1972–73 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

The 1972–73 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the eighth occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held.
This year was another new name on the trophy
Leigh won the trophy by beating Widnes by the score of 5-0
The match was played at Central Park, Wigan, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 4,691 and receipts were £1,391
This was Leigh's first victory after being runner-up in two of the previous finals

1972–73 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
StructureFloodlit knockout championship
Teams18
WinnersLeigh
Runners-upWidnes

Background

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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 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 involved four clubs, to reduce the numbers to sixteen.

Competition and results

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Preliminary round – first leg

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Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref
P1 Tue 5 Sep 1972 Wakefield Trinity 7-7 Hull F.C. Belle Vue [1][2][3]
P1 Tue 12 Sep 1972 Hull Kingston Rovers 15-6 Rochdale Hornets Craven Park (1)

[4]

Competition and results

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[4]

Preliminary round – second leg

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Involved 2 matches and the same 4 Clubs in reverse fixtures

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue agg Att Rec Notes Ref
P2 Tue 19 Sep 1972 Hull F.C. 3-11 Wakefield Trinity Boulevard 10-18 1 [1][2][3]
P2 Tue 26 Sep 1972 Rochdale Hornets 9-23 Hull Kingston Rovers Athletic Grounds 15-38

Round 1 – 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 3 Oct 1972 Barrow 9-12 Keighley Craven Park 2
2 Tue 3 Oct 1972 Oldham 12-8 Salford Watersheddings
3 Wed 4 Oct 1972 Hull Kingston Rovers 10-12 Leigh Craven Park (1)
4 Tue 10 Oct 1972 St. Helens 6-14 Leeds Knowsley Road [5]
5 Tue 17 Oct 1972 Huddersfield 9-15 Castleford Fartown [6]
6 Tue 24 Oct 1972 Wigan 26-6 Halifax Central Park 3 [7]
7 Wed 25 Oct 1972 Swinton 6-18 Wakefield Trinity Station Road [1][2]
8 Tue 31 Oct 1972 Warrington 18-18 Widnes Wilderspool [8][9]

Round 1 – first round – replays

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Involved 1 match and 2 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
R Tue 14 Nov 1972 Widnes 14-11 Warrington Naughton Park [8][9]

Round 2 – quarter finals

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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 7 Nov 1972 Oldham 9-7 Castleford Watersheddings
2 Tue 14 Nov 1972 Wakefield Trinity 19-2 Keighley Belle Vue [1][2]
3 Tue 21 Nov 1972 Widnes 9-4 Leeds Naughton Park [9]
4 Tue 28 Nov 1972 Wigan 14-16 Leigh Central Park 3 [7]

Round 3 – 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 5 Dec 1972 Leigh 10-8 Oldham Hilton Park
2 Tue 12 Dec 1972 Widnes 16-9 Wakefield Trinity Naughton Park [1][2][9]

Final

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Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
F Tuesday 19 December 1972 Leigh 5-0 Widnes Central Park 4,691 1,391 3 4 5 6 [9][10][11]

Teams and scorers

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Leigh No. Widnes
teams
Mick Hogan 1 Ray Dutton
Graeme Lawson 2 Alan Prescott[1]
John Atkin 3 Bob Blackwood[2] (NOTE 6)
Mick Collins 4 Mal Aspey (NOTE 7)
Mick Stacey 5 Paul McDonnell[3]
Tony Barrow 6 Eric Hughes (NOTE 8)
Cliff Sayer 7 Alan Ashton[4]
Paul Grimes 8 Jim Mills
Derek Clarke 9 Keith Elwell
Geoff Fletcher 10 John Warlow
Jim Fiddler 11 John Foran[5]
Frank Barrow 12 Barry Sheridan[6]
Thomas Martyn 13 George Nicholls
Les Pearce Coach Vince Karalius
5 score 0
0 HT 0
Scorers
Tries
G. Lawson (1) T
Goals
Jim Fiddler (1) G
Referee G. Frederick "Fred" Lindop (Wakefield)

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

[9][10]

The road to success

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This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

First round Second round Semi-finals Final
            
Wigan 26
Halifax 6
Wigan 14
Leigh 16
Hull Kingston Rovers 10
Leigh 12
Leigh 10
Oldham 8
Oldham 12
Salford 8
Oldham 9
St Helens 7
Huddersfield 9
Castleford 15
Leigh 5
Widnes 0
Warrington 18 (11)
Widnes 18 (14)
Widnes 9
Leeds 4
St. Helens 6
Leeds 14
Widnes 16
Wakefield Trinity 9
Swinton 6
Wakefield Trinity 18
Wakefield Trinity 19
Keighley 2
Barrow 9
Keighley 12

Notes and comments

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1 * Wakefield Trinity, who joined the competition in season 1967–68, win their first game in the competition
2 * Keighley (who joined the competition in season 1967–68) win their first match in the competition
3 * This match was televised
4 * This was the second of only two occasions when the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy final was played on a neutral ground
5 * Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991[10] and 1991-92[11] give the attendance as 4,691, but RUGBYLEAGUEprojects[4] gives it as 4,841
6 * The Widnes official archives[9] give this player, Bob Blackwood as number 3 but Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-91[10] and 1991-92[11] give the position as 4
7 * The Widnes official archives[9] give this player, Mal Aspey as number 4 but Rothmans Tearbook 1990-91[10] and 1991-92[11] give the position as 3
8 * The Widnes official archives[9] give the stand off (No 6) as Eric Hughes but Rothmans Tearbook 1990-91[10] and 1991-92[11] give the player as Ged Lowe
9 * 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

See also

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References

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