1973–74 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
StructureFloodlit knockout championship
Teams21
WinnersBramley
Runners-upWidnes

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). The attendance was 4,542 and receipts were £1538.

Bramley perennial strugglers, had been expected to just make up the numbers against high-flying Widnes, but instead they showed what self-belief, commitment and hard work could do. The result was totally unexpected and is still one of the greatest shocks in Rugby League history. 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. 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 miner's work to rule, caused the British Government to ban the use of floodlights in sport on 13 November. This in turn resulted in many of the matches in the Floodlit Trophy, 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 total of twenty-one.

The format remained the same as the last season with the preliminary round played on a two-legged home and away basis and the rest of the tournament being played on a knock-out basis. The preliminary round now involved ten clubs, to reduce the numbers taking part in the competition proper to just sixteen.

Competition and results

[1][2]

Preliminary round – first leg

Involved 5 matches and 10 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref
P1Mon 20 Aug 1973Barrow6-12St. HelensCraven Park2,819[3]
P1Tue 21 Aug 1973Castleford32-10HuddersfieldWheldon Road1,195[4]
P1Wed 22 Aug 1973Leeds31-2Hull F.C.Headingley3,577[5]
P1Wed 5 Sep 1973Rochdale Hornets15-14SwintonAthletic Grounds1,552
P1Tue 11 Sep 1973Oldham12-14WiganWatersheddings1,459[6]

Preliminary round – second leg

Involved 5 matches and the same 10 Clubs in reverse fixtures

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref
P2Mon 27 Aug 1973St. Helens20-8BarrowKnowsley Road32-143,0001[3]
P2Wed 19 Sep 1973Huddersfield0-18CastlefordFartown10-50696[4]
P2Tue 4 Sep 1973Hull F.C.14-23LeedsBoulevard16-541,5002[5]
P2Wed 26 Sep 1973Swinton5-6Rochdale HornetsStation Road19-211,874
P2Tue 18 Sep 1973Wigan9-16OldhamCentral Park23-283,469[6]

Round 1 – first round

Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Tue 2 Oct 1973Leeds7-6KeighleyHeadingley2,7883
2Tue 9 Oct 1973Leigh10-13WidnesHilton Park3,0003[7]
3Wed 10 Oct 1973Oldham0-4Rochdale HornetsWatersheddings1,555
4Wed 10 Oct 1973Wakefield Trinity9-10BramleyBelle Vue1,3934[8]
5Tue 16 Oct 1973St. Helens35-5WhitehavenKnowsley Road2,1083 5 6[3]
6Tue 23 Oct 1973Salford26-4WarringtonThe Willows4,3893 7[9]
7Wed 24 Oct 1973Hull Kingston Rovers28-8DewsburyCraven Park (1)2,9128
8Tue 30 Oct 1973Castleford26-10HalifaxWheldon Road8313

Round 2 – quarter finals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Tue 6 Nov 1973St. Helens15-7Rochdale HornetsKnowsley Road3,1503[3]
2Tue 13 Nov 1973Bramley13-2CastlefordMcLaren Field1,1103 9
3Tue 20 Nov 1973Salford11-15WidnesThe Willows2,4223[7]
4Tue 27 Nov 1973Hull Kingston Rovers12-10LeedsCraven Park (1)1,3433

Round 3 – semi-finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Tue 4 Dec 1973Bramley13-12St. HelensMcLaren Field1,7003[3]
2Tue 11 Dec 1973Hull Kingston Rovers8-13WidnesCraven Park (1)1,5503[7]

Final

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
FTuesday 18 December 1973Widnes7-15BramleyNaughton Park4,54215383 a b c d e[7][10][11][12]

Teams and scorers

[2][7][10]

Bramley № Widnes
teams
Arthur "Ollie" Keegan1Ray Dutton
Peter Goodchild2Dennis O'Neill
Keith Bollon3Eric Hughes
K. John Hughes4Mal Aspey
Jack Austin5Dave Macko
Trevor Briggs6Tommy Warburton
Bernard "Bernie"/"Barney" Ward7Reg Bowden
David Briggs8Brian Hogan
Roy Firth9Keith Elwell
Anthony J./Antony J. "Tony" Cheshire10Nicholas "Nick" Nelson
David Sampson11Barry Sheridan
Graham Idle12Bob Blackwood
Johnny Wolford13Doug Laughton
Dennis/Denis Ashman (for Bernard "Bernie"/"Barney" Ward)14? (unused)
Kenneth "Ken" Huxley (unused)15John Foran (for Bob Blackwood)
Arthur "Ollie" KeeganCoachVince Karalius
15score7
5HT4
Scorers
Tries
P. Goodchild (1 obstruction try)TDave Macko (1)
Jack Austin (1)T
David Sampson (1)T
Goals
Barney Ward (1)GRay Dutton (2)
John Wolford (2)G
RefereeD. 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
Hull Kingston Rovers 12
Leeds 10
Leeds 7
Keighley 6
Hull Kingston Rovers 8
Widnes 13
Salford 26
Warrington 4
Salford 11
Widnes 15
Leigh 10
Widnes 13
Widnes 7
Bramley 15
Wakefield Trinity 9
Bramley 10
Bramley 13
Castleford 2
Castleford 26
Halifax 10
Bramley 13
St. Helens 12
St. Helens 35
Whitehaven 5
St. Helens 15
Rochdale Hornets 7
Oldham 0
Rochdale Hornets 4

Notes and comments

1 * The John Player Yearbook 1974–75[2] gives the attendance as 3,000, but the official St. Helens archives [3] 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 join the competition and play first game in the competition
5 * The John Player Yearbook 1974–75[2] gives the attendance as 1,500, but the official St. Helens archives [3] 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, win their first game in the competition
8 * Dewsbury join the competition and play 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[10] and 1991-92[11] gives it 4,422, the RUGBYLEAGUEprojects[1] as 4,542, The John Player Yearbook 1974–75[2] 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 Hull Kingston Rovers 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

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. 1 2 "Rugby League Project".
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Jack Winstanley & Malcolm Ryding (1991). John Player Yearbook 1974–75. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0362 001 77 4.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  4. 1 2 "Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage" (PDF).
  5. 1 2 "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
  6. 1 2 "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results". Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  8. ↑ "I'm Wakefield 'til I die..."
  9. ↑ "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014.
  10. 1 2 3 Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.
  11. 1 2 Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
  12. ↑ Frank Butler and Patrick Collins (1974). News of the World Football Annual 1974–75 - 88th year. News of the World Ltd.
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