1966–67 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

1966–67 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
StructureFloodlit knockout championship
Teams11
WinnersCastleford
Runners-upSwinton

The 1966–67 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the second occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held.

Castleford won the trophy by beating Swinton by the score of 7-2
The match was played at Wheldon Road, Castleford, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 8,986 and receipts were £1,692
This was to be the second of Castleford's three victories in successive seasons in the first three Floodlit competitions

Background

This season the original eight invitees were joined by Barrow, Rochdale Hornets and Salford bringing the total of entrants up to eleven, an increase of three.
This involved the introduction of a preliminary knock-out round on a two legged home and away basis, to reduce the numbers to eight, followed by a mini-league and with the semi-finals and final stages again being on a knock out basis.

Competition and results

[1]

Preliminary round – first leg

Involved 3 matches and 6 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Agg Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Mon 15 Aug 1966 Leigh 11-16 Castleford Hilton Park
2 Tue 6 Sep 1966 Swinton 21-5 Rochdale Hornets Station Road 1
3 Wed 7 Sep 1966 Salford 10-19 St. Helens The Willows 5000 2 [2]

Preliminary round – second leg

Involved 3 matches and 6 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Agg Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Wed 7 Sep 1966 Castleford 39-18 Leigh Wheldon Road 55-29 3
2 Wed 5 Oct 1966 Rochdale Hornets 14-14 Swinton Athletic Grounds 19-35 4
3 Mon 26 Sep 1966 St. Helens 40-5 Salford Knowsley Road 59-15 8500 5 [2]

Round 1 – first qualifying round

Involved 4 matches and 8 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Tue 4 Oct 1966 Oldham 7-10 Barrow Watersheddings 6
2 Tue 11 Oct 1966 Leeds 11-11 Castleford Headingley
3 Tue 18 Oct 1966 St. Helens 11-9 Swinton Knowsley Road 8500 [2]
4 Tue 25 Oct 1966 Warrington 4-14 Widnes Wilderspool [3][4]

Round 2 – second qualifying round

Involved 4 matches with the same 8 clubs - but NOT reverse fixtures

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Tue 1 Nov 1966 Barrow 11-11 St. Helens Craven Park 6657 7 [2]
2 Tue 8 Nov 1966 Castleford 31-10 Warrington Wheldon Road [4]
3 Tue 22 Nov 1966 Widnes 11-14 Oldham Naughton Park [3]
4 Tue 29 Nov 1966 Swinton 10-4 Leeds Station Road

Qualifying league table

Pos Club P W D L PF PA Pts PD Notes Ref
1 Castleford 2 1 1 42 21 21 3
2 Widnes 2 1 1 25 18 7 2
3 Swinton 2 1 1 19 15 4 2
4 Barrow 2 1 1 21 18 3 3
5 St. Helens 2 1 1 22 20 2 3
6 Oldham 2 1 1 21 21 0 2
7 Leeds 2 1 1 15 21 -6 1
8 Warrington 2 2 14 45 -31 0

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

To progress to the next stage

The rules stated that the four clubs with the greatest total winning margins were to qualify, and proceed, to the semi-final.
The four clubs in this case were Castleford, Widnes, Swinton and Barrow

Round 3 – semi-finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Tue 6 Dec 1966 Castleford 21-5 Barrow Wheldon Road
2 Tue 13 Dec 1966 Widnes 6-19 Swinton Naughton Park [3]

Final

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Tuesday 20 December 1966 Castleford 7-2 Swinton Wheldon Road 8,986 1,692 8 [5][6]

Teams and scorers

Castleford № Swinton
teams
Derek Edwards 1 Ken Gowers (Capt.)
Keith Howe 2 Derek Whitehead
Ian Stenton 3 John Gomersall
Ron Willett 4 Alan Buckley
Jack Austin 5 Reg Williams
Alan "Chuck" Hardisty (capt.) 6 Bob Fleet
Keith Hepworth 7 Graham Williams
Denis Hartley 8 Ken Halliwell
Clive Dickinson 9 Derek Clarke
Harold McCartney 10 Bernard Scott
Wiliam "Bill" Bryant 11 Graham Rees
Peter Small 12 Malcolm Cummings
John Walker 13 David Robinson
Glyn Jones (unused) 14 William Davies
Tony Miller (unused) 15 Barry Simpson
George Clinton Coach Cliff Evans
7 score 2
7 HT 2
Scorers
Tries
Jack Austin (1) T
Goals
Ron Willett (1) G Derek Whitehead (1)
Keith Hepworth (1) G
Referee J Manley (Warrington)

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

[6]

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

1 * Rochdale Hornets join the competition and play first game in the competition
2 * Salford join the competition and play first game in the competition, and first at home in the competition
3 * At the time this was the highest score, highest aggregate score and greatest winning margin, but to be broken three weeks later
4 * Rochdale Hornets play their first game at home in the competition
5 * At the time this was the highest score, highest aggregate score and greatest winning margin
6 * Barrow join the competition and play first game in the competition
7 * Barrow play their first game at home in the competition
8 * Wheldon Road is the home ground of Castleford. The first match was played there in 1927 and the current capacity in the region of 13,000 although the record attendance was 25,449 set in 1935 in a Challenge Cup match against Hunslet.

See also

References

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