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1978–79 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

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1978–79 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
StructureFloodlit knockout championship
Teams22
WinnersWidnes
Runners-upSt. Helens

The 1978–79 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the 14th staging of the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition, and was held in 1978.

Previous two times runner-up Widnes won the trophy by beating the previous year's winners and cup holders St. Helens by 13-7. The match was played at Knowsley Road, Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. 10,250 fans attended, and the receipts were £7,017.

Background

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This season Batley dropped out after only one season, but Bramley returned; thus the number of entrants remaining the same at twenty-two.
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.

Competition and results

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[1][2]

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 Sat 26 Aug 1978 Leeds 47–11 Bramley Headingley 10099 1 2
P Sun 27 Aug 1978 Barrow 17–11 Oldham Craven Park
P Sun 27 Aug 1978 Wigan 27–10 Swinton Central Park [3]
P Tue 5 Sep 1978 Hull Kingston Rovers 39–2 New Hunslet Craven Park (1)
P Tue 5 Sep 1978 Keighley 10–0 Dewsbury Lawkholme Lane
P Tue 12 Sep 1978 St. Helens 13–9 Warrington Knowsley Road 5,000 [4][5]

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 Tue 26 Sep 1978 Castleford 20–11 Wakefield Trinity Wheldon Road 3 [6]
2 Thu 28 Sep 1978 Barrow 17–5 Leigh Craven Park
3 Tue 3 Oct 1978 Halifax 12–21 Hull Kingston Rovers Thrum Hall 3
4 Tue 3 Oct 1978 Keighley 15–25 Huddersfield Lawkholme Lane [7]
5 Tue 3 Oct 1978 Widnes 17–13 Whitehaven Naughton Park [8]
6 Tue 10 Oct 1978 Leeds 8–14 Hull F.C. Headingley [9]
7 Tue 17 Oct 1978 Salford 15–17 St. Helens The Willows 4,632 3 [5]
8 Tue 24 Oct 1978 Wigan 13–2 Rochdale Hornets Central Park 3 [a] [3]

Second round

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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 31 Oct 1978 Barrow 0–6 Hull F.C. Craven Park [9]
2 Tue 7 Nov 1978 St. Helens 47–5 Castleford Knowsley Road 4,247 5 [5]
3 Wed 15 Nov 1978 Rochdale Hornets 10–9 Huddersfield Athletic Grounds [3][7]
4 Tue 21 Nov 1978 Hull Kingston Rovers P Widnes Craven Park (1) 6 [8]

Replay

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Involved 1 matches and 2 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
R Tue 21 Nov 1978 Hull Kingston Rovers 10–13 Widnes Craven Park (1) [8]

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 28 Nov 1978 Hull F.C. 5–13 St Helens Boulevard 8,428 3 [5][9]
2 Tue 05 Dec 1978 Rochdale Hornets P Widnes Athletic Grounds 7 [8]

Replay

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Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
R Fri 08 Dec 1978 Rochdale Hornets 9–26 Widnes Athletic Grounds [8]

Final

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Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
F Tuesday 12 December 1978 St Helens 7–13 Widnes Knowsley Road 10,250 7,017 3 8 9 [5][8][11][12]

Teams and scorers

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[5][8][11]

Widnes St. Helens
teams
David Eckersley 1 Geoff Pimblett
Stuart Wright 2 Les Jones
Eric Hughes 3 Peter Glynn
Mal Aspey 4 Eddie Cunningham
Peter Shaw 5 Roy Mathias
Mick Burke 6 Bill Francis
Reg Bowden 7 Neil Holding
Brian Hogan 8 David "Dave" Chisnall
Keith Elwell 9 Graham Liptrot
Jim Mills 10 Mel James
Mick Adams 11 George Nicholls
Alan Dearden 12 John Knighton
Doug Laughton 13 Harry Pinner
Doug Laughton Coach Eric Ashton
13 score 7
8 HT 5
Scorers
Tries
Stuart Wright (2) T David "Dave" Chisnall (1)
Mick Burke (1) T
Goals
Mick Burke (2) G Geoff Pimblett (2)
Referee J McDonald (Wigan)

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

The road to success

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This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

First round Second round Semi-finals Final
            
Barrow 17
Leigh 5
Barrow 0
Hull F.C. 6
Leeds 8
Hull F.C. 14
Hull F.C. 5
St. Helens 13
Salford 15
St. Helens 17
St. Helens 47
Castleford 5
Castleford 20
Wakefield Trinity 11
St. Helens 7
Widnes 13
Wigan 13
Rochdale Hornets 2
Rochdale Hornets 10
Huddersfield 9
Keighley 15
Huddersfield 25
Rochdale Hornets 9
Widnes 26
Halifax 12
Hull Kingston Rovers 21
Hull Kingston Rovers 10
Widnes 13
Widnes 17
Whitehaven 13

Notes

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  1. ^ Rochdale Hornets progressed to the next round after Wigan were expelled from the competition for fielding an ineligible player.[10]

1 * At the time this was the second highest score, only to be equalled about two months later in the Second round
2 * The RUGBYLEAGUEprojects[1] gives the attendance as 10,099 but this appears to be the attendance at the previous year's final added in error
3 * This match was televised
5 * At the time this equalled the second highest score
6 * Postponed due to pending court case brought by Wigan against the RFL[2]
7 * Postponed
8 * The Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990–1991[11] and 1991-92[12] and the RUGBYLEAGUEprojects[1] gives the attendance as 10,250 but the official St. Helens archives[5] give it as 10,500
9 * Knowsley Road was the home of St Helens R.F.C. from 1890 until its closure in 2010. The final capacity was 17,500 although the record attendance was 35,695 set on 26 December 1949 for a league game between St Helens and Wigan.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Rugby League Project".
  2. ^ a b "Wigan "Cherry and White" matches".
  3. ^ a b c "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results". Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  4. ^ "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  6. ^ "I'm Wakefield 'til I die..."
  7. ^ a b "Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage" (PDF).
  8. ^ a b c d e f g "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  9. ^ a b c "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
  10. ^ "Wigan knocked out for fielding ineligible player". The Times. 11 November 1978. p. 6.
  11. ^ a b c Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.
  12. ^ a b Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
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