1971–72 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

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

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

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
P1Mon 13 Sep 1971Wigan23-11BarrowCentral Park[2]
P1Wed 15 Sep 1971Rochdale Hornets28-2OldhamAthletic 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
P2Mon 20 Sep 1971Barrow11-19WiganCraven Park22-42[2]
P2Wed 29 Sep 1971Oldham16-14Rochdale HornetsWatersheddings18-42

Round 1 – first round

Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Tue 21 Sep 1971Hull F.C.23-16Wakefield TrinityBoulevard[3][4]
2Tue 21 Sep 1971Swinton9-14St. HelensStation Road2;650[5]
3Tue 28 Sep 1971Leeds33-13Hull Kingston RoversHeadingley
4Wed 29 Sep 1971Halifax16-8KeighleyThrum Hall
5Tue 5 Oct 1971Castleford7-8HuddersfieldWheldon Road[6]
6Tue 12 Oct 1971Leigh6-2WarringtonHilton Park[7]
7Tue 19 Oct 1971Salford15-17Rochdale HornetsThe Willows
8Tue 26 Oct 1971Wigan10-15WidnesCentral Park1[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
1Tue 2 Nov 1971Leeds26-10HalifaxHeadingley
2Tue 9 Nov 1971Leigh4-13St. HelensHilton Park4500[5]
3Tue 16 Nov 1971Huddersfield7-15Hull F.C.Fartown[3][6]
4Tue 23 Nov 1971Rochdale Hornets6-5WidnesAthletic 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
1Tue 30 Nov 1971Leeds0-17St. HelensHeadingley6;269[5]
2Tue 7 Dec 1971Rochdale Hornets30-8Hull F.C.Athletic Grounds[3]

Final
Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
FTuesday 14 December 1971St. Helens8-2Rochdale HornetsKnowsley Road9,2552,4931 2 3[5][9][10]

Teams and scorers

[5][9]

St. Helens № Rochdale Hornets
teams
Geoff Pimblett1Joe Chamberlain
Les Jones2Norman Brelsford
Billy Benyon3J. Crelin
Johnny Walsh4D. Taylor
Frank Wilson5B. Glover
Ken Kelly6F. Myler
Jeff Heaton7Peter Gartland
Graham Rees8Peter Birchall
Anthony "Tony" Karalius9P. Clarke
Eric Chisnall10E. Brown
Eric Prescott11R. Welding
John Mantle12Billy Sheffield
Kel Coslett13Henry Delooze
? not used14? not used
? not used15A. Hodkinson (for Billy Sheffield)
Jim ChallinorCoach??
8score2
4HT2
Scorers
Goals
Kel Coslett (4)GJoe 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.

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