1970 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
1970 was the sixth occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held.
This year was another new name on the trophy - and ALSO St. Helens' third time in six years as runner-up
Leeds won the trophy by beating St. Helens by the score of 9-5
The match was played at Headingley, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 7,612 and receipts were £2,189
1970 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
| 1970–71 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy | |
|---|---|
| Structure | Floodlit knockout championship |
| Teams | 18 |
| Winners | Leeds |
| Runners-up | St. Helens |
Background
This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at eighteen.
The format was changed slightly removing the two-legged home and away ties from the preliminary round and playing the whole competition on a knock-out basis.
The preliminary round involved four clubs, to reduce the numbers to sixteen.
Competition and results
Preliminary round
Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs
| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Tue 29 Sep 1970 | Huddersfield | 16-14 | Wakefield Trinity | Fartown | [2][3][4] | |||||
| P | Thu 8 Oct 1970 | Leigh | 17-0 | Swinton | Hilton Park |
Round 1 – first round
Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs
| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tue 15 Sep 1970 | Wigan | 28-0 | Keighley | Central Park | [5] | |||||
| 2 | Fri 19 Sep 1970 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 25-13 | Warrington | Craven Park (1) | [6] | |||||
| 3 | Tue 29 Sep 1970 | St. Helens | 14-7 | Castleford | Knowsley Road | 7000 | [7] | ||||
| 4 | Tue 6 Oct 1970 | Barrow | 6-15 | Leeds | Craven Park | ||||||
| 5 | Tue 13 Oct 1970 | Halifax | 14-15 | Hull F.C. | Thrum Hall | [8] | |||||
| 6 | Tue 20 Oct 1970 | Salford | 2-7 | Widnes | The Willows | [9] | |||||
| 7 | Fri 23 Oct 1970 | Huddersfield | 14-5 | Oldham | Fartown | [4] | |||||
| 8 | Tue 27 Oct 1970 | Leigh | 14-5 | Rochdale Hornets | Hilton Park |
Round 2 – quarter finals
Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tue 3 Nov 1970 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 18-8 | Hull F.C. | Craven Park (1) | [8] | |||||
| 2 | Tue 10 Nov 1970 | Widnes | 6-16 | Leeds | Naughton Park | [9] | |||||
| 3 | Tue 24 Nov 1970 | Wigan | 25-9 | Huddersfield | Central Park | 1 | [4][5] | ||||
| 4 | Mon 30 Nov 1970 | Leigh | 4-10 | St. Helens | Hilton Park | 10372 | [7] |
Round 3 – semi-finals
Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs
| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tue 1 Dec 1970 | Leeds | 24-2 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Headingley | ||||||
| 2 | Tue 8 Dec 1970 | Wigan | 7-7 | St. Helens | Central Park | 10372 | 1 | [5][7] |
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 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | Sun 13 Dec 1970 | St. Helens | 16-15 | Wigan | Knowsley Road | 10285 | [5][7] |
Final
| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F | Tuesday 15 December 1970 | Leeds | 9-5 | St. Helens | Headingley | 7,612 | 2,189 | 1 2 | [7][10][11] |
Teams and scorers
| Leeds | № | St. Helens |
|---|---|---|
| teams | ||
| John Holmes | 1 | Frank Barrow |
| Alan Smith | 2 | Les Jones |
| Syd Hynes | 3 | Billy Benyon |
| Ronnie Cowan | 4 | Johnny Walsh |
| John Atkinson | 5 | Frank Wilson |
| Anthony "Tony" Wainwright | 6 | Alan Whittle |
| Mick Shoebottom | 7 | Jeff Heaton |
| John Burke | 8 | Graham Rees |
| Tony Fisher | 9 | Anthony "Tony" Karalius |
| Edward/Edwin "Ted" Barnard | 10 | Eric Chisnall |
| Bob Haigh | 11 | John Mantle |
| Bill Ramsey | 12 | Eric Prescott |
| Ray Batten | 13 | Kel Coslett |
| probably Derek Turner | Coach | Jim Challinor |
| 9 | score | 5 |
| 7 | HT | 3 |
| Scorers | ||
| Tries | ||
| Syd Hynes (1) | T | Les Jones (1) |
| Goals | ||
| John Holmes (2) | G | Kel Coslett (1) |
| Syd Hynes (1) | G | |
| Referee | E. Lawrinson (Warrington) |
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 | ||||||||||||||||
| Salford | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Widnes | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Widnes | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Leeds | 16 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Barrow | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Leeds | 15 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Leeds | 24 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hull Kingston Rovers | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hull Kingston Rovers | 25 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Warrington | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hull Kingston Rovers | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hull F.C. | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Halifax | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hull F.C. | 15 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Leeds | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||
| St. Helens | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wigan | 28 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Keighley | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wigan | 25 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Huddersfield | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Huddersfield | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Oldham | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wigan | 7 (15) | ||||||||||||||||||
| St. Helens | 7 (16) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Leigh | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Rochdale Hornets | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Leigh | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||
| St. Helens | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||
| St. Helens | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Castleford | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||
Notes and comments
1 * This match was televised
2 * Headingley, Leeds, is the home ground of Leeds RLFC with a capacity of 21,000. The record attendance was 40,175 for a league match between Leeds and Bradford Northern on 21 May 1947.
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
- "Rugby League Project".
- J C Lindley and D W Armitage (1973). 100 Years of Rugby. The History of Wakefield Trinity 1873-1973. Wakefield Trinity Centenary Committee. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
- "I'm Wakefield 'til I die..."
- "Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage" (PDF).
- "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
- "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 6 July 2010.
- "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
- "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
- "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
- Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.
- Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby Lague Yearbook 1991-1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.