1968–69 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

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1968–69 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
StructureFloodlit knockout championship
Teams18
WinnersWigan
Runners-upSt. Helens

The 1968–69 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the fourth occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held.
This year was a new name on the trophy after Castleford's three year winning streak came to an end.
Wigan won the trophy by beating St. Helens by the score of 7-4
The match was played at Central Park, Wigan, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 13,479 and receipts were £3,291
This was to be Wigan's only success in the competition.

Background[]

This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at eighteen.
However the format was changed slightly with the games in the preliminary round being on a two-legged home and away basis.
This preliminary round now involved four clubs, to reduce the numbers to sixteen, followed by a straightforward knock out competition.

Competition and results[]

[1]

Preliminary round – first leg[]

Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref
P1 Mon 9 Sep 1968 Wakefield Trinity 11-15 Castleford Belle Vue [2][3]
P1 Tue 10 Sep 1968 St. Helens 21-5 Barrow Knowsley Road [4]

Preliminary round – second leg[]

Involved 2 matches with the same 4 Clubs with reverse fixtures

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref
P2 Mon 23 Sep 1968 Castleford 18-0 Wakefield Trinity Wheldon Road 33-11 1 [2][3]
P2 Mon 23 Sep 1968 Barrow 18-11 St. Helens Craven Park 23-32 2672 [4]

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 1 Oct 1968 Leeds 24-19 Salford Headingley
2 Tue 8 Oct 1968 Wigan 10-7 Castleford Central Park 2 [5]
3 Mon 14 Oct 1968 Hull F.C. 22-13 Widnes Boulevard 3 [6]
4 Mon 14 Oct 1968 St. Helens 12-10 Swinton Knowsley Road 4900 [4]
5 Tue 15 Oct 1968 Leigh 27-19 Hull Kingston Rovers Hilton Park
6 Tue 15 Oct 1968 Rochdale Hornets 16-14 Oldham Athletic Grounds 4
7 Tue 22 Oct 1968 Keighley 8-11 Huddersfield Lawkholme Lane 2795 5 [7][8]
8 Tue 29 Oct 1968 Warrington 30-12 Halifax Wilderspool [9]

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 5 Nov 1968 Rochdale Hornets 7-23 Wigan Athletic Grounds 2 [5]
2 Tue 12 Nov 1968 Leigh 25-11 Leeds Hilton Park
3 Tue 19 Nov 1968 Warrington 18-5 Huddersfield Wilderspool [7][8]
4 Tue 26 Nov 1968 St. Helens 14-10 Hull F.C. Knowsley Road [4]

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 3 Dec 1968 Wigan 9-7 Leigh Central Park 2 [5]
2 Tue 10 Dec 1968 St. Helens 29-6 Warrington Knowsley Road [4][9]

Final[]

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Tuesday 17 December 1968 Wigan 7-4 St. Helens Central Park 13,479 3,291 2 6 [4][5][10][11]

Teams and scorers[]

[4][5][11]

Wigan № St. Helens
teams
Colin Tyrer 1
Bill Francis 2 Frank Wilson
Eric Ashton 3 Billy Benyon
Bill Ashurst 4 Frank Myler
Peter Rowe 5
Cliff Hill 6 Alan Whittle
7 Tommy Bishop
John Stephens 8 John Warlow
Colin Clarke 9 Bill Sayer
10 Cliff Watson
Terry Fogerty 11 John Mantle
12 Brian Hogan
Doug Laughton 13 Kel Coslett
Geoff Lyon 14 Eric Prescott
A. N. Other 15 Eric Chisnall
Eric Ashton Coach Cliff Evans
7 score 4
2 HT 4
Scorers
Tries
Cliff Hill (1) T
Goals
Colin Tyrer (2) G Kel Coslett (2)
Referee (Sergeant Major) Eric Clay (Leeds)

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
            
Rochdale Hornets 16
Oldham 14
Rochdale Hornets 7
Wigan 23
Wigan 10
Castleford 7
Wigan 9
Leigh 7
Leigh 27
Hull Kingston Rovers 19
Leigh 25
Leeds 11
Leeds 24
Salford 19
Wigan 7
St. Helens 4
St. Helens 12
Leigh 10
St. Helens 14
Hull F.C. 10
Hull F.C. 22
Widnes 13
St. Helens 29
Warrington 6
Warrington 30
Halifax 12
Warrington 18
Huddersfield 5
Keighley 8
Huddersfield 11

Notes and comments[]

1 * Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-91[11] and 1991-1992[10] and "100 Years of Rugby. The History of Wakefield Trinity 1873-1973"[2] give the score as 18–0 but as obvious error in the wonderfully detailed independent WEB "Wakefield 'till I die"[3] gives the score as 13-0
2 * This match was televised
3 * Hull F.C. (who joined the competition in season 1967-68) play their first game at home in the competition
4 * Rochdale Hornets, who joined the competition in season 1966-67, win their first game in the competition
5 * Keighley (who joined the competition in season 1967-68) play their first game at home in the competition
6 * The attendance was a record at that time
7 * 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 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. ^ a b c 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.
  3. ^ a b c "I'm Wakefield 'til I die..."
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  5. ^ a b c d e "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
  6. ^ "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
  7. ^ a b HC&AC Committee (1969). Fartown Rugby League Year Book 1969 (price 1/-). HC&AC Supporters' Club.
  8. ^ a b "Fartown Rugby League Yearbook 1969" (PDF).
  9. ^ a b "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 6 July 2010.
  10. ^ a b Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
  11. ^ a b c Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.

External links[]

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