1965–66 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

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
1 Tue 6 Oct 1965 St. Helens 25–19 Leigh Knowsley Road 13000 [2][3]
2 Tue 12 Oct 1965 Warrington 10–20 Widnes Wilderspool [4][5]
3 Tue 19 Oct 1965 Swinton 21–5 Oldham Station Road
4 Tue 26 Oct 1965 Castleford 7–7 Leeds Wheldon Road

Round 2

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Tue 2 Nov 1965 Leigh 13–9 Warrington Hilton Park [4]
2 Tue 9 Nov 1965 Widnes 19–8 Swinton Naughton Park [5]
3 Tue 16 Nov 1965 St. Helens 21–9 Leeds Knowsley Road 5600 [2]
4 Tue 25 Nov 1965 Oldham 4–6 Castleford Watersheddings

Table

Pos Club P W D L PF PA Pts PD
1 Widnes 2 2 0 0 39 18 4 21
2 St. Helens 2 2 0 0 46 28 4 18
3 Swinton 2 1 0 1 29 24 2 5
4 Castleford 2 1 1 0 13 11 3 2
5 Leigh 2 1 0 1 32 34 2 -2
6 Leeds 2 0 1 1 16 28 1 -12
7 Warrington 2 0 0 2 19 33 0 -14
8 Oldham 2 0 0 2 9 27 0 -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
1 Tue 30 Nov 1965 Widnes 9–12 Castleford Naughton Park [5]
2 Tue 7 Dec 1965 St. Helens 9–5 Swinton Knowsley Road 9000 [2]

Final

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Tuesday 14 December 1965 St. Helens 0–4 Castleford Knowsley Road 11,510 £3,548 1 [2][6][7]

Teams and scorers

Castleford № St. Helens
teams
Derek Edwards 1 Frank Barrow
Colin Battye 2 Tom van Vollenhoven
Malcolm Battye 3 David Wood
Ron Willett 4 Billy Benyon
Trevor Briggs 5 Len Killeen
Alan "Chuck" Hardisty 6 Alex Murphy
Roger Millward 7 Bob Prosser
Abe Terry 8 Ray French
John Ward 9 Robert "Bob" Dagnall
Clive Dickinson 10 Cliff Watson
Wiliam "Bill" Bryant 11 Merv Hicks
John Taylor 12 John Mantle
Peter Small 13 Doug Laughton
Trevor Bedford (unused?) 14
John Walker (unused?) 15
George Clinton Coach Joe Coen
4 score 0
2 HT 0
Scorers
Goals
Ron Willett (2) G
Referee Laurie 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

See also

References

  1. ^ "Rugby League Project".
  2. ^ a b c d e "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  3. ^ Club Programme dept. Match Programme. St Helens RLFC.
  4. ^ a b "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 6 July 2010.
  5. ^ a b c "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. ^ a b Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.