1970–71 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

The 1970–71 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the sixth occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held.
This year was another new name on the trophy - and ALSO St. Helens' third time in six years as runner-up
Leeds won the trophy by beating St. Helens by the score of 9-5
The match was played at Headingley, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 7,612 and receipts were £2,189

1970–71 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
StructureFloodlit knockout championship
Teams18
WinnersLeeds
Runners-upSt. Helens

Background

This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at eighteen.
The format was changed slightly removing the two-legged home and away ties from the preliminary round and playing the whole competition on a knock-out basis.
The preliminary round involved four clubs, to reduce the numbers to sixteen.

Competition and results

[1]

Preliminary round

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
PTue 29 Sep 1970Huddersfield16-14Wakefield TrinityFartown[2][3][4]
PThu 8 Oct 1970Leigh17-0SwintonHilton Park

Round 1 – first round

Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Tue 15 Sep 1970Wigan28-0KeighleyCentral Park[5]
2Fri 19 Sep 1970Hull Kingston Rovers25-13WarringtonCraven Park (1)[6]
3Tue 29 Sep 1970St. Helens14-7CastlefordKnowsley Road7000[7]
4Tue 6 Oct 1970Barrow6-15LeedsCraven Park
5Tue 13 Oct 1970Halifax14-15Hull F.C.Thrum Hall[8]
6Tue 20 Oct 1970Salford2-7WidnesThe Willows[9]
7Fri 23 Oct 1970Huddersfield14-5OldhamFartown[4]
8Tue 27 Oct 1970Leigh14-5Rochdale HornetsHilton Park

Round 2 – quarter finals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Tue 3 Nov 1970Hull Kingston Rovers18-8Hull F.C.Craven Park (1)[8]
2Tue 10 Nov 1970Widnes6-16LeedsNaughton Park[9]
3Tue 24 Nov 1970Wigan25-9HuddersfieldCentral Park1[4][5]
4Mon 30 Nov 1970Leigh4-10St. HelensHilton Park10372[7]

Round 3 – semi-finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Tue 1 Dec 1970Leeds24-2Hull Kingston RoversHeadingley
2Tue 8 Dec 1970Wigan7-7St. HelensCentral Park103721[5][7]

Round 3 – Semi-finals – replays

Involved 1 match and 2 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
RSun 13 Dec 1970St. Helens16-15WiganKnowsley Road10285[5][7]

Final
Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
FTuesday 15 December 1970Leeds9-5St. HelensHeadingley7,6122,1891 2[7][10][11]

Teams and scorers
Leeds № St. Helens
teams
John Holmes1Frank Barrow
Alan Smith2Les Jones
Syd Hynes3Billy Benyon
Ronnie Cowan4Johnny Walsh
John Atkinson5Frank Wilson
Anthony "Tony" Wainwright6Alan Whittle
Mick Shoebottom7Jeff Heaton
John Burke8Graham Rees
Tony Fisher9Anthony "Tony" Karalius
Edward/Edwin "Ted" Barnard10Eric Chisnall
Bob Haigh11John Mantle
Bill Ramsey12Eric Prescott
Ray Batten13Kel Coslett
probably Derek TurnerCoachJim Challinor
9score5
7HT3
Scorers
Tries
Syd Hynes (1)TLes Jones (1)
Goals
John Holmes (2)GKel Coslett (1)
Syd Hynes (1)G
RefereeE. Lawrinson (Warrington)

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

[7][10]

The road to success

This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

First round Second round Semi-finals Final
            
Salford 2
Widnes 7
Widnes 6
Leeds 16
Barrow 6
Leeds 15
Leeds 24
Hull Kingston Rovers 2
Hull Kingston Rovers 25
Warrington 13
Hull Kingston Rovers 18
Hull F.C. 8
Halifax 14
Hull F.C. 15
Leeds 9
St. Helens 5
Wigan 28
Keighley 0
Wigan 25
Huddersfield 9
Huddersfield 14
Oldham 5
Wigan 7 (15)
St. Helens 7 (16)
Leigh 14
Rochdale Hornets 5
Leigh 4
St. Helens 10
St. Helens 14
Castleford 7

Notes and comments

1 * This match was televised
2 * Headingley, Leeds, is the home ground of Leeds RLFC with a capacity of 21,000. The record attendance was 40,175 for a league match between Leeds and Bradford Northern on 21 May 1947.

General information for those unfamiliar

The Rugby League BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was a knock-out competition sponsored by the BBC and between rugby league clubs, entrance to which was conditional upon the club having floodlights. Most matches were played on an evening, and those of which the second half was televised, were played on a Tuesday evening.
Despite the competition being named as 'Floodlit', many matches took place during the afternoons and not under floodlights, and several of the entrants, including Barrow and Bramley did not have adequate lighting. And, when in 1973, due to the world oil crisis, the government restricted the use of floodlights in sport, all the matches, including the Trophy final, had to be played in the afternoon rather than at night.
The Rugby League season always (until the onset of "Summer Rugby" in 1996) ran from around August-time through to around May-time and this competition always took place early in the season, in the Autumn, with the final taking place in December (The only exception to this was when disruption of the fixture list was caused by inclement weather)

See also

References
  1. "Rugby League Project".
  2. J C Lindley and D W Armitage (1973). 100 Years of Rugby. The History of Wakefield Trinity 1873-1973. Wakefield Trinity Centenary Committee. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
  3. "I'm Wakefield 'til I die..."
  4. "Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage" (PDF).
  5. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results". Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  6. "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 6 July 2010.
  7. "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  8. "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
  9. "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  10. 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 1991-1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
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