1976–77 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

1976–77 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
StructureFloodlit knockout championship
Teams22
WinnersCastleford
Runners-upLeigh

The 1976–77 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the twelfth occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held.

Castleford won the trophy by beating Leigh by the score of 12-4 (away from home on the opponent's own ground)
The match was played at Hilton Park, Leigh, now in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 5,402, and the receipts were £2.793
Castleford had won the first three BBC2 Floodlit Trophy finals, this brought the wins up to four

Background

This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at twenty-two.
The format remained as used in last season's tournament, i.e. as a knock-out competition from the preliminary round through to the final.
The preliminary round 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
P Sun 29 Aug 1976 Rochdale Hornets 2-5 Widnes Athletic Grounds [3]
P Wed 8 Sep 1976 Halifax 19-25 Hull F.C. Thrum Hall [4]
P Tue 14 Sep 1976 Hull Kingston Rovers 19-12 Dewsbury Craven Park (1)
P Tue 14 Sep 1976 Leigh 11-10 Warrington Hilton Park [5]
P Tue 14 Sep 1976 Wakefield Trinity 20-5 Bramley Belle Vue [6]
P Tue 14 Sep 1976 Whitehaven 25-11 Barrow Recreation Ground 1

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 28 Sep 1976 Huddersfield 5-2 Wakefield Trinity Fartown [7]
2 Tue 28 Sep 1976 Leigh 22-18 Salford Hilton Park
3 Tue 5 Oct 1976 Castleford 16-8 Hull Kingston Rovers Wheldon Road
4 Tue 5 Oct 1976 Keighley 2-16 Hull F.C. Lawkholme Lane [4]
5 Tue 5 Oct 1976 Whitehaven 3-21 Oldham Recreation Ground
6 Tue 12 Oct 1976 Widnes 13-14 Wigan Naughton Park 2 [3][8]
7 Tue 19 Oct 1976 Leeds 22-10 New Hunslet Headingley
8 Tue 26 Oct 1976 Swinton 15-22 St. Helens Station Road 1,265 [9]

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 1976 Hull F.C. 6-0 Oldham Boulevard [4]
2 Tue 9 Nov 1976 Leeds 2-17 Castleford Headingley
3 Tue 16 Nov 1976 Huddersfield 9-7 St. Helens Fartown 1,787 [7][9]
4 Tue 23 Nov 1976 Leigh 12-5 Wigan Hilton Park 2 [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 1976 Leigh 19-10 Huddersfield Hilton Park [7]
2 Tue 7 Dec 1976 Hull F.C. 8-15 Castleford Boulevard [4]

Final

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
F Tuesday 14 December 1976 Leigh 4-12 Castleford Hilton Park 5,402 2.793 2 3 [10][11]

Teams and scorers

[10]

Castleford № Leigh
teams
Geoff Wraith 1 Mick Hogan
Steve Fenton 2 Alan Prescott
John Joyner 3 Mick Stacey
Philip Johnson 4 John Woods
Jamie Walsh 5 Joe Walsh
Bruce Burton 6 John Taylor
Gary Stephens 7 Cliff Sayer
Paul Kahn 8 Dave Chisnall
Robert Spurr 9 Kevin Ashcroft
Alan Dickinson 10 Geoff Fletcher
Malcolm "Mal" Reilly 11 Dave Macko
Geoffrey "Sammy" Lloyd 12 Paul Grimes
Steve 'Knocker' Norton 13 Dennis Boyd
Malcolm "Mal" Reilly Coach Kevin Ashcroft
12 score 4
0 HT 1
Scorers
Tries
Jamie Walsh (1) T Joe Walsh (1)
Bruce Burton (1) T
Goals
Geoffrey "Sammy" Lloyd (3) G
Drop Goals
DG Kevin Ashcroft (1)
Referee J E Jackson (Pudsey)

Scoring - Try = three points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = one point

The road to success

This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

First round Second round Semi-finals Final
            
Leigh 22
Salford 18
Leigh 12
Wigan 5
Widnes 13
Wigan 14
Leigh 19
Huddersfield 10
Huddersfield 5
Wakefield Trinity 2
Huddersfield 9
St. Helens 7
Swinton 16
St. Helens 22
Leigh 4
Castleford 12
Keighley 2
Hull F.C. 16
Hull F.C. 6
Oldham 0
Whitehaven 3
Oldham 21
Hull F.C. 8
Castleford 15
Leeds 22
New Hunslet 10
Leeds 2
Castleford 17
Castleford 16
Hull Kingston Rovers 8

Notes and comments

1 * Whitehaven, who joined the competition in season 1973–74, play their first game at home in the competition - they also win their first game in the competition
2 * This match was televised
3 * Hilton Park was the home ground of Leigh from 1947 to 2008. The final capacity was in the region of 11,000, much less than the record attendance of 31,326, set in 1953 for a Challenge Cup match v St. Helens

See also

References

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