1974–75 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

1974–75 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
StructureFloodlit knockout championship
Teams22
WinnersSalford
Runners-upWarrington

The 1974–75 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the tenth occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held. A new name was put on the trophy when Salford won by beating Warrington by the score of 10-5 in a replay. The final was played at The Willows, Salford, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 4,473, receipts were £1913 and the score 0-0. The replay was at Wilderspool. The attendance was 5,778, receipts were £2434 and the score 10-5. This was the first (and only) floodlit final to require a replay after a drawn first match.

Background

This season saw New Hunslet join the competition, which increased the number of entrants by one, to a new high total of twenty-two. The format remained the same as the last season with the preliminary round (generally) played on a two-legged home and away basis and the rest of the tournament being played on a knock-out basis. The exceptions to the two-legged preliminary rounds were the two matches where the four clubs had agreed to play a sudden-death match to avoid fixture congestion. The preliminary round now involved twelve clubs, to reduce the numbers taking part in the competition proper to just sixteen.

Competition and results

Preliminary round

Involved six matches and 12 clubs. Huddersfield, Castleford, Hull and Keighley agreed to play one leg only; the four other ties were played over two legs.

First leg

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref
P1 Tue 10 Sep 1974 Oldham 8-7 Hull Kingston Rovers Watersheddings 1,381
P1 Wed 11 Sep 1974 Huddersfield 12-4 Castleford Fartown 656 [1]
P1 Tue 17 Sep 1974 Hull F.C. 12-2 Keighley Boulevard 1,500 [2]
P1 Tue 17 Sep 1974 St. Helens 21-12 Wakefield Trinity Knowsley Road 3,272 1 [3][4]
P1 Tue 17 Sep 1974 Widnes 15-13 Barrow Naughton Park 3,000 [5]
P1 Tue 24 Sep 1974 Leigh 19-5 Bramley Hilton Park 2,000

Second leg

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 agg Att Rec Notes Ref
P2 Tue 17 Sep 1974 Hull Kingston Rovers 19-11 Oldham Craven Park (1) 26-19 2,252
P2 Tue 24 Sep 1974 Wakefield Trinity 18-15 St. Helens Belle Vue 30-36 2,583 [3][4]
P2 Tue 1 Oct 1974 Barrow 3-8 Widnes Craven Park 16-23 870 [5]
P2 Wed 2 Oct 1974 Bramley 15-9 Leigh McLaren Field 20-28 1.100

First round

Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Tue 1 Oct 1974 Warrington 10-5 Swinton Wilderspool 3,552 [6]
2 Tue 8 Oct 1974 Halifax 15-4 Whitehaven Thrum Hall 750
3 Tue 15 Oct 1974 St. Helens 30-2 Leeds Knowsley Road 3,576 4 [4]
4 Tue 22 Oct 1974 Dewsbury 8-14 Leigh Crown Flatt 1,400 5
5 Wed 23 Oct 1974 New Hunslet 12-5 Widnes Elland Road Greyhound Stadium 1,250 6 [5]
6 Tue 29 Oct 1974 Salford 16-2 Huddersfield The Willows 2,926 [1]
7 Wed 30 Oct 1974 Hull Kingston Rovers 20-10 Wigan Craven Park (1) 2,009 [7]
8 Wed 30 Oct 1974 Rochdale Hornets 14-4 Hull F.C. Athletic Grounds 780 [2]

Second Round

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Tue 5 Nov 1974 Warrington 36-17 New Hunslet Wilderspool 2,144 [6]
2 Tue 12 Nov 1974 St. Helens 7-11 Salford Knowsley Road 4,474 7 [4]
3 Tue 19 Nov 1974 Leigh 8-0 Rochdale Hornets Hilton Park 2,000
4 Tue 26 Nov 1974 Halifax 24-28 Hull Kingston Rovers Thrum Hall 752

Semi-finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Tue 3 Dec 1974 Salford 27-10 Hull Kingston Rovers The Willows 3,727 3
2 Tue 10 Dec 1974 Warrington 32-0 Leigh Wilderspool 2,495 3 [6]

Final

17 December 1974
Salford 0 – 0 Warrington
[8]
The Willows, Salford
Attendance: 4,473[9]
Referee: Billy Thompson (Huddersfield)
Salford No Warrington
Teams
Paul Charlton 1 Derek Whitehead
Keith Fielding 2 Dave Sutton
Chris Hesketh 3 Dave Cunliffe
Gordon Graham 4 Alan Whittle
Maurice Richards 5 John Bevan
Tom Brophy 6 Wilf Briggs
Peter Banner 7 Parry Gordon
Mike Coulman 8 David "Dave" Chisnall
Ellis Devlin 9 Kevin Ashcroft
Alan Grice 10 Gilly Wright
John Knighton 11 Wayne Gaskell
Colin Dixon 12 Tommy Conroy
Eric Prescott 13 Barry Philbin
Subs
John Taylor (for Brophy) 14 John Lowe (for Cunliffe)
Graham MacKay 15 Peter Jewitt (for Philbin)
Les Bettinson Coach Alex Murphy

Replay

An unusual occurrence, a "seven point try", was scored by Salford in the replay. Following the try scored by winger Keith Fielding, successfully converted by David Watkins, a further penalty was awarded because Fielding had been fouled after scoring. Watkins kicked the penalty goal to give Salford a 7–0 lead.

28 January 1975
Warrington 5 – 10 Salford
Tries: Bevan
Goals: Whitehead
 [8]
 Tries: Fielding, Richards
Goals: Watkins (2)
Wilderspool, Warrington
Attendance: 5,778[10]
Referee: Billy Thompson (Huddersfield)
Warrington No Salford
Teams
Dave Cunliffe 1 Frank Stead
Derek Whitehead 2 Keith Fielding
Billy Pickup 3 David Watkins
Alan Whittle 4 Chris Hesketh
John Bevan 5 Maurice Richards
Derek Noonan 6 Ken Gill
Parry Gordon 7 Peter Banner
David "Dave" Chisnall 8 Alan Grice
Kevin Ashcroft 9 Peter Walker
Robert "Bobby" Wanbon 10 Graham MacKay
Tommy Conroy 11 Colin Dixon
Mike Nicholas 12 John Knighton
Barry Philbin 13 Eric Prescott
Subs
Wilf Briggs (for Noonan) 14
Brian Brady (for Nicholas) 15
Alex Murphy Coach Les Bettinson

The road to success

This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

First round Second round Semi-finals Final
            
St. Helens 30
Leeds 2
St. Helens 7
Salford 11
Salford 16
Huddersfield 2
Salford 27
Hull Kingston Rovers 10
Halifax 15
Whitehaven 4
Halifax 24
Hull Kingston Rovers 28
Hull Kingston Rovers 20
Wigan 10
Salford 0 (10)
Warrington 0 (5)
Warrington 10
Swinton 5
Warrington 36
New Hunslet 17
New Hunslet 12
Widnes 5
Warrington 32
Leigh 0
Dewsbury 8
Leigh 14
Leigh 8
Rochdale Hornets 0
Rochdale Hornets 14
Hull F.C. 4

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage" (PDF).
  2. ^ a b "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
  3. ^ a b "I'm Wakefield 'til I die..."
  4. ^ a b c d "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  5. ^ a b c "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  6. ^ a b c "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014.
  7. ^ "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results". Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  8. ^ a b Winstanley & Ryding (1975), pp. 237–240.
  9. ^ The Rothmans Rugby League Yearbooks and Rugby League Project gives the attendance as 4,473 but the John Player Yearbook 1975–76 as 4,479.
  10. ^ The Rothmans Rugby League Yearbooks and Rugby League Project gives the attendance as 5,778 but the John Player Yearbook 1975–76 as 5,748.

References

  • Winstanley, Jack; Ryding, Malcolm (1975). John Player Rugby League Yearbook. 1975-76. London: Queen Anne Press. ISBN 978-0-362-00223-2.
  • Saxton, Irvin (ed.). History of Rugby League: No.80 1974–1975. League Publications. pp. 12–13.