1983–84 John Player Special Trophy

1983–84 John Player Special Trophy
StructureNational knockout championship
Teams18
WinnersLeeds
Runners-upWidnes

This was the thirteenth season of the rugby league League Cup, which was this season known as the John Player Special Trophy for sponsorship reasons.

Leeds won the trophy, beating Widnes by the score of 18-10 in the final. The match was played at Central Park, Wigan and the attendance was 9,510. The gate receipts were £19824.

Background

This season saw one change in the entrants, Kent Invicta joined the league and also the competition, the number of entrants now rising to thirty-four
The preliminary round now increased to two matches and involved four clubs, to reduce the numbers of entrants to the first round proper to thirty-two
Unfortunately, early in the season Bramley went into administration, and although they survived, during this period of administration they withdrew from this competition, leaving Hull Kingston Rovers with a bye in the first round.

Competition and results

[1][2]

Preliminary round

[3] Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sun 23 Oct 1983 Batley 11-12 Doncaster Mount Pleasant 782
2 Sun 23 Oct 1983 Whitehaven 0-36 Widnes Recreation Ground 1655 [4]

Round 1 - First Round

[3] Involved 15 matches with one bye and 31 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 5 11 1983 Castleford P Hull F.C. 1
2 Sun 6 Nov 1983 Blackpool Borough 9-12 Leeds Borough Park 1351
3 Sun 6 Nov 1983 Cardiff City 41-6 Rochdale Hornets Ninian Park 645
4 Sun 6 Nov 1983 Carlisle 10-5 Workington Town Brunton Park 1297
5 Sun 6 Nov 1983 Dewsbury 14-17 Keighley Crown Flatt 814
6 Sun 6 Nov 1983 Featherstone Rovers 12-10 Fulham Post Office Road 2011
7 Sun 6 Nov 1983 Halifax 12-29 Barrow Thrum Hall 2699
8 Sun 6 Nov 1983 Kent Invicta 7-40 St. Helens Athletic Ground, Maidstone 2107 2 [5]
9 Sun 6 Nov 1983 Oldham 12-20 Leigh Watersheddings 6264
10 Sun 6 Nov 1983 Swinton 17-16 Hunslet Station Road 1243
11 Sun 6 Nov 1983 Wakefield Trinity 18-32 Warrington Belle Vue 2935 [6][7]
12 Sun 6 Nov 1983 Widnes 2-1 Bradford Northern Naughton Park 5640 3 [4]
13 Sun 6 Nov 1983 Wigan 30-13 York Central Park 6388 [2]
14 Sun 6 Nov 1983 Doncaster 11-22 Salford Bentley Road Stadium/Tattersfield 458
15 Sun 6 Nov 1983 Huddersfield 8-21 Huyton Fartown 582 [8]
16 Hull Kingston Rovers bye 4

Round 1 - First Round Replays

Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sun 6 Nov 1983 Castleford 4-8 Hull F.C. Wheldon Road 7979 [9]

Round 2 - Second Round

[10] Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 19 Nov 1983 Warrington 10-18 St. Helens Wilderspool 4171 [5][6]
2 Sun 20 Nov 1983 Cardiff City 38-12 Huyton Ninian Park 1085
3 Sun 20 Nov 1983 Carlisle 17-68 Leigh Brunton Park 2152 5
4 Sun 20 Nov 1983 Featherstone Rovers 20-14 Hull F.C. Post Office Road 7833 [9]
5 Sun 20 Nov 1983 Keighley 8-23 Swinton Lawkholme Lane 1577
6 Sun 20 Nov 1983 Leeds 12-6 Hull Kingston Rovers Headingley 8623 6
7 Sun 20 Nov 1983 Widnes 18-6 Barrow Naughton Park 7030 [4]
8 Sun 20 Nov 1983 Wigan 24-15 Salford Central Park 7290 [2]

Round 3 -Quarter Finals

[11] Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 26 Nov 1983 Widnes 20-15 Wigan Naughton Park 6492 [2][4]
2 Sun 27 Nov 1983 Leigh 12-8 Cardiff City Hilton Park 4134
3 Sun 27 Nov 1983 St. Helens 16-12 Featherstone Rovers Knowsley Road 5196 [5]
4 Sun 27 Nov 1983 Swinton 12-16 Leeds Station Road 3438

Round 4 – Semi-Finals

[11] Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 10 Dec 1983 Leigh 11-18 Leeds Fartown 5740
2 Sat 17 Dec 1983 Widnes 18-4 St. Helens Wilderspool 5729 [4][5]

Final

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Saturday 14 January 1984 Leeds 18-10 Widnes Central Park 9510 19824 7 [11][12][13]

Teams and scorers

[12][13][14]

Leeds № Widnes
teams
Ian Wilkinson 1 Mick Burke
Paul Prendiville 2 Stuart Wright
David Creasser 3 Keiron O'Loughlin
Dean Bell 4 Joe Lydon
Andy Smith 5 Ralph Linton[1]
John Holmes 6 Eric Hughes
Kevin Dick 7 Andy Gregory
Keith Rayne 8 Mike O'Neill
David Ward 9 Keith Elwell
Kevin Rayne 10 Kevin Tamati
Gary Moorby 11 Les Gorley
Mark Laurie 12 Fred Whitfield[2]
Terry Webb 13 Mick Adams
? Not used 14 ? Not used
Kevin Squire (for David Ward) 15 ? Not used
Maurice Bamford Coach Vince Karalius & Harry Dawson[3]
18 score 10
14 HT 10
Scorers
Tries
John Holmes (1) T Joe Lydon (1)
Kevin Dick (1) T Ralph Linton (1)
Goals
David Creasser (5) G Mick Burke (1)
Referee William "Billy" H. Thompson (Huddersfield)
Man of the match Mark Laurie - Leeds - Second-row
Competition Sponsor John Player Special

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

Prize money

As part of the sponsorship deal and funds, the prize money awarded to the competing teams for this season is as follows :-

Finish Position Cash Prize No. receiving prize Total Cash
Winner ? 1 ?
Runner-up ? 1 ?
semi-finalist ? 2 ?
loser in Rd 3 ? 4 ?
loser in Rd 2 ? 8 ?
Loser in Rd 1 ? 16 ?
Loser in Prelim Round ? ? ?
Grand Total

Note - the author is unable to trace the award amounts for this season. Can anyone help ?

The road to success

This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

First round Second round Third round Semifinals Final
               
Carlisle 10
Workington Town 5
Carlisle 17
Leigh 68
Oldham 12
Leigh 20
Leigh 12
Cardiff City 8
Cardiff City 41
Rochdale Hornets 6
Cardiff City 38
Huyton 12
Huddersfield 8
Huyton 21
Leigh 11
Leeds 18
Dewsbury 14
Keighley 17
Keighley 8
Swinton 23
Swinton 17
Hunslet 16
Swinton 12
Leeds 16
Blackpool Borough 9
Leeds 12
Leeds 12
Hull Kingston Rovers 6
Hull Kingston Rovers
bye
Leeds 18
Widnes 10
Widnes 2
Bradford Northern 1
Widnes 18
Barrow 6
Halifax 12
Barrow 29
Widnes 20
Wigan 15
Wigan 30
York 13
Wigan 24
Salford 15
Doncaster 11
Salford 22
Widnes 18
St. Helens 4
Wakefield Trinity 18
Warrington 32
Warrington 10
St. Helens 18
Kent Invicta 7
St. Helens 40
St. Helens 16
Featherstone Rovers 12
Featherstone Rovers 12
Fulham 10
Featherstone Rovers 20
Hull F.C. 14
Castleford 4
Hull F.C. 8

Notes and comments

1 * This match had been chosen for Saturday BBC coverage but was cancelled and moved to Sunday at two days notice due to Industrial Action at the BBC[2]
2 * Kent Invicta's record crowd
3 * 3 dropped goals
4 * Bramley withdrew from this competition while in liquidation[12][13]
5 * highest score (and highest away score) o date between two professional clubs
6 * Wigan official archives[10] state the home team are Leigh, an obvious printing error as earlier in the same fixture list Leigh are away at CarlisleCarlisle
7 * Central Park was the home ground of Wigan with a final capacity of 18,000, although the record attendance was 47,747 for Wigan v St Helens 27 March 1959

See also

References

  1. ^ "Rugby League Project".
  2. ^ a b c d e "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
  3. ^ a b "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Rd 1 archived results". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  5. ^ a b c d "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  6. ^ a b "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2014-02-02.
  7. ^ "Wakefield until I die".
  8. ^ "Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage" (PDF).
  9. ^ a b "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
  10. ^ a b "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Rd 2 archived results". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
  11. ^ a b c "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Rd 3 onwards archived results". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
  12. ^ a b c Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.
  13. ^ a b c Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
  14. ^ "Widnes Stat Attack archived results".