1973–74 League Cup (rugby league)

This was the third season of rugby league's League Cup competition, which for sponsorship reasons was known as the Players No.6 Trophy.

1973–74 League Cup
StructureNational knockout championship
Teams32
WinnersWarrington
Runners-upRochdale Hornets

Warrington won the final, beating Rochdale Hornets by the score of 27-16 in the match played at Central Park, Wigan. The attendance was 9,347 and receipts were £4380.

Background

This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at thirty-two.

Competition and Results

[1][2][3][4]

Round 1 - First Round

[5] Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Sat 15 Sep 1973Bramley20-12Hull F.C.McLaren Field750[6]
2Sat 15 Sep 1973Keighley30-10HuytonLawkholme Lane5951
3Sat 15 Sep 1973St. Helens34-16Featherstone RoversKnowsley Road30002[7]
4Sat 15 Sep 1973Whitehaven26-3Dewsbury CelticRecreation Ground12763, 4
5Sat 15 Sep 1973Wigan34-0BatleyCentral Park4149[4]
6Sun 16 Sep 1973Bradford Northern12-34LeedsOdsal9028
7Sun 16 Sep 1973Castleford88-5MillomWheldon Road10315, 6
8Sun 16 Sep 1973Dewsbury33-24WidnesCrown Flatt25087[8]
9Sun 16 Sep 1973Halifax20-5BarrowThrum Hall12818
10Sun 16 Sep 1973New Hunslet11-26LeighElland Road Greyhound Stadium2000
11Sun 16 Sep 1973Rochdale Hornets18-2HuddersfieldAthletic Grounds1952[9]
12Sun 16 Sep 1973Salford47-17DoncasterThe Willows4122
13Sun 16 Sep 1973Wakefield Trinity47-13Blackpool BoroughBelle Vue2462[10]
14Sun 16 Sep 1973Warrington31-14OldhamWilderspool5238[11]
15Sun 16 Sep 1973Workington Town20-9Hull Kingston RoversDerwent Park1503
16Sun 16 Sep 1973York32-13SwintonClarence Street2509

Round 2 - Second Round

[12] Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs
NOTE - Matches in this round kicked off earlier to make maximum use of the daylight
Use of Floodlights in sporting events was banned by government order from 15 November 1973 due to mining strikes

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Sat 15 Dec 1973Bramley24-12LeighMcLaren Field7509
2Sat 15 Dec 1973Warrington18-9CastlefordWilderspool22089[11]
3Sun 16 Dec 1973Halifax7-16DewsburyThrum Hall20509
4Sun 16 Dec 1973Rochdale Hornets11-0YorkAthletic Grounds22749
5Sun 16 Dec 1973St. Helens28-2WhitehavenKnowsley Road23109, 10[7]
6Sun 16 Dec 1973Salford4-17LeedsThe Willows8219
7Sun 16 Dec 1973Wakefield Trinity10-7Workington TownBelle Vue18359[10]
8Sun 16 Dec 1973Wigan10-14KeighleyCentral Park25099, 11[4]

Round 3 -Quarter Finals

[12] Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Sat 29 Dec 1973Wakefield Trinity18-18St. HelensBelle Vue289012[7][10]
2Sun 30 Dec 1973Keighley8-11BramleyLawkholme Lane288713
3Sun 30 Dec 1973Rochdale Hornets7-5LeedsAthletic Grounds538913
4Sun 30 Dec 1973Warrington20-12DewsburyWilderspool609013[11]

Round 3 -Quarter Finals - Replays

Involved 1 match with 2 clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Sun 6 Jan 1974St. Helens16-10Wakefield TrinityKnowsley Road7287[7][10]

Round 4 – Semi-Finals

[12] Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Sun 6 Jan 1974Rochdale Hornets14-2BramleyAthletic Grounds283514
2Sat 12 Jan 1974Warrington20-9St. HelensWilderspool5352[7][11]

Final
Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Saturday 9 February 1974Warrington27-16Rochdale HornetsCentral Park9347438015, 16[11][13][14]

Teams and Scorers John Player yearbook 1974–75

[13][14]

Warrington № Rochdale Hornets
teams
Derek Whitehead1James "Jim"/"Jimmy" Crellin
Michael "Mick"/"Mike" Philbin2Norman Brelsford
Derek Noonan3Tom Brophy
Frank Reynolds4David Taylor
John Bevan5Willie Aspinall
Alan Whittle6John Butler
Parry Gordon7Stephen/Steven "Steve" Gartland
David "Dave" Chisnall8William "Bill" Holliday
Kevin Ashcroft (c)9R. Harris
Brian Brady10S. Whitehead
David "Dave" Wright11Terry Fogerty
Robert "Bobby" Wanbon12William "Bill"/"Billy" Sheffield
Barry Philbin13Tony Halmshaw
William "Bill"/"Billy" Pickup (for Derek Noonan or Frank Reynolds)14Harry Wood (for John Butler or Terry Foggerty)
Mike Nicholas (for Dave Chisnall 19-mins)15? Not used
Coach
27score16
12HT0
Scorers
Tries
Derek Whitehead (1)TNorman Brelsford (2)
Derek Noonan (2)TTom Brophy (1)
John Bevan (1)TDavid Taylor (1)
Mike Nicholas (1)T
Goals
Derek Whitehead (6)GWilliam "Bill" Holliday (2)
RefereeD. Gerald "Gerry" Kershaw (York)
Man of the matchKevin Ashcroft - Warrington - Hooker
Competition SponsorPlayer's №6

Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = one (1) point

Timeline in the final
Time Incident Score
?Penalty Goal: Derek Whitehead2-0
27 minTry: Mike Nicholas5-0
Conversion: Derek Whitehead7-0
39 minTry: Derek Noonan10-0
Conversion: Derek Whitehead12-0
Half Time12-0
Penalty Goal: Colin Whitfield12-0
43 minTry: Norman Brelsford15-3
?Try: Derek Noonan15-3
Conversion: Derek Whitehead17-3
?Try: David Taylor17-6
Conversion: Bill Holliday17-8
approx 50 minTry: John Bevan20-8
Conversion: Derek Whitehead22-8
approx 60 minTry: Derek Whitehead25-8
Conversion: Derek Whitehead27-8
?Try: Norman Brelsford27-11
Conversion: Bill Holliday27-13
79 minTry: Tom Brophy27-16
Full Time27-16

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
Winner50001£5000
Runner-up25001£2500
semi-finalist10002£2000
loser in Rd 3?4?
loser in Rd 2?8?
Loser in Rd 1?16?
Loser in Prelim Round???
Grand Total

Note - the author is unable to trace the rest of the award amounts. Can anyone help ?

The road to success

This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

First Round Second Round Third Round Semi Finals Final
               
Warrington 31
Oldham 14
Warrington 18
Castleford 9
Castleford 88
Millom 5
Warrington 20
Dewsbury 12
Halifax 20
Barrow 5
Halifax 7
Dewsbury 16
Dewsbury 33
Widnes 24
Warrington 20
St. Helens 9
Wakefield Trinity 47
Blackpool Borough 13
Wakefield Trinity 10
Workington Town 7
Workington Town 20
Hull Kingston Rovers 9
Wakefield Trinity 18 (16)
St. Helens 18 (27)
St. Helens 34
Featherstone Rovers 13
St. Helens 28
Whitehaven 2
Whitehaven 26
Dewsbury Celtic 3
Warrington 27
Rochdale Hornets 16
Rochdale Hornets 18
Huddersfield 2
Rochdale Hornets 11
York 0
York 32
Swinton 13
Rochdale Hornets 7
Leeds 5
Salford 47
Doncaster 17
Salford 4
Leeds 17
Bradford Northern 12
Leeds 34
Rochdale Hornets 14
Bramley 2
Wigan 37
Batley 0
Wigan 10
Keighley 14
Keighley 30
Huyton 10
Keighley 8
Bramley 11
Bramley 20
Hull F.C. 12
Bramley 24
Leigh 12
New Hunslet 11
Leigh 26

Notes and comments

1 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] states that the match was played at Bradford, whereas it was played at Lawkholme Lane, Keighley
2 * St Helens official archives[7] give the attendance as 2,500 whereas RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] gives it as 3,000
3 * Dewsbury Celtic are a Junior (amateur) club from Dewsbury, home ground is Crow Nest Park
4 * The John Player Yearbook 1974–75[3] and the News of the World Football Annual 1974–75[2] give the attendance as 1,250 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] give it as 1,276
5 * Millom are a Junior (amateur) club from Cumbria, current home ground is the Coronation Field ground
6 * The highest score, to date in the competition against a Junior club
7 * Widnes official archives[8] give the result as a Wiidnes win
8 * Wigan official archives[4] show a score of 30-3 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] give it as 20-5
9 * Matches kicked off Earlier to accommodate daylight. Use of Floodlights was banned by government order from 15 November 1973 due to mining strikes.
10 * Wigan official archives[4] give score as 28-3 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] give it as 28-2
11 * Wigan's hooker (Colin Clarke) and two Keighley players (Wilmot and Burke) were sent off during this second half of this match.
12 * The John Player Yearbook 1974–75[3] give the date as 9-12-1974 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] give the date as 29-12-1974
13 * The John Player Yearbook 1974–75[3] give the date as 9-12-1974 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] give the date as 30-12-1974
14 * The John Player Yearbook 1974–75,[3] the News of the World Football Annual 1974–75[2] and Wigan official archives[4] give the date as Saturday 5-1-1974 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] give the date as Sunday 6-1-1974
15 * The John Player Yearbook 1974–75[3] gives the attendance as 10,047 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] give the attendance as 9,347
16 * Central Park was the home ground of Wigan with a final capacity of 18,000, although the record attendance was 47,747 for Wigan v St Helens 27 March 1959

General information for those unfamiliar

The council of the Rugby Football League voted to introduce a new competition, to be similar to The Football Association and Scottish Football Association's "League Cup". It was to be a similar knock-out structure to, and to be secondary to, the Challenge Cup. As this was being formulated, sports sponsorship was becoming more prevalent and as a result John Player and Sons, a division of Imperial Tobacco Company, became sponsors, and the competition never became widely known as the "League Cup"
The competition ran from 1971–72 until 1995-96 and was initially intended for the professional clubs plus the two amateur BARLA National Cup finalists. In later seasons the entries were expanded to take in other amateur and French teams. The competition was dropped due to "fixture congestion" when Rugby League became a summer sport 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 usually taking place in late January
The competition was variably known, by its sponsorship name, as the Player's No.6 Trophy (1971–1977), the John Player Trophy (1977–1983), the John Player Special Trophy (1983–1989), and the Regal Trophy in 1989.

See also

References
  1. "Rugby League Project".
  2. Frank Butler and Patrick Collins (1974). News of the World Football Annual 1974–75 - 88th year. News of the World Ltd.
  3. Jack Winstanley & Malcolm Ryding (1991). John Player Yearbook 1974–75. Queen Anne Press.
  4. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
  5. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
  6. "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
  7. "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  8. "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  9. "Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage" (PDF).
  10. "Wakefield until I die".
  11. "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2014-02-02.
  12. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
  13. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.
  14. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
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