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1969–70 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

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1969–70 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
StructureFloodlit knockout championship
Teams18
WinnersLeigh
Runners-upWigan

1969 was the fifth occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held.
This year was another new name on the trophy after the 1969 runner-up defeated the reigning cup-holders
Leigh won the trophy by beating Wigan by the score of 11-6
The match was played at Central Park, Wigan, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 12,312 and receipts were £2,854
This was to be Wigan's last appearance in the final of the competition.

Background

This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at eighteen.
The format remained the same as last season with the games in the preliminary round being on a two-legged home and away basis.
This preliminary round 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 Tue 26 Aug 1969 Wigan 22-6 Warrington Central Park [2][3]
P1 Mon 29 Sep 1969 Huddersfield 10-18 Castleford Fartown 1750 1 [4][5]

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 29 Sep 1969 Wigan 15-10 Wigan Wilderspool 21-32 [2][3]
P2 Wed 8 Oct 1969 Castleford 19-2 Huddersfield Wheldon Road 37-12 4000 [4][5]

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 30 Sep 1969 Halifax 9-27 Leeds Thrum Hall
2 Tue 7 Oct 1969 Leigh 25-8 Wakefield Trinity Hilton Park [6]
3 Mon 13 Oct 1969 Oldham 24-13 Rochdale Hornets Watersheddings
4 Mon 13 Oct 1969 Swinton 9-17 St. Helens Station Road 4900 [7]
5 Tue 14 Oct 1969 Wigan 24-5 Hull F.C. Central Park 2 [2][8]
6 Mon 20 Oct 1969 Barrow 13-10 Widnes Craven Park [9]
7 Tue 21 Oct 1969 Salford 12-16 Castleford The Willows
8 Tue 28 Oct 1969 Keighley 6-15 Hull Kingston Rovers Lawkholme Lane

Round 2 - quarterfinals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Tue 4 Nov 1969 Barrow 6-11 St. Helens Craven Park 4500 [7]
2 Tue 11 Nov 1969 Wigan 12-0 Oldham Central Park 2 [2]
3 Tue 18 Nov 1969 Hull Kingston Rovers 6-12 Leigh Craven Park (1)
4 Tue 25 Nov 1969 Castleford 9-7 Leeds Wheldon Road

Round 3 – semifinals

Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Tue 2 Dec 1969 Castleford 11-12 Leigh Wheldon Road
2 Tue 9 Dec 1969 Wigan 13-13 St. Helens Central Park 8850 2 [2][7]

Round 3 – semifinals – replays

Involved 1 match and 2 clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
R Thu 11 Dec 1969 St. Helens 9-15 Wigan Knowsley Road 11500 [2][7]

Final

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Tuesday 16 December 1969 Wigan 6-11 Leigh Central Park 12,312 2,854 2 3 [2][10][11]

Teams and scorers

Leigh Wigan
teams
Stuart Ferguson 1 Cliff Hill
Rod Tickle 2 Stuart Wright
Stan Dorrington 3 Bill Francis
Mick Collins 4 Peter Rowe
Joseph Walsh 5 Kevin O'Loughlin
David Eckersley 6 David Hill
Alex Murphy 7 Johnny Jackson
David Chisnall 8 John Stephens
Kevin Ashcroft 9 Colin Clarke
Derek Watts 10 Keith Ashcroft
Bob Welding 11 Bill Ashurst
Paul Grimes 12 Keith Mills
Geoff Lyon 13 Doug Laughton
Alex Murphy Coach Eric Ashton
11 score 6
11 HT 2
Scorers
Tries
Rod Tickle (1) T
Goals
Stuart Ferguson (3) G Bill Francis (2)
Alex Murphy (1) G David Hill (1)
Referee William "Billy" H. Thompson (Huddersfield)

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

[2][11]

The road to success

This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

First Round Second Round Semi Finals Final
            
Wigan 24
Hull F.C. 5
Wigan 12
Oldham 0
Oldham 24
Rochdale Hornets 13
Wigan 13 (15)
St. Helens 13 (9)
Barrow 13
Widnes 10
Barrow 6
St. Helens 11
Swinton 9
St. Helens 17
Wigan 6
Leigh 11
Salford 12
Castleford 16
Castleford 9
Leeds 7
Halifax 9
Leeds 27
Castleford 11
Leigh 12
Keighley 6
Hull Kingston Rovers 15
Hull Kingston Rovers 6
Leigh 12
Leigh 25
Wakefield Trinity 8

Notes and comments

1 * Huddersfield (who joined the competition in season 1967–68) play their first game at home in the competition
2 * This match was televised
3 * 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 d e f g h "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
  3. ^ a b "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 6 July 2010.
  4. ^ a b HC&AC Committee (1970). Fartown Rugby League Year Book 1970 (price 2/-). HC&AC Supporters' Club.
  5. ^ a b "Fartown Rugby League Yearbook 1970" (PDF).
  6. ^ "I'm Wakefield 'til I die..."
  7. ^ a b c d "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  8. ^ "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
  9. ^ "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  10. ^ Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
  11. ^ a b Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.