1988–89 John Player Special Trophy

(Redirected from 1988–89 League Cup)

The 1988–89 John Player Special Trophy was the eighteenth season for the competition (named as such due to sponsorship from John Player & Sons).

1988–89 John Player Special Trophy
StructureNational knockout championship
Teams18
WinnersWigan
Runners-upWidnes

Wigan won the final, beating Widnes by the score of 12-6. The match was played at Burnden Park, Bolton, Greater Manchester. The attendance was 20,709 and receipts were £94874.

Background

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This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at thirty-six
Huddersfield dropped the "Barracuda" suffix and the ground reverted to the traditional Fartown name, much to the relief of most of the fans - and - Springfield Borough moved to Chorley after only one season and re-branded themselves Chorley Borough, playing at Victory Park, the home of Chorley FC

Competition and results

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[1][2]

Preliminary round

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[3] Involved 4 matches and 8 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sun 30 Oct 1988 Featherstone Rovers 46-2 Hunslet Post Office Road 1972
2 Sun 30 Oct 1988 Wigan St Patricks 36-2 Elland (Halifax) Central Park 2510 1, 2
3 Sun 30 Oct 1988 Workington Town 2-28 Castleford Derwent Park 1502
4 Sun 6 Nov 1988 Bramley 56-10 Fulham McLaren Field 850

Round 1 - First Round

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[3] Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 12 Nov 1988 Leeds 12-21 Castleford Headingley 10006
2 Sun 13 Nov 1988 Bradford Northern 34-18 Dewsbury Odsal 2555
3 Sun 13 Nov 1988 Bramley 32-6 Mansfield Marksman McLaren Field 1151
4 Sun 13 Nov 1988 Halifax 22-4 Salford Thrum Hall 6661
5 Sun 13 Nov 1988 Huddersfield 4-22 Chorley Borough Fartown 1120 [4]
6 Sun 13 Nov 1988 Hull F.C. 26-10 Batley Boulevard 4054 [5]
7 Sun 13 Nov 1988 Hull Kingston Rovers 40-0 Keighley Craven Park (1) 3319
8 Sun 13 Nov 1988 Leigh 42-14 Barrow Hilton Park 3256
9 Sun 13 Nov 1988 Rochdale Hornets 26-20 Whitehaven Athletic Grounds 888
10 Sun 13 Nov 1988 Runcorn Highfield 2-92 Wigan Central Park 7233 3, 4, 5 [2]
11 Sun 13 Nov 1988 Sheffield Eagles 80-8 Wigan St Patricks Owlerton Stadium 621
12 Sun 13 Nov 1988 Swinton 13-16 Doncaster Station Road 2182
13 Sun 13 Nov 1988 Wakefield Trinity 34-14 Carlisle Belle Vue 2513 [6]
14 Sun 13 Nov 1988 Warrington 21-14 Oldham Wilderspool 5528 [7]
15 Sun 13 Nov 1988 Widnes 37-12 Featherstone Rovers Naughton Park 5299 6 [8]
16 Sun 13 Nov 1988 York 6-14 St. Helens Clarence Street 3082 [9]

Round 2 - Second Round

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[10] Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 26 Nov 1988 Wigan 20-16 Halifax Central Park 10826 [2]
2 Sun 27 Nov 1988 Castleford 18-19 Bradford Northern Wheldon Road 7688
3 Sun 27 Nov 1988 Chorley Borough 22-36 Hull Kingston Rovers Victory Park 983
4 Sun 27 Nov 1988 Leigh 40-8 Doncaster Hilton Park 4321
5 Sun 27 Nov 1988 St. Helens 16-13 Hull F.C. Knowsley Road 7485 [5][9]
6 Sun 27 Nov 1988 Sheffield Eagles 9-32 Widnes Owlerton Stadium 2716 [8]
7 Sun 27 Nov 1988 Wakefield Trinity 38-12 Rochdale Hornets Belle Vue 2486 [6]
8 Sun 27 Nov 1988 Warrington 42-10 Bramley Wilderspool 3274 [7]

Round 3 -Quarter Finals

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[11] Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 3 Dec 1988 Widnes 16-7 Warrington Naughton Park 6449 [7][8]
2 Sun 4 Dec 1988 Bradford Northern 6-0 Leigh Odsal 3975
3 Sun 4 Dec 1988 Hull Kingston Rovers 16-16 Wigan Craven Park (1) 7142 [2]
4 Sun 4 Dec 1988 St. Helens 34-18 Wakefield Trinity Knowsley Road 7602 [6][9]

Round 3 -Quarter Finals - Replays

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Involved 1 match with 2 clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Wed 7 Dec 1988 Wigan 30-0 Hull Kingston Rovers Central Park 13278 [9]

Round 4 – Semi-Finals

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[12] Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 10 Dec 1988 Widnes 20-18 St. Helens Wigan ?? 6755 [8][9]
2 Sat 17 Dec 1988 Wigan 16-5 Bradford Northern Leeds ?? 6809 [2]

Final

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Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Saturday 7 January 1989 Wigan 12-6 Widnes Burnden Park 20709 94874 7 [8][13][14][15]

Teams and scorers

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[13][14][15][16]

Wigan Widnes
teams
Steve Hampson 1 Alan Tait
Dean Bell 2 Rick Thackray[1]
Kevin Iro 3 Andy Currier
Joe Lydon 4 Darren Wright
Tony Iro 5 Martin "Chariots" Offiah
Ged Byrne 6 Tony Myler
Shaun Edwards 7 David Hulme
Adrian Shelford 8 Kurt Sorensen
Martin Dermott 9 Phil McKenzie
Shaun Wane 10 Joe Grima
Denis Betts 11 Mike O'Neill
Ian Potter 12 Emosi Koloto
Ellery Hanley 13 "Richie" Eyres
Andy Gregory (for Joe Lydon 51 min) 14 ?? Not used
Andy Goodway (for Adrian Shelford 20 min) 15 Paul Hulme (for Emosi Koloto 44 min)
Graham Lowe Coach Doug Laughton
12 score 6
6 HT 6
Scorers
Tries
Kevin Iro (1) T Darren Wright (1)
Ellery Hanley (1) T
Goals
Joe Lydon (2) G Andy Currier (1)
Referee John Holdsworth (Kippax)
Man of the match Ellery Hanley - Wigan - loose forward
Competition Sponsor John Player Special

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

Timeline in the final

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Time Incident Score
incidents incidents score
6th Minute Try: Kevin Iro 4-0
13th Minute Try: Darren Wright 4-4
Conversion: Andy Currier 4-6
21st Minute Penalty Goal: Joe Lydon 6-6
Half Time 6-6
42nd Minute Penalty Goal: Joe Lydon 8-6
69th Minute Try: Ellery Hanley 12-6
Full Time 12-6

Prize money

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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

Note - the author is unable to trace the award amounts for this season. Can anyone help ?

The road to success

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This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

First round Second round Third round Semifinals Final
               
Huddersfield 4
Chorley Borough 22
Chorley Borough 22
Hull Kingston Rovers 36
Hull Kingston Rovers 40
Keighley 0
Hull Kingston Rovers 16(0)
Wigan 16 (30)
Runcorn Highfield 2
Wigan 92
Wigan 20
Halifax 16
Halifax 22
Salford 4
Wigan 16
Bradford Northern 5
Leeds 12
Castleford 21
Castleford 18
Bradford Northern 19
Bradford Northern 34
Dewsbury 18
Bradford Northern 6
Leigh 0
Leigh 42
Barrow 14
Leigh 40
Doncaster 18
Swinton 13
Doncaster 16
Wigan 12
Widnes 6
Sheffield Eagles 80
Wigan St Patricks 8
Sheffield Eagles 9
Widnes 34
Widnes 37
Featherstone Rovers 12
Widnes 16
Warrington 7
Warrington 21
Oldham 14
Warrington 42
Bramley 10
Bramley 32
Mansfield Marksman 6
Widnes 20
St. Helens 15
York 6
St. Helens 14
St. Helens 16
Hull F.C. 13
Hull F.C. 26
Batley 10
St. Helens 34
Wakefield Trinity 18
Wakefield Trinity 34
Carlisle 14
Wakefield Trinity 38
Rochdale Hornets 12
Rochdale Hornets 26
Whitehaven 20

Notes and comments

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1 * Wigan St Patricks are a Junior (amateur) club from Wigan[17]
2 * Elland are a Junior (amateur) club from the Halifax area of Yorkshire[18]
3 * Runcorn Highfield forfeited home advantage for a larger gate. Runcorn Players were also in dispute and the club fielded a very reduced strength team comprised a number of trialists and reserves (and coach Bill Ashurst, (an ex Wigan player) who came out of retirement especially to play, and was disappointedly sent off 12 minutes after coming off the subs bench)
4 * A Wigan record victory in this tournament
5 * The highest score, highest score by home team and highest winning margin in the competition, between all clubs to date
6 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] and Widnes official archives[8] give the score as 37-12 but Wigan official archives[2] gives it as 37-2
7 * Burnden Park was the home of English football club Bolton Wanderers from 1895 to 1997. It hosted the 1900-01 FA Cup Final replay in which Tottenham Hotspur beat Sheffield United 3.1. The record attendance was for a 6th round F A Cup match with Stoke City (Stanley Matthews played for Stoke at the time) at which, although the ground capacity was set at 70,000, an estimated 85,000 fans crowded in, and when two crush barriers broke, the result was 33 fans killed and another 400 injured. The capacity at closure was a mere 25,000

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Rugby League Project".
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
  3. ^ a b "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Rd 1 archived results".
  4. ^ "Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage" (PDF).
  5. ^ a b "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
  6. ^ a b c "Wakefield until I die".
  7. ^ a b c "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2014-02-02.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  9. ^ a b c d e "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  10. ^ "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Rd 2 archived results".
  11. ^ "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Rd 3 archived results".
  12. ^ "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player S-F archived results".
  13. ^ a b "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Final archived results". Archived from the original on 2015-05-18. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
  14. ^ a b Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.
  15. ^ a b Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
  16. ^ "Widnes Stat Attack archived results".
  17. ^ "Wigan St Patricks".
  18. ^ "Elland ARLFC".
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