1984–85 John Player Special Trophy

This was the fourteenth season for the League Cup, which was again known as the John Player Special Trophy for sponsorship purposes.

1984–85 John Player Special Trophy
StructureNational knockout championship
Teams38
WinnersHull Kingston Rovers
Runners-upHull

Hull Kingston Rovers claimed the trophy by beating their local rivals Hull F.C. by the score of 12–0 in the final. The match was played at Boothferry Park, Kingston upon Hull and the attendance was 25,326. Gate receipts were £69555.

Background

edit

This season saw several changes in the entrants:

  1. Cardiff City Blue Dragons were renamed Bridgend Blue Dragons and Kent Invicta were renamed Southend Invicta
  2. Mansfield Marksman and Sheffield Eagles joined the league and also the competition
  3. Huyton changed their name to Runcorn Highfield and moved from Alt Park, Huyton to Canal Street, Runcorn
  4. and the re-introduction of the invitation to two junior clubs.

This involved an increase in entrants to thirty-eight, in turn resulting in a six-match, 12-club preliminary round to reduce the number of clubs taking part in the first round proper to thirty-two.

Competition and results

edit

[1][2]

Preliminary round

edit

Involved six matches and 12 clubs

Game No. Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Attend Rec Notes Ref
1 Fri 2 Nov 1984 Myson (Hull) 2-8 Dewsbury Boulevard 1
2 Sun 4 Nov 1984 Bramley 20-6 Southend Invicta McLaren Field 572
3 Sun 4 Nov 1984 Keighley 24-10 Bradford Dudley Hill Lawkholme Lane 1570 2, 3
4 Sun 4 Nov 1984 Sheffield Eagles 17-6 Wakefield Trinity Owlerton Stadium 1279 4 [3]
5 Wed 7 Nov 1984 Carlisle 8-26 Bradford Northern Brunton Park 1215 5
6 Wed 7 Nov 1984 Hunslet 2-6 Workington Town Elland Road 719 5

[4]

Round 1 – First round

edit

[4] Involved 16 matches and 32 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 17 Nov 1984 Hull Kingston Rovers 32-5 Leigh Craven Park (1) 4541 6
2 Sun 18 Nov 1984 Bradford Northern 22-1 Swinton Odsal 3712
3 Sun 18 Nov 1984 Bramley 12-10 Blackpool Borough McLaren Field 653
4 Sun 18 Nov 1984 Bridgend Blue Dragons 4-42 Castleford Coychurch Road, Bridgend 1803 7
5 Sun 18 Nov 1984 Dewsbury 14-8 Salford Crown Flatt 1176
6 Sun 18 Nov 1984 Featherstone Rovers 17-12 Barrow Post Office Road 1651
7 Sun 18 Nov 1984 Fulham 14-36 Hull F.C. Polytechnic of Central London 2324 8 [5]
8 Sun 18 Nov 1984 Leeds 50-2 Sheffield Eagles Headingley 4881
9 Sun 18 Nov 1984 Rochdale Hornets 10-8 Mansfield Marksman Athletic Grounds 620
10 Sun 18 Nov 1984 Runcorn Highfield 18-5 Batley Alt Park, Huyton 760
11 Sun 18 Nov 1984 St. Helens 60-8 Keighley Knowsley Road 5145 [6]
12 Sun 18 Nov 1984 Warrington 5-17 Halifax Wilderspool 4171 [7]
13 Sun 18 Nov 1984 Whitehaven 64-0 Doncaster Recreation Ground 1717 9
14 Sun 18 Nov 1984 Wigan 50-6 Huddersfield Barracudas Central Park 7375 [2][8]
15 Sun 18 Nov 1984 Workington Town 12-22 Widnes Derwent Park 1010 [9]
16 Sun 18 Nov 1984 York 6-22 Oldham Clarence Street 2504

Round 2 – Second round

edit

[10] Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 1 Dec 1984 Leeds 10-4 Wigan Headingley 9261 [2]
2 Sun 2 Dec 1984 Bradford Northern 12-12 St. Helens Odsal 9419 [6]
3 Sun 2 Dec 1984 Bramley 33-5 Whitehaven McLaren Field 1358
4 Sun 2 Dec 1984 Dewsbury 31-16 Runcorn Highfield Crown Flatt 1242
5 Sun 2 Dec 1984 Halifax 20-18 Castleford Thrum Hall 4784
6 Sun 2 Dec 1984 Hull F.C. 26-14 Oldham Boulevard 11500 10 [5]
7 Sun 2 Dec 1984 Hull Kingston Rovers 34-12 Rochdale Hornets Craven Park (1) 4835
8 Sun 2 Dec 1984 Widnes 28-10 Featherstone Rovers Naughton Park 3850 [9]

Round 2 – Second round replays

edit

Involved one match and two clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Attend Rec Notes Ref
1 Wed 5 Dec 1984 St. Helens 24–10 Bradford Northern Knowsley Road 10156 [6]

Round 3 – Quarter-finals

edit

[10] Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 22 Dec 1984 St. Helens 8–14 Halifax Knowsley Road 5768 [6]
2 Sun 23 Dec 1984 Dewsbury 8–22 Hull F.C. Crown Flatt 7197 [5]
3 Sun 23 Dec 1984 Hull Kingston Rovers 14–6 Widnes Craven Park (1) 7710 [9]
4 Sun 23 Dec 1984 Leeds 28–14 Bramley Headingley 6404

Round 4 – Semi-finals

edit

[10] Involved two matches and four clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Attend Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 29 Dec 1984 Hull Kingston Rovers 14–8 Halifax Headingley 6390
2 Sat 5 Jan 1985 Hull F.C. 18–6 Leeds Boothferry Park 13362 11, 14 [5]

Final

edit
Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Saturday 26 January 1985 Hull Kingston Rovers 12–0 Hull Boothferry Park 25326 69555 12, 13, 14 [5][10][11][12]

Teams and scorers

edit

[11][12][13]

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull
teams
George Fairbairn 1 Gary Kemble
Garry Clark 2 Steve Evans
Ian Robinson 3 Fred Ah Kuoi
Gary Prohm 4 James Leuluai
David Laws 5 Dane O'Hara
Mike Smith 6 David Topliss (c)
Paul Harkin 7 Peter Sterling
Mark Broadhurst 8 Phil Edmonds
David Watkinson (c) 9 Shaun Patrick[1]
Asuquo "Zook" Ema 10 Paul Rose
Chris Burton 11 Lee Crooks
Phil Hogan 12 Wayne Proctor
Gavin Miller 13 Gary Divorty
John Lydiat (Unused) 14 Garry Schofield (for Gary Kemble)
Len Casey (Unused) 15 Andy Dannatt (for Phil Edmonds)
Roger Millward MBE Coach Arthur Bunting
12 score 0
8 HT 0
Scorers
Tries
Gary Prohm 13mins (1) T
Phil Hogan 18mins (1) T
Garry Clark 72mins (1) T
Referee Stanley Wall (Leigh)
Man of the match Paul Harkin - Hull KR - scrum-half
Competition sponsor John Player Special

Scoring - Try = four points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = one point

Prize money

edit

As part of the sponsorship deal and funds, the prize money awarded to the competing teams for this season is as follows :-

Finish position Cash prize No. receiving prize Total cash
Winner ? 1 ?
Runner-up ? 1 ?
semi-finalist ? 2 ?
loser in Rd 3 ? 4 ?
loser in Rd 2 ? 8 ?
Loser in Rd 1 ? 16 ?
Loser in prelim round ? ? ?
Grand total

The road to success

edit

This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

First round Second round Third round Semi-finals Final
               
Hull Kingston Rovers 32
Leigh 5
Hull Kingston Rovers 35
Rochdale Hornets 12
Rochdale Hornets 10
Mansfield Marksman 8
Hull Kingston Rovers 14
Widnes 6
Workington Town 12
Widnes 22
Widnes 28
Featherstone Rovers 10
Featherstone Rovers 17
Barrow 12
Hull Kingston Rovers 14
Halifax 8
Bradford Northern 22
Swinton 1
Bradford Northern 12 (10)
St. Helens 12 (24)
St. Helens 60
Keighley 8
St. Helens 8
Halifax 14
Warrington 5
Halifax 17
Halifax 20
Castleford 18
Bridgend Blue Dragons 4
Castleford 42
Hull Kingston Rovers 12
Hull 0
Dewsbury 14
Salford 8
Dewsbury 31
Runcorn Highfield 16
Runcorn Highfield 18
Batley 5
Dewsbury 8
Hull 22
Fulham 14
Hull 36
Hull 26
Oldham 14
York 6
Oldham 22
Hull 18
Leeds 6
Leeds 50
Sheffield Eagles 2
Leeds 10
Wigan 4
Wigan 50
Huddersfield Barracudas 6
Leeds 28
Bramley 14
Bramley 12
Blackpool Borough 10
Bramley 33
Whitehaven 5
Whitehaven 64
Doncaster 0

Notes and comments

edit
  1. * Myson are a Junior (amateur) club from Hull.
  2. * Bradford Dudley Hill are a Junior (amateur) club from Bradford.
  3. * Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991[11] and 1991-92,[12] and RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] gives score as 24-10 but Wigan official archives[2] gives it as 24-8

4 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] and Wakefield till I die[3] give the score as 17-6 but Wigan official archives[2] gives it as 17-8
5 * This fixture not shown on Wigan official archives[4]
6 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] give score as 32-5 but Wigan official archives[2] gives it as 32-6
7 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] give score as 4-42 but Wigan official archives [2] gives it as 4-34
8 * venue possibly Crystal Palace NSC or Chiswick Poly Sports Ground
9 * The highest winning margin to date between professional clubs
10 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] and Hull official archives[5] give score as 26-14 but Wigan official archives[2] gives it as 23-14
11 * Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991[11] and 1991-92,[12] RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] and Wigan official archives[2] give the venue as Boothferry Park but Hull official archives[5] gives it as The Boulevard Boothferry Park was the home of Hull City A.F.C.
12 * The attendance at this final was a new record, which would never be beaten in the competition
13 * Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991[11] and 1991-92,[12] RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] and Wigan official archives[2] give the venue as Boothferry Park but Hull official archives[5] gives it as The Boulevard Boothferry Park was the home of Hull City A.F.C.
14 * Boothferry Park was the home ground of Hull City from 31 August 1946 until December 2002. The final capacity was 15,160 although the record attendance was 55,019 set on 26 February 1949 in an FA Cup quarter-final when Hull City played host to Manchester United

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Rugby League Project".
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
  3. ^ a b "Wakefield until I die".
  4. ^ a b c "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Rd 1 archived results".
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
  6. ^ a b c d "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  7. ^ "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2014-02-02.
  8. ^ "Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage" (PDF).
  9. ^ a b c "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  10. ^ a b c d "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Rd 2 onwards archived results".
  11. ^ a b c d e Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.
  12. ^ a b c d e Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
  13. ^ "Hull RLFC official stats".
edit