury by the score of 22-2
The match was played at Knowsley Road, Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. The attendance was 3,858, and the receipts were £1,747

Background

This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at twenty-two.
The format was again changed slightly, in that the preliminary round as well as the remainder of the tournament was played on a knock-out basis.
The preliminary round now involved twelve clubs, to reduce the numbers taking part in the competition proper to just sixteen.

Competition and results

[1][2]

Preliminary round

Involved 6 matches and 12 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
PSun 14 Sep 1975Dewsbury7-3Wakefield TrinityCrown Flatt1[3]
PSun 14 Sep 1975Halifax6-32BramleyThrum Hall
PTue 23 Sep 1975Swinton6-12WarringtonStation Road[4]
PWed 24 Sep 1975Leeds21-10CastlefordHeadingley
PTue 30 Sep 1975Wigan14-14SalfordCentral Park[5]
PWed 8 Oct 1975Rochdale Hornets7-15St. HelensAthletic Grounds805[6]

Preliminary round – replays

Involved 4 matches and the same 8 Clubs in reverse fixtures (the other two matches were on a single leg basis)

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
RTue 7 Oct 1975Salford19-25WiganThe Willows[5]

Round 1 – first round

Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Tue 30 Sep 1975Oldham16-10WidnesWatersheddings[7]
2Tue 7 Oct 1975Dewsbury22-10KeighleyCrown Flatt
3Tue 7 Oct 1975Hull Kingston Rovers11-12HuddersfieldCraven Park (1)[8]
4Tue 14 Oct 1975Barrow12-7LeighCraven Park (1)
5Tue 21 Oct 1975Hull F.C.18-11BramleyBoulevard[9]
6Tue 21 Oct 1975New Hunslet9-10LeedsElland Road Greyhound Stadium
7Wed 22 Oct 1975St. Helens38-10WhitehavenKnowsley Road2,600[6]
8Tue 28 Oct 1975Warrington8-14WiganWilderspool2[4][5]

Round 2 – quarter finals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Tue 4 Nov 1975Leeds17-10WiganHeadingley2[5]
2Tue 11 Nov 1975Oldham9-11DewsburyWatersheddings
3Tue 18 Nov 1975St. Helens36-13Hull F.C.Knowsley Road2,500[6][9]
4Tue 25 Nov 1975Barrow14-0HuddersfieldCraven Park[8]

Round 3 – semi-finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Tue 2 Dec 1975St. Helens11-9BarrowKnowsley Road2.000[6]
2Tue 9 Dec 1975Dewsbury7-0LeedsCrown Flatt

Final

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
FTuesday 16 December 1975St. Helens22-2DewsburyKnowsley Road3,85817472 3 4[6][10][11]

Teams and scorers

[6][10]

St. Helens № Dewsbury
teams
Geoff Pimblett1Langley
Les Jones2Hegarty
Billy Benyon3Chalkley
David Hull4Simpson
Roy Mathias5Mitchell
Frank Wilson6Nigel Stephenson
Jeff Heaton7Alan Bates
John Mantle8Harry Beverley
Anthony "Tony" Karalius9Price
Mel James10Hankins
George Nicholls11Halloran
Eric Chisnall12Bell
Kel Coslett13Jeff Grayshon
Eric AshtonCoachDave Cox
22score2
11HT0
Scorers
Tries
Billy Benyon (1)T
David Hull (1)T
Roy Mathias (2)T
Frank Wilson (1)T
Goals
Kel Coslett (1)GNigel Stephenson (1)
Geoff Pimblett (2)G
Drop Goals
Jeff Heaton (1)DG
RefereeW H (Billy) Thompson (Huddersfield)

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

The road to success

This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

First round Second round Semi-finals Final
            
St Helens 38
Whitehaven 10
St Helens 36
Hull F.C. 13
Hull F.C. 18
Bramley 11
St Helens 11
Barrow 9
Barrow 12
Leigh 7
Barrow 14
Huddersfield 0
Hull Kingston Rovers 11
Huddersfield 12
St Helens 22
Dewsbury 2
Oldham 16
Widnes 10
Oldham 9
Dewsbury 11
Dewsbury 22
Keighley 10
Dewsbury 7
Leeds 0
New Hunslet 9
Leeds 10
Leeds 17
Wigan 10
Warrington 8
Wigan 14

Notes and comments

1 * Dewsbury, who joined the competition in season 1973–74, win their first game in the competition
2 * This match was televised
3 * The Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991[10] and 1991-92[11] and the RUGBYLEAGUEprojects[1] gives the attendance as 3,858 but theofficial St. Helens archives[6] give it as 3,850
4 * 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 for those unfamiliar

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. And, when in 1973, due to the world oil crisis, the government restricted the use of floodlights in sport, all 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. 1 2 "Rugby League Project".
  2. ↑ "Wigan "Cherry and White" matches".
  3. ↑ "I'm Wakefield 'til I die..."
  4. 1 2 "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results". Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  7. ↑ "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  8. 1 2 "Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage" (PDF).
  9. 1 2 "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
  10. 1 2 3 Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.
  11. 1 2 Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
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