1979–80 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

The 1979–80 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the fifteenth occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held.
This year, for the last time, a new name appeared on the trophy when Hull F.C. won the trophy by beating Hull Kingston Rovers by the score of 13-3
The match was played at Boulevard, in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. The attendance was 18,500, and the receipts were £16,605
The attendance was a record for a BBC2 Floodlit Trophy, never to be beaten

1979–80 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
StructureFloodlit knockout championship
Teams22
WinnersHull F.C.
Runners-upHull Kingston Rovers

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 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
PTue 4 Sep 1979Bramley5-21HunsletMcLaren Field
PTue 4 Sep 1979Hull F.C.8-1HalifaxBoulevard1[3]
PWed 5 Sep 1979Castleford22-12Wakefield TrinityWheldon Road[4]
PTue 11 Sep 1979Whitehaven5-29BarrowRecreation Ground
PWed 19 Sep 1979Oldham9-20St. HelensWatersheddings1,355[5]
PWed 26 Sep 1979Warrington4-12LeighWilderspool[6]

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 25 Sep 1979Keighley9-2DewsburyLawkholme Lane
2Sun 30 Sep 1979Hull F.C.34-2HuddersfieldBoulevard2[2][3][7]
3Tue 2 Oct 1979Widnes27-13SwintonNaughton Park3[8]
4Tue 9 Oct 1979St. Helens45-17Rochdale HornetsKnowsley Road3,0003 4[5]
5Tue 9 Oct 1979Salford24-6WiganThe Willows[9]
6Tue 16 Oct 1979Hull Kingston Rovers25-12CastlefordCraven Park (1)3
7Tue 23 Oct 1979Hunslet10-12LeedsMount Pleasant3
8Tue 30 Oct 1979Leigh20-4BarrowHilton Park3

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 6 Nov 1979Hull Kingston Rovers41-15KeighleyCraven Park (1)3
2Tue 13 Nov 1979Leigh14-5WidnesHilton Park3[8]
3Tue 27 Nov 1979Hull F.C.16-9LeedsBoulevard3[3]
4Tue 20 Nov 1979St. HelensPSalfordKnowsley Road5[5]

Round 2 -Quarter-finals – replay

Involved 1 matches and 2 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
RFri 30 Nov 1979St. Helens15-10SalfordKnowsley Road4,500[5]

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 4 Dec 1979Hull F.C.9-6LeighBoulevard3[3]
2Tue 11 Dec 1979Hull Kingston Rovers10-7St. HelensKnowsley Road7,7663[5]

Final
Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
FTuesday 18 December 1979Hull F.C.13-3Hull Kingston RoversBoulevard18,50016,6053 6 7[3][10][11]

Teams and scorers

[3][10]

Hull F.C. No. Hull Kingston Rovers
teams
Paul Woods1Ian Robinson
Graham Bray2Steve Hubbard
Graham Evans3Mike Smith
Phil Coupland4Bernard Watson
Steve Dennison5Clive Sullivan
John Newlove6Dave Hall
Keith Hepworth7Allan Agar
Keith Tindall8Roy Holdstock
Ron Wileman9Graham Tyreman
Vince Farrar10Brian Lockwood
Richard 'Charlie' Stone11Geoffrey "Geoff" Clarkson
Keith Boxhall12Phil Lowe
Steve "Knocker" Norton13Phil Hogan
Arthur BuntingCoachRoger Millward
13score3
5HT0
Scorers
Tries
Graham Evans (1)TSteve Hubbard (1)
Steve Dennison (1)T
Charlie Birdsall (1)T
Goals
Steve Dennison (2)G
RefereeMick Naughton (Widnes)

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
            
Hull FC 34
Huddersfield 2
Hull FC 16
Leeds 9
Hunslet 10
Leeds 12
Hull FC 9
Leigh 6
Leigh 20
Barrow 4
Leigh 14
Widnes 5
Widnes 27
Swinton 13
Hull FC 13
Hull Kingston Rovers 3
Hull Kingston Rovers 25
Castleford 12
Hull Kingston Rovers 41
Keighley 15
Keighley 9
Dewsbury 2
Hull Kingston Rovers 10
St. Helens 7
St. Helens 45
Rochdale Hornets 17
St. Helens 15
Salford 10
Salford 24
Wigan 6

Notes and comments

1 * the first BBC2 Floodlit Trophy match to end with a team scoring 1 point
2 * Played in daylight
3 * This match was televised
4 * At the time this was the third highest score
5 * Postponed
6 * The attendance was a record for a BBC2 Floodlit Trophy, never to be beaten
7 * Boulevard was the home ground of Hull F.C. from 1895 until January 2003. The final capacity was 10,500 although the record attendance was 28,798 set on 7 March 1936 in the third round of the Challenge Cup v Leeds

Postscript

To date, this was the last season for the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Competition, which had taken place annually only since its inauguration in the 1965-66 season.
Despite several minor disagreements between the BBC and the RFL, including over shirt sponsorship in the early 1970s, overall the competition had been a great success.
However financial cutbacks at the BBC lead to its cancellation after the 1979–80 competition.
Therefore, this season was to be the last. It was greatly missed by many, including those living in a non-Rugby League area

Records from the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Competition

[12][13]

Record Holder
In Final
Team
Most appearances7St. Helens
Most wins4Castleford
Highest Score26-11Hull Kingston RoversSt. Helens 1977
Widest margin22-2St. Helens 1977Dewsbury 1975
Biggest Attendance18500Hull F.C. v Hull Kingston Rovers 1979
Highest receipts16605Hull F.C. v Hull Kingston Rovers 1979
Individual
Most tries2Roy MathiasSt. Helens v Dewsbury 1975
2Peter GlynnSt. Helens v Hull Kingston Rovers 1977
2Gerald "Ged" DunnHull Kingston Rovers v St. Helens 1977
2Stuart WrightWidnes v St. Helens 1978
Most goals4Ron WillettCastleford v Leigh 1967
4Kel CoslettSt. Helens v Rochdale Hornets 1971
4Dave HallHull Kingston Rovers v St. Helens 1977
Most points8The last 3 goal lickers
In Competition
Highest Score51-0St. HelensDewsbury (1977)
Greatest winning margin51-0St. HelensDewsbury (1977)
Highest Aggregate score54-16LeedsHull F.C. (1973)
Other high scores47-5St. HelensCastleford (1978)
47-11LeedsBramley (1978
'45-17St. HelensRochdale Hornets (1979)

Entrants and number of cup wins

This table list all the semi-professional clubs which have entered the competition and the number (and dates) of their cup final wins, cup final runner-up spots, and losing semi-final appearances.

No. cup winner No, runner-up No losing Semi-final appearances
Barrow0021966 & 1975
Batley000
Bramley1197300
Castleford41965, 1966, 1967 & 1976021969 & 1977
Dewsbury0119750
Halifax000
Huddersfield0011976
Hull F.C.11979031971, 1976 & 1978
Hull Kingston Rovers119771197931980, 1973 & 1974
Keighley000
Leeds11970021971 & 1975
Leigh21969 & 197221967 & 197631968, 1974 & 1979
New Hunslet000
Oldham0011972
Rochdale Hornets01197111978
Salford11974011977
St. Helens21971 & 197551965, 1968, 1970, 1977 & 197831969, 1973 & 1979
Swinton01196611965
Wakefield Trinity0011972
Warrington01197421967 & 1968
Whitehaven000
Widnes1197821972 & 197321965 & 1966
Wigan119681196921967 & 1970

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. "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
  4. "I'm Wakefield 'til I die..."
  5. "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  6. "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014.
  7. "Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage" (PDF).
  8. "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  9. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results". Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  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.
  12. Robert Gate (1991). Guinness Rugby League Fact Book. Guinness Publishing. ISBN 978-085112949 5.
  13. Spotter Series. Spotter book of Rugby League Facts. Dorset Publ.
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