1971–72 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

1971–72 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
StructureFloodlit knockout championship
Teams18
WinnersSt. Helens
Runners-upRochdale Hornets

The 1971–72 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the seventh occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held.
This year was another new name on the trophy
St. Helens won the trophy by beating Rochdale Hornets by the score of 8-2
The match was played at Knowsley Road, Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. The attendance was 9,255 and receipts were £2,493
This was St. Helens first victory after being runner-up in three of the previous six finals

Background

This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at eighteen.
The format was changed back to that favoured in previous seasons when the preliminary round was played on a two-legged home and away basis with the rest of the tournament being played on a knock-out basis.
The preliminary round involved four clubs, to reduce the numbers to sixteen.

Competition and results

[1]

Preliminary round – first leg

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref
P1 Mon 13 Sep 1971 Wigan 23-11 Barrow Central Park [2]
P1 Wed 15 Sep 1971 Rochdale Hornets 28-2 Oldham Athletic Grounds

Preliminary round – second leg

Involved 2 matches and the same 4 Clubs in reverse fixtures

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref
P2 Mon 20 Sep 1971 Barrow 11-19 Wigan Craven Park 22-42 [2]
P2 Wed 29 Sep 1971 Oldham 16-14 Rochdale Hornets Watersheddings 18-42

Round 1 – first round

Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Tue 21 Sep 1971 Hull F.C. 23-16 Wakefield Trinity Boulevard [3][4]
2 Tue 21 Sep 1971 Swinton 9-14 St. Helens Station Road 2;650 [5]
3 Tue 28 Sep 1971 Leeds 33-13 Hull Kingston Rovers Headingley
4 Wed 29 Sep 1971 Halifax 16-8 Keighley Thrum Hall
5 Tue 5 Oct 1971 Castleford 7-8 Huddersfield Wheldon Road [6]
6 Tue 12 Oct 1971 Leigh 6-2 Warrington Hilton Park [7]
7 Tue 19 Oct 1971 Salford 15-17 Rochdale Hornets The Willows
8 Tue 26 Oct 1971 Wigan 10-15 Widnes Central Park 1 [2][8]

Round 2 – quarter finals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Tue 2 Nov 1971 Leeds 26-10 Halifax Headingley
2 Tue 9 Nov 1971 Leigh 4-13 St. Helens Hilton Park 4500 [5]
3 Tue 16 Nov 1971 Huddersfield 7-15 Hull F.C. Fartown [3][6]
4 Tue 23 Nov 1971 Rochdale Hornets 6-5 Widnes Athletic Grounds [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
1 Tue 30 Nov 1971 Leeds 0-17 St. Helens Headingley 6;269 [5]
2 Tue 7 Dec 1971 Rochdale Hornets 30-8 Hull F.C. Athletic Grounds [3]

Final

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
F Tuesday 14 December 1971 St. Helens 8-2 Rochdale Hornets Knowsley Road 9,255 2,493 1 2 3 [5][9][10]

Teams and scorers

[5][9]

St. Helens № Rochdale Hornets
teams
Geoff Pimblett 1 Joe Chamberlain
Les Jones 2 Norman Brelsford
Billy Benyon 3 J. Crelin
Johnny Walsh 4 D. Taylor
Frank Wilson 5 B. Glover
Ken Kelly 6 F. Myler
Jeff Heaton 7 Peter Gartland
Graham Rees 8 Peter Birchall
Anthony "Tony" Karalius 9 P. Clarke
Eric Chisnall 10 E. Brown
Eric Prescott 11 R. Welding
John Mantle 12 Billy Sheffield
Kel Coslett 13 Henry Delooze
? not used 14 ? not used
? not used 15 A. Hodkinson (for Billy Sheffield)
Jim Challinor Coach ??
8 score 2
4 HT 2
Scorers
Goals
Kel Coslett (4) G Joe Chamberlain (1)
Referee "Sergeant Major" Eric Clay (Leeds)

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
            
Leeds 33
Hull Kingston Rovers 13
Leeds 26
Halifax 10
Halifax 16
Keighley 8
Leeds 0
St Helens 17
Leigh 6
Warrington 2
Leigh 4
St Helens 13
Swinton 9
St Helens 14
St Helens 8
Rochdale Hornets 2
Salford 15
Rochdale Hornets 17
Rochdale Hornets 6
Widnes 5
Wigan 10
Widnes 15
Rochdale Hornets 30
Hull F.C. 8
Castleford 7
Huddersfield 8
Huddersfield 7
Hull F.C. 15
Hull F.C. 23
Wakefield Trinity 16

Notes and comments

1 * This match was televised
2 * Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991[9] and 1991-92[10] and the St. Helens official archives give the attendance as 9,300, but RUGBYLEAGUEprojects[1] gives it as 9,255
3 * 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.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Rugby League Project".
  2. ^ a b c "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results". Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  3. ^ a b c "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
  4. ^ "I'm Wakefield 'til I die..."
  5. ^ a b c d e "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  6. ^ a b "Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage" (PDF).
  7. ^ "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014.
  8. ^ a b "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  9. ^ a b c Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.
  10. ^ a b Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.