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1977–78 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

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1977–78 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
StructureFloodlit knockout championship
Teams22
WinnersHull Kingston Rovers
Runners-upSt. Helens

The 1977–78 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the thirteenth occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held. This year there was another new name added when Hull Kingston Rovers won the trophy by beating St. Helens in the final by the score of 26-11. The match was played at Craven Park (1), in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. The attendance was 10,099, and the receipts were £6,586.

Background

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The Rugby Football League's 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)

Competition and results

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This season Bramley, winners in 1973, did not enter the competition (they returned next year), but Batley joined the competition; thus the number of entrants remaining the same at twenty-two.[1][2] 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.

Preliminary round

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Involved 6 matches and 12 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
P Sun 28 Aug 1977 Halifax 5-43 Leigh Thrum Hall
P Tue 30 Aug 1977 Huddersfield 18-22 Wigan Fartown [3][4]
P Tue 30 Aug 1977 Salford 39-5 New Hunslet The Willows
P Wed 7 Sep 1977 Keighley 25-2 Swinton Lawkholme Lane
P Tue 13 Sep 1977 Bramley 4-14 Wakefield Trinity McLaren Field 1 [5]
P Tue 27 Sep 1977 Leeds 16-13 Widnes Headingley [6]

Round 1 – first round

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Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Wed 28 Sep 1977 Barrow 6-10 Leigh Craven Park
2 Tue 4 Oct 1977 Whitehaven 5-6 Salford Recreation Ground
3 Wed 5 Oct 1977 Oldham 13-11 Warrington Watersheddings [7]
4 Wed 5 Oct 1977 Wakefield Trinity 15-8 Keighley Belle Vue [5]
5 Tue 11 Oct 1977 St. Helens 51-0 Dewsbury Knowsley Road 2,754 2 [8]
6 Wed 12 Oct 1977 Leeds 19-5 Rochdale Hornets Headingley
7 Tue 25 Oct 1977 Hull Kingston Rovers 18-7 Wigan Craven Park (1) 3 [9]
8 Tue 18 Oct 1977 Hull F.C. A Castleford Boulevard 4 [10]

Round 1 – first round – replay

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Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
8 Wed 26 Oct 1977 Hull F.C. 7-10 Castleford Boulevard [10]

Round 2 – quarter finals

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Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Tue 1 Nov 1977 Salford 29-10 Oldham The Willows
2 Tue 8 Nov 1977 Wakefield Trinity 14-22 Hull Kingston Rovers Belle Vue [5]
3 Tue 15 Nov 1977 Castleford 14-10 Leeds Wheldon Road
4 Tue 22 Nov 1977 Leigh 7-14 St. Helens Hilton Park 4,011 [8]

Round 3 – semi-finals

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Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Tue 29 Nov 1977 Castleford 5-23 Hull Kingston Rovers Wheldon Road
2 Tue 6 Dec 1977 St. Helens 7-4 Salford Knowsley Road 3,500 [8]

Final

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Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Tuesday 13 December 1977 Hull Kingston Rovers 26-11 St. Helens Craven Park (1) 10,099 6,586 3 5 [8][11][12]

Teams and scorers

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Hull Kingston Rovers № St. Helens
teams
Dave Hall 1 Geoff Pimblett
Gerald "Ged" Dunn 2 Les Jones
Mike Smith 3 Derek Noonan
Bernard Watson 4 Eddie Cunningham
Clive Sullivan 5 Peter Glynn
Steve Hartley 6 Bill Francis
Roger Millward 7 Ken Gwilliam
John Millington 8 David "Dave" Chisnall
David Watkinson 9 Graham Liptrot
John Cunningham 10 Mel James
Phil Lowe 11 Mick Hope
Paul Rose 12 Anthony "Tony" Karalius
Len Casey 13 Harry Pinner
Roger Millward Coach Eric Ashton
26 score 11
11 HT 3
Scorers
Tries
Gerald "Ged" Dunn (2) T Eddie Cunningham (1)
Mike Smith (1) T Peter Glynn (2)
Clive Sullivan (1) T
Steve Hartley (1) T
Paul Rose (1) T
Goals
Dave Hall (4) G Peter Glynn (1)
Referee Michael "Mick" J. Naughton (Widnes)

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

[8][11]

The road to success

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This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

First round Second round Semi-finals Final
            
Hull F.C. 7
Castleford 10
Castleford 14
Leeds 10
Leeds 19
Rochdale Hornets 5
Castleford 5
Hull KR 23
Wakefield Trinity 15
Keighley 8
Wakefield Trinity 14
Hull KR 22
Hull KR 18
Wigan 7
Hull KR 26
St. Helens 11
Barrow 6
Leigh 10
Leigh 7
St. Helens 14
St. Helens 51
Dewsbury 0
St. Helens 7
Salford 4
Whitehaven 5
Salford 6
Salford 29
Oldham 10
Oldham 13
Warrington 11

Notes

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1 * Batley join the competition and play first game in the competition, and first at home in the competition. It was also their one and only game as they did not enter the competition again
2 * At the time this highest score and greatest winning margin, never to be beaten
3 * This match was televised
4 * Abandoned after 25 Minutes due to Fog - Second Half was due to be Live on BBC 2
5 * Craven Park (1) was the home ground of Hull Kingston Rovers from 2 September 1922 to 9 April 1989. The final capacity was estimated to be under 10,000 although the record attendance was 22,282 set on 7 October 1922 in a match against local rivals Hull FC. The stadium was demolished in 1989 and a new supermarket constructed for the Co-op, and now occupied by Morrisons.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Rugby League Project".
  2. ^ "Wigan "Cherry and White" matches".
  3. ^ "Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage" (PDF).
  4. ^ "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results". Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  5. ^ a b c "I'm Wakefield 'til I die..."
  6. ^ "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1977".
  7. ^ "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1977".
  8. ^ a b c d e "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  9. ^ "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
  10. ^ a b "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
  11. ^ a b Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.
  12. ^ Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
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