1995–96 Regal Trophy

The 1995–96 Regal Trophy was a British rugby league knockout tournament. It was the 25th and final season that the competition was held, and was the seventh staging of the competition since it was re-named the Regal Trophy.

1995–96 Regal Trophy
StructureNational knockout championship
Teams42
WinnersWigan
Runners-upSt. Helens

The last final was won by Wigan, who beat local rivals St. Helens 25-16 at the McAlpine Stadium in Huddersfield. The attendance was 17,590.

Background

This season saw a reduction in the number of entrants, the number decreasing to forty-two.

The inclusion of two French clubs continued, but the number of invitations to the top junior clubs was reduced by six from eleven last season, to just five this season.

The ten first round winners added to the twenty-two clubs given byes, gave a total of entrants into the second round of thirty-two. There were no drawn matches during this season's competition

Competition and results

[1][2]

Round 1

Involved 10 matches and 20 clubs with 22 byes

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Sat 30 Sep 1995Leigh16-19AS Saint EstèveHilton Park15431
2Sat 30 Sep 1995York24-22SM Pia XIIIRyedale Stadium5312
3Sun 1 Oct 1995Barrow29-11Park AmateursCraven Park5203
4Sun 1 Oct 1995Bramley20-17Woolston RoversClarence Field, Kirkstall (or York) see note3504, 5
5Sun 1 Oct 1995Carlisle38-10Doncaster DragonsGifford Park4356
6Sun 1 Oct 1995Chorley Chieftains92-0Nottingham CityVictory Park425
7Sun 1 Oct 1995Highfield48-18Hemel HempsteadValerie Park, Prescott2207
8Sun 1 Oct 1995Hull Kingston Rovers72-6Blackpool GladiatorsCraven Park (2)1087
9Sun 1 Oct 1995Hunslet Hawks34-24Ellenborough RangersElland Road2478
10Sun 1 Oct 1995Swinton44-20West HullGigg Lane5009

Round 2

Involved 16 matches and 32 clubs. The 10 winners of the first round were joined by the 11 Championship clubs and 11 First Division clubs in the second round.

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Sat 11 Nov 1995Keighley Cougars14–42St. HelensCougar Park3737[3]
2Sat 11 Nov 1995Workington Town30–14AS Saint EstèveDerwent Park1,3761
3Sun 12 Nov 1995Batley21–14Wakefield TrinityMount Pleasant1,522
4Sun 12 Nov 1995Bradford Bulls22–0Sheffield EaglesOdsal3,353
5Sun 12 Nov 1995Bramley4–22Hunslet HawksClarence Field65010
6Sun 12 Nov 1995Carlisle19–18CastlefordGifford Park850
7Sun 12 Nov 1995Chorley Chieftains10–68WarringtonVictory Park1,236[4]
8Sun 12 Nov 1995Dewsbury17–6BarrowCrown Flatt662
9Sun 12 Nov 1995Halifax20–18SwintonThrum Hall2,994
10Sun 12 Nov 1995Huddersfield22–21Featherstone RoversAlfred McAlpine Stadium2,337
11Sun 12 Nov 1995Hull F.C.56–18YorkBoulevard2,411[5]
12Sun 12 Nov 1995Hull Kingston Rovers10–14Rochdale HornetsCraven Park1,548
13Sun 12 Nov 1995Leeds46–22SalfordHeadingley7,589
14Sun 12 Nov 1995London Broncos82–0HighfieldBarnet Copthall512
15Sun 12 Nov 1995Widnes32–8Oldham BearsNaughton Park3,472[6]
16Sun 12 Nov 1995Wigan68–26WhitehavenCentral Park6,133[2]

Round 3

Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Sat 25 Nov 1995London Broncos18-22HalifaxBarnet Copthall800
2Sun 26 Nov 1995Batley22-35WarringtonMount Pleasant1754[4]
3Sun 26 Nov 1995Dewsbury14-26Rochdale HornetsCrown Flatt927
4Sun 26 Nov 1995Huddersfield0-32WiganAlfred McAlpine Stadium6026[2]
5Sun 26 Nov 1995Hull F.C.26-38St. HelensBoulevard418011[3][5]
6Sun 26 Nov 1995Hunslet Hawks17-22CarlisleSouth Leeds Stadium1355
7Sun 26 Nov 1995Leeds42-28Bradford BullsHeadingley10093
8Sun 26 Nov 1995Workington Town8-32WidnesDerwent Park2500[6]

Quarter-finals

Wigan won their tie against Widnes after extra time.[7]

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Notes
1Sat 9 Dec 1995Widnes23–28WiganNaughton Park3,771[2][6]
2Sun 10 Dec 1995Leeds44–22CarlisleHeadingley5,130
3Sun 10 Dec 1995St. Helens46–18HalifaxKnowsley Road7,419[3]
4Sun 10 Dec 1995Warrington38–20Rochdale HornetsWilderspool2,731[4]

Semi-finals

The semi-final between St Helens and Warrington was originally scheduled to take place on 30 December 1995, but was postponed due to a frozen pitch.[8] The result in the re-scheduled fixture was a record defeat for Warrington.[9]

4 January 1996
St Helens 80 – 0 Warrington
Knowsley Road, St Helens
Attendance: 10,647
6 January 1996
Wigan 38 – 18 Leeds
Central Park, Wigan
Attendance: 10,075

Final
13 January 1996
Wigan 25 – 16 St Helens
Tries: Paul (2), Tuigamala, Radlinski
Goals: Paul (4)
Drop goals: Edwards
 Tries: Hayes, Newlove, Cunningham
Goals: Goulding (2)
Alfred McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield
Attendance: 17,590
Referee: Russell Smith (Castleford)
Player of the Match: Keiron Cunningham[10]

Teams and scorers

[11][12]

Wigan № St. Helens
Gary Connolly1Steve Prescott
Jason Robinson2Joey Hayes
Va'aiga Tuigamala3Scott Gibbs
Kris Radlinski4Paul Newlove
Martin Offiah5Anthony Sullivan
Henry Paul6Karle Hammond
Shaun Edwards (c)7Bobbie Goulding (c)
Neil Cowie8Apollo Perelini
Martin Hall9Keiron Cunningham
Terry O'Connor10Ian Pickavance
Scott Quinnell11Chris Joynt
Mick Cassidy12Simon Booth
Simon Haughton13Dean Busby
Rob Smyth14Andy Northey (for Anthony Sullivan 47-mins)
Martin Dermott (for Scott Quinnell 59-mins)15Vila Matautia (for Ian Pickavance 25-mins) - Ian Pickavance (returned to replace Dean Busby 58-mins)
Graeme WestCoachEric Hughes

Prize money

As part of the sponsorship deal and funds, the prize money awarded to the competing teams for this season is as follows :-

Finish Position Cash Prize No. receiving prize Total Cash
Winner?1?
Runner-up?1?
semi-finalist?2?
loser in Rd 3?4?
loser in Rd 2?8?
Loser in Rd 1?16?
Loser in Prelim Round?10?
Grand Total

The road to success

This tree excludes any First round fixtures

Second round Third round Fourth round Semi-finals Final
               
Workington Town 30
AS Saint Estève 14
Workington Town 8
Widnes 32
Widnes 32
Oldham Bears 8
Widnes 23
Wigan 28
Huddersfield 22
Featherstone Rovers 21
Huddersfield 0
Wigan 32
Wigan 68
Whitehaven 26
Wigan 7
Leeds 15
Leeds 46
Salford 22
Leeds 42
Bradford Northern 28
Bradford Northern 22
Sheffield Eagles 0
Leeds 44
Carlisle 22
Bramley 4
Hunslet Hawks 22
Hunslet Hawks 17
Carlisle 22
Carlisle 19
Castleford 18
Wigan 25
St. Helens 16
Hull F.C. 56
Ryedale-York 18
Hull F.C. 26
St. Helens 38
Keighley Cougars 14
St. Helens 42
St. Helens 46
Halifax 18
London Crusaders 82
Highfield 0
London Crusaders 18
Halifax 22
Halifax 20
Swinton 18
St. Helens 14
Warrington 9
Batley 21
Wakefield Trinity 14
Batley 22
Warrington 35
Chorley Borough (2) 10
Warrington 68
Warrington 38
Rochdale Hornets 20
Dewsbury 17
Barrow 6
Dewsbury 14
Rochdale Hornets 26
Hull Kingston Rovers 10
Rochdale Hornets 14

Notes and comments

1 * AS Saint Estève was a French rugby league team from Perpignan, which in 2000 it merged with nearby neighbours XIII Catalan to form Union Treiziste Catalaneto compete in the Super Leagueas the Catalans Dragons.
2 * Pia are a French League Club playing at Stade Daniel-Ambert
3 * Park Amateurs were a Junior (amateur) club from Halifax
4 * Woolston Rovers are a Junior (amateur) club from Warrington, becoming Warrington Woolston Rovers in 2003 and Warrington Wizards in 2002. the ground is the old Warrington Home Ground of Wilderspool [13][14]
5 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] gives the venue as Clarence Street, York. At the time Bramley were playing their home matches at Clarence Field, Kirkstall, Leeds
6 * Doncaster Dragons were now playing at Belle Vue
7 * Hemel Stags are a semi professional club based in Hemel Hempstead and playing at the Pennine Way stadium (capacity 2000)[15]
8 * Ellenborough Rangers are a Junior (amateur) club from the Ellenborough suburb of Maryport, Cumbria[16]
9 * West Hull are a Junior (amateur) club from Hull
10 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] gives the venue as Clarence Street, York. At the time Bramley were playing their home matches at Clarence Field, Kirkstall, Leeds
11 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] gives the attendance as 4,180, but Hull official archives[5] gives 4,180 and St Helens official archives[3] give 5,102

Postscript

To date, this was the last season for the John Player sponsored trophy competitions, which had taken place annually since its inauguration in the 1971-72 for a period of 25 seasons.
It was unfortunately such a short period for what was intended to be the "League Cup" and that very few of the professional clubs managed to have their name inscribed on the trophy, or even reach the semi-final stage
The reasons given by the ruling body, the Rugby Football League for the competition's demise, were that it was deemed the trophy was adding to fixture congestion for more successful sides and a clean sweep was needed to herald the "Summer Rugby" image of the game.

Records from the John Player trophy competition

[17][18][19]

Record No. No. cup winner runner-up
In FinalRecord
Most appearances9Wigan
8Widnes
7Warrington
Most wins8Wigan
4Warrington
Most consecutive wins2Wigan (3 times)85-86, 86-87, 88-89, 89-90, 94-95, 95-96
Most consecutive appearances4Wigan92-93, 93-94, 94-95, 95-96
Highest Score40-10Wiganv Warrington 1994-95
Highest Agg score40-10as last
Lowest Agg score3-2Bradford Northernv Widnes 1974-75
Widest margin33-2Castlefordv Wigan 1993-94
Biggest Attendance25,326 - Boothferry ParkHull Kingston Rovers v Hull F.C. 1981-82
Smallest Attendance4,512 - The WillowsCastleford v Blackpool Borough 1976-77
Highest Receiptsunknown - but possibly£94,874 - Widnes v Wigan 1988-89
Individual in a final
Most tries3Ellery HanleyWigan v Halifax 1989-90
Most goals8Frano BoticaWigan v Warrington 1994-95
6Derek WhiteheadWarrington v Rochdale Hornets 1973-74
Most points16 (8g)Frano BoticaWigan v Warrington 1994-95
15 (6g+1t)Derek WhiteheadWarrington v Rochdale Hornets 1973-74
In competition
Highest Score142-4Huddersfieldv Blackpool Gladiators (Sat '26-11-1994)
Other record scores at the time138-0Barrowv Nottingham City (Thu '24-11-1994)
2-92Runcorn Highfieldv Wigan (Sun '13-11-1988)
90-12Wakefield Trinityv Highfield (Tue '27-10-1992)
82-0Widnesv Dewsbury (Sun '30-11-1986)
2-70Batleyv Leigh (Sun '24-11-1985)
64-0Whitehavenv Doncaster (Sun '18-11-1984)
17-68Carlislev Leigh (Sun '20-11-1983)
67-11Hull Kingston Roversv Oldham (Sun '24-'09-1978)
9-51Blackpool Boroughv Leeds (Sun '24-'09-1972)
Highest score v junior club88-5Castlefordv Millom (Sun '16-'09-1973)
Highest winning margin138see above
Highest aggregate score146see above
Players Records
Most tries9Greg AustinHuddersfield v Blackpool Gladiators 1994-95
6Steve RowanBarrow v Nottingham City 1994-95
6Vincent GribbinWhitehaven v Doncaster 1984-85
Most goals17Darren CarterBarrow v Nottingham City 1994-95
17Geoffrey "Sammy" LloydCastleford v Millom 1973-74
Most points43 (17g+3t)Geoffrey "Sammy" LloydCastleford v Millom 1973-74
42 (17g+2t)Darren CarterBarrow v Nottingham City 1994-95

See also

References
  1. "Rugby League Project".
  2. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
  3. "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  4. "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2010-07-06.
  5. "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results 1896/1897".
  6. "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  7. "Wigan's late show winner". The Bolton News. 11 December 1995. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  8. Hadfield, Dave (30 December 1995). "Freeze puts Saints' semi-final on ice". The Independent. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  9. Hadfield, Dave (5 January 1996). "Goulding inspires St Helens to record". The Independent. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  10. "Gospel according to Paul". The Independent. 14 January 1996. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  11. "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Final archived results". Archived from the original on 2018-10-07. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
  12. "St Helens Heritage archived results".
  13. "Woolston Rovers". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
  14. "Warrington Wizards". Archived from the original on 2013-12-31. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
  15. "Hemel hempstead Stags". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
  16. "Ellenborough Rangers". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
  17. Robert Gate (1991). Guinness Rugby League Fact Book. Guinness Publishing. ISBN 978-085112949 5.
  18. Spotter Series. Spotter book of Rugby League Facts. Dorset Publ.
  19. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
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