1979–80 John Player Trophy
StructureNational knockout championship
Teams32
WinnersBradford Northern
Runners-upWidnes

This was the ninth season for the League Cup, known as the John Player Trophy for sponsorship reasons.

Bradford Northern won the trophy, beating Widnes 6–0 in the final. The match was played at Headingley, Leeds, West Yorkshire. The attendance was 9,909 and receipts were £11560.

Background

The council of the Rugby Football League voted to introduce a new competition, to be similar to The Football Association and Scottish Football Association's "League Cup". It was to be a similar knock-out structure to, and to be secondary to, the Challenge Cup. As this was being formulated, sports sponsorship was becoming more prevalent and as a result John Player and Sons, a division of Imperial Tobacco Company, became sponsors, and the competition never became widely known as the "League Cup."

The competition ran from 1971–72 until 1995–96 and was initially intended for the professional clubs plus the two amateur BARLA National Cup finalists. In later seasons the entries were expanded to take in other amateur and French teams. The competition was dropped due to "fixture congestion" when Rugby League became a summer sport 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 usually taking place in late January.

The competition was known by its sponsorship name, as the Player's No.6 Trophy (1971–1977), the John Player Trophy (1977–1983), the John Player Special Trophy (1983–1989), and the Regal Trophy in 1989.

The 1979–80 season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at eighteen. There were no drawn matches in the competition.

Competition and results

[1][2]

Round 1 – First Round

[3] Involved 16 matches and 32 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Fri 14 Sep 1979Salford47–5HuddersfieldThe Willows[4]
Sat 15 Sep 1979Wakefield Trinity25–18Hull F.C.Belle Vue[5][6]
Sun 16 Sep 1979Barrow13–18St. HelensCraven Park4818[7]
Sun 16 Sep 1979Batley2–12YorkMount Pleasant
Sun 16 Sep 1979Blackpool Borough6–3West HullBorough Park5551[7]
Sun 16 Sep 1979Bramley43–15WhitehavenMcLaren Field
Sun 16 Sep 1979Castleford15–12DewsburyWheldon Road
Sun 16 Sep 1979Doncaster0–48Bradford NorthernBentley Road Stadium/Tattersfield
Sun 16 Sep 1979Featherstone Rovers17–7HalifaxPost Office Road
Sun 16 Sep 1979Warrington25–9HuytonWilderspool2[8]
Sun 16 Sep 1979Keighley21–9Rochdale HornetsLawkholme Lane
Sun 16 Sep 1979Leigh16–0Hull Kingston RoversHilton Park
Sun 16 Sep 1979Oldham7–31LeedsWatersheddings
Sun 16 Sep 1979Pilkington Recs9–18WiganKnowsley Road67073, 4[2][9][10]
Sun 16 Sep 1979Swinton11-30Workington TownStation Road
Sun 16 Sep 1979Widnes17-11HunsletNaughton Park[11]

Round 2 – Second Round

[12] Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Sat 29 Sep 1979Castleford24–10WiganWheldon Road5[2]
Sun 30 Sep 1979Keighley9–15Bradford NorthernLawkholme Lane
Sun 30 Sep 1979Leeds7–14LeighHeadingley
Sun 30 Sep 1979Salford23–9BramleyThe Willows
Sun 30 Sep 1979Wakefield Trinity21–12Featherstone RoversBelle Vue[5]
Sun 30 Sep 1979Warrington20–15YorkWilderspool[8]
Sun 30 Sep 1979Widnes31–20St. HelensNaughton Park9296[7][11]
Sun 30 Sep 1979Workington Town43–7Blackpool BoroughDerwent Park

Round 3 -Quarter-finals

[12] Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Sat 20 Oct 1979Warrington6–14WidnesWilderspool6[8][11]
Sun 21 Oct 1979Bradford Northern25–11LeighOdsal
Sun 21 Oct 1979Castleford6–13SalfordWheldon Road
Sun 21 Oct 1979Wakefield Trinity26–5Workington TownBelle Vue[5]

Round 4 – Semi-finals

[12] Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Sat 3 Nov 1979Widnes19–3SalfordWilderspool65677[11]
Sat 17 Nov 1979Bradford Northern16–3Wakefield TrinityHeadingley8233[5]

Final

The final was originally scheduled to take place on 1 December 1979, but was postponed because of a BBC TV dispute.[13] The game was re-scheduled, but due to a frozen pitch at the original venue, Station Road, Swinton, the fixture was moved to Headingley in Leeds.[14]

Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Saturday 5 January 1980Bradford Northern6–0WidnesHeadingley9909115608[9][10][11]

Teams and scorers

[9][10][15]

Bradford Northern № Widnes
teams
Keith Mumby1David Eckersley
"Dave" Barends2Stuart Wright
David Redfearn3Mal Aspey
Derek Parker ()rugby league4Derek "Mick" George
Les Gant5Mick Burke
Nigel Stephenson6Eric Hughes
Alan Redfearn7Reg Bowden
James "Jimmy" Thompson8Brian Hogan
"Keith" Bridges9Keith Elwell
Colin Forsyth10Glyndwr "Glyn" Shaw
Jeff Grayshon11Les Gorley
Gary Van Bellen12David Hull
Len Casey13Mick Adams
Steve Ferres (for Gary Van Bellen)14? Not used
Ian Van Bellen (for Colin Forsyth)15Jim Mills (for Brian Hogan)
Coach
6score0
5HT0
Scorers
Tries
D. Parker (1)T
Goals
Keith Mumby (1)G
Drop Goals
Nigel Stephenson (1)DG
RefereeWilliam "Billy" H. Thompson (Huddersfield)
Man of the matchLen Casey – Bradford Northern – loose forward
Competition SponsorJohn Player

Scoring – Try = three points – Goal = two points – Drop goal = one point

Prize money

As part of the sponsorship deal and funds, the prize money awarded to the competing teams for this season was as follows:[16]

Finish Position Cash Prize No. receiving prize Total Cash
Winner£8,5001£8,500
Runner-up£4,0001£4,000
Semi-finalist£2,0002£4,000
Loser in Rd 3£1,0004£4,000
Loser in Rd 2£8008£6,400
Loser in Rd 1£60016£9,600
Grand Total£36,500

The road to success

This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

First round Second round Third round Semi-finals Final
               
Keighley 21
Rochdale Hornets 9
Keighley 9
Bradford Northern 15
Doncaster 0
Bradford Northern 48
Bradford Northern 25
Leigh 11
Oldham 7
Leeds 31
Leeds 7
Leigh 14
Leigh 16
Hull Kingston Rovers 0
Bradford Northern 16
Wakefield Trinity 3
Wakefield Trinity 25
Hull F.C. 18
Wakefield Trinity 21
Featherstone Rovers 12
Featherstone Rovers 17
Halifax 7
Wakefield Trinity 26
Workington Town 5
Swinton 11
Workington Town 30
Workington Town 43
Blackpool Borough 7
Blackpool Borough 6
West Hull 3
Bradford Northern 6
Widnes 0
Warrington 25
Huyton 9
Warrington 21
York 15
Batley 2
York 12
Warrington 6
Widnes 14
Widnes 17
Hunslet 11
Widnes 31
St. Helens 20
Barrow 13
St. Helens 18
Widnes 19
Salford 3
Castleford 15
Dewsbury 12
Castleford 24
Wigan 10
Pilkington Recs 9
Wigan 18
Castleford 6
Salford 13
Salford 47
Huddersfield 5
Salford 23
Bramley 9
Bramley 43
Whitehaven 15

Notes and comments

1 * West Hull are a Junior (amateur) club from Hull
2 * Warrington official website[8] and Wigan official archives[3] shows the match played at Wilderspool but RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] shows Huyton at home
3 * Pilkington Recs are a Junior (amateur) club from St Helens, home ground was City Road until they moved to Ruskin Drive from 2011–12
4 * Wigan official archives[3] give the attendance as 6,500 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] gives it as 6,707
5 * Wigan official archives[12] gives the score as 21–10, but RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] gives it as 24–10
6 * Warrington official website[8] shows the match played on 2 October but RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] and Wigan official archives[12] show it played on 20 October
7 * Wigan official archives[12] show Salford at home, but RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] show Widnes at home
8 * Headingley, Leeds, is the home ground of Leeds RLFC with a capacity of 21,000. The record attendance was 40,175 for a league match between Leeds and Bradford Northern on 21 May 1947.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Rugby League Project".
  2. 1 2 3 "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results". Archived from the original on 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2014-07-12.
  3. 1 2 3 "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Rd 1 archived results".
  4. ↑ "Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage" (PDF).
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Wakefield until I die".
  6. ↑ "HULL&PROUD – Stats – Fixtures & Results".
  7. 1 2 3 "Saints Heritage Society – History – Season 1896–97".
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "Warrington Wolves – Results Archive – 1897".
  9. 1 2 3 Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990–1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.
  10. 1 2 3 Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "Widnes Vikings – History – Season In Review – 1979–80".
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Rd 2 onward archived results".
  13. ↑ Kennedy, Edward (30 November 1979). "John Player final off". The Guardian. London. p. 24. ProQuest 186110695.
  14. ↑ "O'Loughlin goes to Workington". The Guardian. London. 3 January 1980. p. 18. ProQuest 186114105.
  15. ↑ "Widnes Stat Attack archived results".
  16. ↑ Fletcher, Raymond; Howes, David, eds. (1992). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1992-93. London: Headline Publishing Group. p. 396. ISBN 978-0-7472-7906-8.
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