1977–78 Lancashire Cup

The 1977–78 Lancashire Cup tournament was the sixty-fifth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup had been contested. For the first time in many years, there was a new name on the trophy as this time it was relative newcomers Workington Town who joined the league in 1945. Workington Town won the trophy by beating Wigan in the final by the score of 16-13. The match was played at Wilderspool, Warrington, now in the County Palatine of Chester but (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 9,548 and receipts were £5,038. After relatively little success in the competition, Workington Town had reached the semi-final stage in 1973, 1974 and 1975, had been runner-up in 1976, and now winner in 1977. They would go on to be runners-up again in 1978 and 1979.

1977–78 Lancashire Cup
StructureRegional knockout championship
Teams14
WinnersWorkington Town
Runners-upWigan

Background

The total number of teams entering the competition remained at last season’s total of 14 with no junior/amateur clubs taking part. The same fixture format was retained, but due to the number of participating clubs, this resulted in one "blank" or "dummy" fixture in the first round, and one bye in the second round.

Competition and results

[1][2][3]

Round 1

Involved 7 matches (with one "blank" fixture) and 14 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Sun 21 Aug 1977Blackpool Borough6-24WhitehavenBorough Park
2Sun 21 Aug 1977Rochdale Hornets27-5BarrowAthletic Grounds
3Sun 21 Aug 1977St. Helens49-3SwintonKnowsley Road3000[4]
4Sun 21 Aug 1977Warrington19-13HuytonWilderspool[5]
5Sun 21 Aug 1977Widnes22-11LeighNaughton Park[6]
6Sun 21 Aug 1977Wigan42-5OldhamCentral Park[7][4]
7Sun 21 Aug 1977Workington Town17-12SalfordDerwent Park
8blankblank

Round 2 - Quarter-finals

Involved 3 matches (with one bye) and 7 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Sun 28 Aug 1977Rochdale Hornets4-4St. HelensAthletic Grounds2485[4]
2Sun 28 Aug 1977Wigan52-8WhitehavenCentral Park[7]
3Sun 28 Aug 1977Workington Town8-6WidnesDerwent Park[6]
4Warringtonbye[5]

Round 2 - replays

Involved 1 match and 2 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Tue 30 Aug 1977St. Helens16-5Rochdale HornetsKnowsley Road3500[4]

Round 3 – Semi-finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Wed 21 Sep 1977Workington Town5-4St. HelensDerwent Park5110[4]
2Wed 28 Sep 1977Wigan17-8WarringtonCentral Park[7][5]

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
1Wed 29 Sep 1976Workington Town26-15WarringtonDerwent Park[5]

Final
Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Saturday 29 October 1977Workington Town16-13WiganWilderspool9,5485,0381[7][8]

Teams and scorers

[7][8]

Workington Town № Wigan
teams
Paul Charlton1Malcolm Swann
David Collister2Green Vigo
John Risman3David Willicombe
Ian Wright4Steve Davies
Iain McCorquodale5Jimmy Hornby
Ray Wilkins6Alan Taylor
Arnold "Boxer" Walker7Jimmy Nulty
Derek Watts8Brian Hogan
Alan Banks9Geoff Aspinall
Eddie Bowman10Robert Irving
Les Gorley11Bill Ashurst
Peter Gorley12Bill Melling
William Pattinson13Bob Blackwood
David Atkinson (for Paul Charlton 62min)14John Burke (for Steve Davies 59min)
Ian Hartley15David Regan (for Bill Melling 59min)
16score13
9HT8
Scorers
Tries
Ian Wright (1)TJimmy Nulty (1)
Ray Wilkins (1)TBill Ashurst (1)
TDavid Willicombe (1)
Goals
Iain McCorquodale (4)GJimmy Nulty (1)
GJohn Burke (1)
Drop Goals
Arnold "Boxer" Walker (2)DG
RefereeW H (Billy) Thompson (Huddersfield)
Man of the matchArnold "Boxer" Walker - Workington Town - scrum-half
sponsored byRugby Leaguer
Competition SponsorForshaws (Burtonwood Brewery Co Ltd)

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

The road to success
First round Second round Semi-finals Final
            
Workington Town 17
Salford 12
Workington Town 8
Widnes 6
Widnes 22
Leigh 11
Workington Town 5
St. Helens 4
Rochdale Hornets 27
Barrow 5
Rochdale Hornets 4-5
St. Helens 4-16
St. Helens 49
Swinton 3
Workington Town 16
Wigan 13
Wigan 42
Oldham 5
Wigan 52
Whitehaven 8
Blackpool Borough 6
Whitehaven 24
Wigan 17
Warrington 8
Warrington 19
Huyton 13
Warrington
bye
blank
blank

Notes

1 * Wilderspool was the home ground of Warrington from 1883 to the end of the 2003 Summer season when they moved into the new purpose built Halliwell Jones Stadium. Wilderspool remained as a sports/Ruugby League ground and is/was used by Woolston Rovers/Warrington Wizards junior club.

The ground had a final capacity of 9,000 although the record attendance was set in a Challenge cup third round match on 13 March 1948 when 34,304 spectators saw Warrington lose to Wigan 10-13.

See also

References
  1. "Rugby League Project".
  2. Jack Winstanley & Malcolm Ryding (1991). John Player Yearbook 1975–76. Queen Anne Press.
  3. Frank Butler and Patrick Collins (1976). News of the World Football Annual 1976–77 - 90th year. News of the World Ltd.
  4. "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  5. "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014.
  6. "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  7. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results". Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  8. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
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