1976–77 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

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

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

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
PSun 29 Aug 1976Rochdale Hornets2-5WidnesAthletic Grounds[3]
PWed 8 Sep 1976Halifax19-25Hull F.C.Thrum Hall[4]
PTue 14 Sep 1976Hull Kingston Rovers19-12DewsburyCraven Park (1)
PTue 14 Sep 1976Leigh11-10WarringtonHilton Park[5]
PTue 14 Sep 1976Wakefield Trinity20-5BramleyBelle Vue[6]
PTue 14 Sep 1976Whitehaven25-11BarrowRecreation Ground1

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 28 Sep 1976Huddersfield5-2Wakefield TrinityFartown[7]
2Tue 28 Sep 1976Leigh22-18SalfordHilton Park
3Tue 5 Oct 1976Castleford16-8Hull Kingston RoversWheldon Road
4Tue 5 Oct 1976Keighley2-16Hull F.C.Lawkholme Lane[4]
5Tue 5 Oct 1976Whitehaven3-21OldhamRecreation Ground
6Tue 12 Oct 1976Widnes13-14WiganNaughton Park2[3][8]
7Tue 19 Oct 1976Leeds22-10New HunsletHeadingley
8Tue 26 Oct 1976Swinton15-22St. HelensStation Road1,265[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
1Tue 2 Nov 1976Hull F.C.6-0OldhamBoulevard[4]
2Tue 9 Nov 1976Leeds2-17CastlefordHeadingley
3Tue 16 Nov 1976Huddersfield9-7St. HelensFartown1,787[7][9]
4Tue 23 Nov 1976Leigh12-5WiganHilton Park2[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 1976Leigh19-10HuddersfieldHilton Park[7]
2Tue 7 Dec 1976Hull F.C.8-15CastlefordBoulevard[4]

Final
Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
FTuesday 14 December 1976Leigh4-12CastlefordHilton Park5,4022.7932 3[10][11]

Teams and scorers

[10]

Castleford № Leigh
teams
Geoff Wraith1Mick Hogan
Steve Fenton2Alan Prescott
John Joyner3Mick Stacey
Philip Johnson4John Woods
Jamie Walsh5Joe Walsh
Bruce Burton6John Taylor
Gary Stephens7Cliff Sayer
Paul Kahn8Dave Chisnall
Robert Spurr9Kevin Ashcroft
Alan Dickinson10Geoff Fletcher
Malcolm "Mal" Reilly11Dave Macko
Geoffrey "Sammy" Lloyd12Paul Grimes
Steve 'Knocker' Norton13Dennis Boyd
Malcolm "Mal" ReillyCoachKevin Ashcroft
12score4
0HT1
Scorers
Tries
Jamie Walsh (1)TJoe Walsh (1)
Bruce Burton (1)T
Goals
Geoffrey "Sammy" Lloyd (3)G
Drop Goals
DGKevin Ashcroft (1)
RefereeJ 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

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" matches".
  3. "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  4. "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. "Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage" (PDF).
  8. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results". Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  9. "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 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 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
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