1978–79 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

The 1978–79 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the 14th staging of the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition, and was held in 1978.

1978–79 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
StructureFloodlit knockout championship
Teams22
WinnersWidnes
Runners-upSt. Helens

Previous two times runner-up Widnes won the trophy by beating the previous year's winners and cup holders St. Helens by 13-7. The match was played at Knowsley Road, Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. 10,250 fans attended, and the receipts were £7,017.

Background

This season Batley dropped out after only one season, but Bramley returned; thus the number of entrants remaining the same 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
PSat 26 Aug 1978Leeds47-11BramleyHeadingley100991 2
PSun 27 Aug 1978Barrow17-11OldhamCraven Park
PSun 27 Aug 1978Wigan27-10SwintonCentral Park[3]
PTue 5 Sep 1978Hull Kingston Rovers39-2New HunsletCraven Park (1)
PTue 5 Sep 1978Keighley10-0DewsburyLawkholme Lane
PTue 12 Sep 1978St. Helens13-9WarringtonKnowsley Road5,000[4][5]

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 26 Sep 1978Castleford20-11Wakefield TrinityWheldon Road3[6]
2Thu 28 Sep 1978Barrow17-5LeighCraven Park
3Tue 3 Oct 1978Halifax12-21Hull Kingston RoversThrum Hall3
4Tue 3 Oct 1978Keighley15-25HuddersfieldLawkholme Lane[7]
5Tue 3 Oct 1978Widnes17-13WhitehavenNaughton Park[8]
6Tue 10 Oct 1978Leeds8-14Hull F.C.Headingley[9]
7Tue 17 Oct 1978Salford15-17St. HelensThe Willows4,6323[5]
8Tue 24 Oct 1978Wigan13-2Rochdale HornetsCentral Park3 4[3]

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 31 Oct 1978Barrow0-6Hull F.C.Craven Park[9]
2Tue 7 Nov 1978St. Helens47-5CastlefordKnowsley Road4,2475[5]
3Wed 15 Nov 1978Rochdale Hornets10-9HuddersfieldAthletic Grounds[3][7]
4Tue 21 Nov 1978Hull Kingston RoversPWidnesCraven Park (1)6[8]

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
RTue 21 Nov 1978Hull Kingston Rovers10-13WidnesCraven Park (1)[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 28 Nov 1978Hull F.C.5-13St. HelensBoulevard8,4283[5][9]
2Tue 05 Dec 1978Rochdale HornetsPWidnesAthletic Grounds7[8]

Round 3 – Semi-finals – replay

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
RFri 08 Dec 1978Rochdale Hornets9-26WidnesAthletic Grounds[8]

Final
Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
FTuesday 12 December 1978St. Helens7-13WidnesKnowsley Road10,2507,0173 8 9[5][8][10][11]

Teams and scorers

[5][8][10]

Widnes № St. Helens
teams
David Eckersley1Geoff Pimblett
Stuart Wright2Les Jones
Eric Hughes3Peter Glynn
Mal Aspey4Eddie Cunningham
Peter Shaw5Roy Mathias
Mick Burke6Bill Francis
Reg Bowden 7Neil Holding
Brian Hogan8David "Dave" Chisnall
Keith Elwell9Graham Liptrot
Jim Mills10Mel James
Mick Adams11George Nicholls
Alan Dearden12John Knighton
Doug Laughton13Harry Pinner
Doug LaughtonCoachEric Ashton
13score7
8HT5
Scorers
Tries
Stuart Wright (2)TDavid "Dave" Chisnall (1)
Mick Burke (1)T
Goals
Mick Burke (2)GGeoff Pimblett (2)
RefereeJ McDonald (Wigan)

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
            
Barrow 17
Leigh 5
Barrow 0
Hull F.C. 6
Leeds 8
Hull F.C. 14
Hull F.C. 5
St. Helens 13
Salford 15
St. Helens 17
St. Helens 47
Castleford 5
Castleford 20
Wakefield Trinity 11
St. Helens 7
Widnes 13
Wigan 13
Rochdale Hornets 2
Rochdale Hornets 10
Huddersfield 9
Keighley 15
Huddersfield 25
Rochdale Hornets 9
Widnes 26
Halifax 12
Hull Kingston Rovers 21
Hull Kingston Rovers 10
Widnes 13
Widnes 17
Whitehaven 13

Notes and comments

1 * At the time this was the second highest score, only to be equalled about two months later in the Second round
2 * The RUGBYLEAGUEprojects[1] gives the attendance as 10,099 but this appears to be the attendance at the previous year's final added in error
3 * This match was televised
4 * The Wigan archives[3] state "Wigan were kicked out the competition for playing Steve Breheny (who was at the time suspended) in the last round". For fuller details see the report on the website[2]
5 * At the time this equalled the second highest score
6 * Postponed due to pending court case brought by Wigan against the RFL[2]
7 * Postponed
8 * The Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990–1991[10] and 1991-92[11] and the RUGBYLEAGUEprojects[1] gives the attendance as 10,250 but the official St. Helens archives[5] give it as 10,500
9 * 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" matches".
  3. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results". Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  4. "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014.
  5. "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  6. "I'm Wakefield 'til I die..."
  7. "Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage" (PDF).
  8. "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  9. "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
  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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