1973–74 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

August 2016 August 2016 1973–74 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Floodlit knockout championship Bramley Winners Widnes 1972–73 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy 1972–73 1974–75 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy 1974–75 21 The 1973–74 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the ninth occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held. This year, there was another new name on the trophy when Bramley won the trophy by beating Widnes by the score of 15-7. The match was played at Naughton Park, Widnes, Cheshire (but historically in the county of Lancashire). Attendance was 4,542, and receipts were £1538. Bramley had been expected to make up the numbers against Widnes. Bramley had joined the Rugby League for the 1896-97 season, the second season in its existence, and in the 77 years since, this was the first trophy the club had won. It would also be the only trophy before the team left the league at the end of the 1999 season. This was also the second consecutive season in which Widnes had finished as runners-up in the BBC Floodlit Trophy. Background This was the year in which the Arab-Israeli war created an oil crisis, which, together with the miners' work to rule, caused the British Government to ban the use of floodlights in sport on 13 November. This, in turn, led to many of the Floodlit Trophy matches, including the final, being played in the afternoon rather than at night. This season saw three new clubs join the tournament. These were Bramley, Dewsbury and Whitehaven, which increased the number of entrants by three, to a new high of twenty-one. The format remained the same as last season, with the preliminary round played on a two-legged home and away basis and the rest of the tournament played on a knock-out basis. The preliminary round now involved ten clubs, reducing the number taking part in the competition proper to just sixteen. Competition and results Rugby League Project http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/competitions/bbc-floodlit-trophy/results.htmlJack Winstanley & Malcolm Ryding John Player Yearbook 1974–75 1991 Queen Anne Press 0362 001 77 4 Preliminary round – first leg Involved 5 matches and 10 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueaggAttRecNotesRef P1Mon 20 Aug 1973Barrow6-12St. HelensCraven Park2,819Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97 http://www.saints.org.uk/saints.org.uk/home/viewpage.php?page_id=9 6 April 2014 2 March 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20120302024842/http://www.saints.org.uk/saints.org.uk/home/viewpage.php?page_id=9 deadP1Tue 21 Aug 1973Castleford32-10HuddersfieldWheldon Road 1,195Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage http://www.huddersfieldrlheritage.co.uk/Documents/Club/Players'%20Records/Huddersfield%201973-74.pdfP1Wed 22 Aug 1973Leeds31-2Hull F.C.Headingley3,577HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results http://www.hullfc.com/first-team/matches/1973P1Wed 5 Sep 1973Rochdale Hornets15-14SwintonAthletic Grounds1,552P1Tue 11 Sep 1973Oldham12-14WiganWatersheddings1,459Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results http://wigan.rlfans.com/news.php?readmore=3199 6 April 2014 21 February 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20140221234707/http://wigan.rlfans.com/news.php?readmore=3199 dead Preliminary round – second leg Involved 5 matches and the same 10 Clubs in reverse fixtures Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueaggAttRecNotesRef P2Mon 27 Aug 1973St. Helens20-8BarrowKnowsley Road32-143,0001P2Wed 19 Sep 1973Huddersfield0-18CastlefordFartown10-50696P2Tue 4 Sep 1973Hull F.C.14-23LeedsBoulevard16-541,5002P2Wed 26 Sep 1973Swinton5-6Rochdale HornetsStation Road19-211,874P2Tue 18 Sep 1973Wigan9-16OldhamCentral Park23-283,469 Round 1 – first round Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Tue 2 Oct 1973Leeds7-6KeighleyHeadingley2,78832Tue 9 Oct 1973Leigh10-13WidnesHilton Park3,0003Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97 http://www.rugby.widnes.tv/seasonreview.php?mid=1896&smid=1896-97&mids=18963Wed 10 Oct 1973Oldham0-4Rochdale HornetsWatersheddings1,5554Wed 10 Oct 1973Wakefield Trinity9-10BramleyBelle Vue1,3934I'm Wakefield 'til I die... http://www.wakefieldtrinity-programmes.co.uk/page_2654162.html5Tue 16 Oct 1973St. Helens35-5WhitehavenKnowsley Road2,1083 5 66Tue 23 Oct 1973Salford26-4WarringtonThe Willows4,3893 7Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897 http://www.warringtonwolves.org/results-archive?y=1897 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20140202093910/http://www.warringtonwolves.org/results-archive?y=1897 2 February 2014 dmy 7Wed 24 Oct 1973Hull Kingston Rovers28-8DewsburyCraven Park (1)2,91288Tue 30 Oct 1973Castleford26-10HalifaxWheldon Road 8313 Round 2 – quarter finals Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Tue 6 Nov 1973St. Helens15-7Rochdale HornetsKnowsley Road3,15032Tue 13 Nov 1973Bramley13-2CastlefordMcLaren Field1,1103 93Tue 20 Nov 1973Salford11-15WidnesThe Willows2,42234Tue 27 Nov 1973Hull Kingston Rovers12-10LeedsCraven Park (1)1,3433 Round 3 – semi-finals Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Tue 4 Dec 1973Bramley13-12St. HelensMcLaren Field1,70032Tue 11 Dec 1973Hull Kingston Rovers8-13WidnesCraven Park (1)1,5503 Final Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef FTuesday 18 December 1973Widnes7-15BramleyNaughton Park4,54215383 a b c d eRaymond Fletcher and David Howes Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991 1990 Queen Anne Press 0 35617851 XRaymond Fletcher and David Howes Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100 1991 Queen Anne Press 0 35617852 8Frank Butler and Patrick Collins News of the World Football Annual 1974–75 - 88th year 1974 News of the World Ltd Teams and scorers Bramley№Widnes teams Arthur "Ollie" Keegan1Ray DuttonPeter Goodchild2Dennis O'NeillKeith Bollon3Eric HughesK. John Hughes4Mal AspeyJack Austin5Dave MackoTrevor Briggs6Tommy WarburtonBernard "Bernie"/"Barney" Ward7Reg BowdenDavid Briggs8Brian HoganRoy Firth 9Keith ElwellAnthony J./Antony J. "Tony" Cheshire 10Nicholas "Nick" NelsonDavid Sampson11Barry SheridanGraham Idle12Bob BlackwoodJohnny Wolford13Doug LaughtonDennis/Denis Ashman (for Bernard "Bernie"/"Barney" Ward)14? (unused)Kenneth "Ken" Huxley (unused)15John Foran (for Bob Blackwood)Arthur "Ollie" KeeganCoachVince Karalius 15score75HT4 Scorers Tries P. Goodchild (1 obstruction try)TDave Macko (1)Jack Austin (1)TDavid Sampson (1)T Goals Barney Ward (1)GRay Dutton (2)John Wolford (2)GReferee D. Gerald "Gerry" Kershaw (York) 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 Hull Kingston Rovers 26 Dewsbury 8 Leeds 7 Keighley 6 Salford 26 Warrington 4 Leigh 10 Widnes 13 Wakefield Trinity 9 Bramley 10 Castleford 26 Halifax 10 St. Helens 35 Whitehaven 5 Oldham 0 Rochdale Hornets 4 Hull Kingston Rovers 12 Leeds 10 Salford 11 Widnes 15 Bramley 13 Castleford 2 St. Helens 15 Rochdale Hornets 7 Hull Kingston Rovers 8 Widnes 13 Bramley 13 St. Helens 12 Widnes 7 Bramley 15 Notes and comments 1 * The John Player Yearbook 1974–75 gives the attendance as 3,000, but the official St. Helens archives gives it as 2,000 2 * At the time this was the highest aggregate score and was never to be beaten 3 * This match was televised 4 * Bramley joins the competition and plays the first game in the competition 5 * The John Player Yearbook 1974–75 gives the attendance as 1,500, but the official St. Helens archives gives it as 2,108 6 * Whitehaven join the competition and play first game in the competition 7 * Salford, who joined the competition in season 1966-67, won their first game in the competition 8 * Dewsbury join the competition and plays its first game in the competition 9 * Bramley play their first game at home in the competition a * There appears to be even more confusion about the attendance than normal. The Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991 and 1991-92 gives it 4,422, the RUGBYLEAGUEprojects as 4,542, The John Player Yearbook 1974–75 as 4,000, and the Daily Mirror of 19 December 1973 as 4,500 b * The Winning score and margin were a new record for the final, to date c * The final was played in daylight because of restrictions on the use of electricity and floodlights in sport d * Bramley had joined the Rugby League for the 1896-97 season, the second season in its existence, and in the 77 years since, this was the first trophy the club had ever won. It would also be the only trophy before leaving the league at the end of the 1999 season e * Naughton Park was the home ground of Widnes from 1895 to 1997, when a new stadium was built on the same site. The final capacity was estimated to be under 10,000, although the record attendance was 24,205 set on 16 February 1961 in a match v St. Helens See also 1973–74 Northern Rugby Football League season 1973 Lancashire Cup 1973 Yorkshire Cup BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Rugby league county cups References 2 External links Saints Heritage Society https://web.archive.org/web/20120302024842/http://www.saints.org.uk/saints.org.uk/home/viewpage.php?page_id=9 2 March 2012 1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season at wigan.rlfans.com https://web.archive.org/web/20140202123900/http://wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/index.php?page_id=319 2 February 2014 Hull&Proud Fixtures & Results 1896/1897 Widnes Vikings - One team, one passion Season In Review - 1896-97 The Northern Union at warringtonwolves.org Huddersfield R L Heritage BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Category:BBC2 Floodlit Trophy