1974–75 League Cup (rugby league)

This was the fourth season for the League Cup, which was again known as the Players No.6 Trophy for sponsorship reasons.

1974–75 League Cup
StructureNational knockout championship
Teams32
WinnersBradford Northern
Runners-upWidnes

Bradford Northern won the trophy by beating Widnes by the score of 3-2. The final was played at Wilderspool, Warrington. The attendance was 5,935 and receipts were £3305.

Background

This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at eighteen.
For the first time in the competition, there were no drawn matches.

Competition and results

[1][2][3]

Round 1 - First round

[4] Involved 16 matches and 32 clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Fri 27 Sep 1974Salford36-5CastlefordThe Willows
2Sat 28 Sep 1974Barrow5-14YorkCraven Park
3Sat 28 Sep 1974Bramley15-6Hull F.C.McLaren Field1[5]
4Sat 28 Sep 1974Leeds49-10New HunsletHeadingley
5Sat 28 Sep 1974Wakefield Trinity44-10LeighBelle Vue[6]
6Sat 28 Sep 1974Whitehaven32-6Lock LaneRecreation Ground5372, 3
7Sun 29 Sep 1974Blackpool Borough17-20WiganBorough Park[7]
8Sun 29 Sep 1974Bradford Northern12-8DewsburyOdsal4
9Sun 29 Sep 1974Doncaster15-6Kippax White SwanBentley Road Stadium/Tattersfield4535, 6
10Sun 29 Sep 1974Halifax11-13KeighleyThrum Hall
11Sun 29 Sep 1974Huyton14-12HuddersfieldAlt Park, Huyton[8]
12Sun 29 Sep 1974Oldham21-14Workington TownWatersheddings7
13Sun 29 Sep 1974Rochdale Hornets12-16Hull Kingston RoversAthletic Grounds
14Sun 29 Sep 1974Swinton7-6St. HelensStation Road[9]
15Sun 29 Sep 1974Warrington36-3BatleyWilderspool[10]
16Sun 29 Sep 1974Widnes10-5Featherstone RoversNaughton Park[11]

Round 2 - Second round

[12] Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Fri 8 Nov 1974Salford14-9BramleyThe Willows
2Sat 9 Nov 1974Oldham3-12Bradford NorthernWatersheddings
3Sun 10 Nov 1974Keighley4-39LeedsLawkholme Lane8[5]
4Sun 10 Nov 1974Swinton18-2WiganStation Road44209[7]
5Sun 10 Nov 1974Warrington33-6HuytonWilderspool10[10]
6Sun 10 Nov 1974Whitehaven14-4DoncasterRecreation Ground
7Sun 10 Nov 1974Widnes35-13Wakefield TrinityNaughton Park[6][11]
8Sun 10 Nov 1974York12-26Hull Kingston RoversClarence Street

Round 3 -Quarterfinals

[12] Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Fri 6 Dec 1974Whitehaven5-0WarringtonRecreation Ground[10]
2Sat 7 Dec 1974Hull Kingston Rovers25-17SalfordCraven Park (1)
3Sun 8 Dec 1974Bradford Northern17-7LeedsOdsal
4Sun 8 Dec 1974Widnes15-5SwintonNaughton Park[11]

Round 4 – Semifinals

[12] Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Sat 4 Jan 1975Widnes16-14Hull Kingston RoversNaughton Park[11]
2Sat 11 Jan 1975Whitehaven6-18Bradford NorthernRecreation Ground11

Final
Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Saturday 25 January 1975Bradford Northern3-2WidnesWilderspool593533053-2[11][13][14]

Teams and scorers

[3][13][14][15]

Bradford Northern № Widnes
teams
Stuart Carlton1Ray Dutton
Richard Francis2Alan Prescott
Phil Ward3Dennis O'Neill
Les Gant4Mal Aspey
David Redfearn5Chris Anderson
Mick Blacker6Eric Hughes
Barry Seabourne7Reg Bowden
Kelvin "Kel" Earl8Jim Mills
Francis Jarvis9Keith Elwell
Phil Jackson10Barry Sheridan
Graham Joyce11Mick Adams
Dennis Trotter12Bob Blackwood
Stanley "Stan" Fearnley13Doug Laughton
Ken Kelly14Terry Karalius
Pattinson15John Peek
Coach
3score2
3HT2
Scorers
Tries
Stuart Carlton - after 20 minsT
Goals
GRay Dutton (1)
RefereeG. Frederick "Fred" Lindop (Wakefield)
Man of the matchBarry Seabourne - Bradford Northern - scrum-half
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
20 minTry: Stuart Carlton3-0
?Penalty Goal: Ray Dutton3-2
Half Time3-2
Full Time3-2

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£50001£5000
Runner-up£25001£2500
semi-finalist£10002£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 ?

Notes and comments

1 * The News of The World/Empire News annual 1975–76[2] gives the score as 15-10 but others including The John Player Yearbook 1975–76[3] give it as 15-6
2 * Lock Lane are a Junior (amateur) club from Castleford
3 * The John Player Yearbook 1975–76[3] gives the attendance as 1,000 but the Rothmans Rugby League Yearbooks 1990-91[13] and 1991-92,[14] and RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] and Wigan official archives[7] give it as 537
4 * Wigan official archives[7] gives the score as 12-6 but The News of The World/Empire News annual 1975–76,[2] RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] and The John Player Yearbook 1975–76 gives it as 12-8
5 * Kippax White Swan are a Junior (amateur) club from Castleford
6 * The John Player Yearbook 1975–76[3] gives the attendance as 513 but Rothmans Rugby League Yearbooks 1990-91[13] and 1991-92[14] and RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] give it as 453
7 * The News of The World/Empire News annual 1975–76,[2] Wigan official archives[7] and RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] give the score as 21-14 but The John Player Yearbook 1975–76[3] give it as 22-14
8 * Hull F.C. official website[5] shows Hull playing away at Leeds in December in the JPT, an obvious error
9 * Swinton No 8 Brian Butler was sent off in the 36th minute for "interfering in a tackle by Green on David Hill" and Wigan hooker Colin Clarke was sent off in the 6th minute for dissent.
10 * The News of The World/Empire News annual 1975–76[2] gives the score as 13-6 but Wigan official archives,[7] RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] and The John Player Yearbook 1975–76[3] give it as 33-6
11 * The News of The World/Empire News annual 1975–76[2] gives the score as 13-6 but Wigan official archives,[7] RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] and The John Player Yearbook 1975–76[3] give it as 33-6
13 * Wilderspool was the home ground of Warrington from 1883 to the end of the 2003 Summer season when they moved into the new purpose built Halliwell Jones Stadium. Wilderspool remained as a sports/Ruugby League ground and is/was used by Woolston Rovers/Warrington Wizards junior club.
The ground had a final capacity of 9,000 although the record attendance was set in a Challenge cup third round match on 13 March 1948 when 34,304 spectators saw Warrington lose to Wigan 10-13.

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 (1975). News of the World Football Annual 1975–76 - 89th year. News of the World Ltd.
  3. Jack Winstanley & Malcolm Ryding (1991). John Player Yearbook 1975–76. Queen Anne Press.
  4. "Wigan "Cherry and White" John Player Round 1 archived results".
  5. "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
  6. "I'm Wakefield 'til I die..."
  7. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
  8. "Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage" (PDF).
  9. "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  10. "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2014-02-02.
  11. "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  12. "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player round 2 onwards".
  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 Lague Yearbook 1991-1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
  15. "Widnes Stat Attack archived results".
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