1971 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
1971 was the seventh occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held.
This year was another new name on the trophy
St. Helens won the trophy by beating Rochdale Hornets by the score of 8-2
The match was played at Knowsley Road, Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. The attendance was 9,255 and receipts were £2,493
This was St. Helens first victory after being runner-up in three of the previous six finals
Background
This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at eighteen.The format was changed back to that favoured in previous seasons when the preliminary round was played on a two-legged home and away basis with 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
Preliminary Round - First Leg
Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | agg | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| - | ||||||||||||
| P1 | Mon 13 Sep 1971 | Wigan | 23-11 | Barrow | Central Park | |||||||
| P1 | Wed 15 Sep 1971 | Rochdale Hornets | 28-2 | Oldham | Athletic Grounds |
Preliminary Round - Second Leg
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 | Mon 20 Sep 1971 | Barrow | 11-19 | Wigan | Craven Park | 22-42 | ||||||
| P2 | Wed 29 Sep 1971 | Oldham | 16-14 | Rochdale Hornets | Watersheddings | 18-42 |
Round 1 - First Round
Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| 1 | Tue 21 Sep 1971 | Hull F.C. | 23-16 | Wakefield Trinity | Boulevard | ||||||
| 2 | Tue 21 Sep 1971 | Swinton | 9-14 | St. Helens | Station Road | 2;650 | |||||
| 3 | Tue 28 Sep 1971 | Leeds | 33-13 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Headingley | ||||||
| 4 | Wed 29 Sep 1971 | Halifax | 16-8 | Keighley | Thrum Hall | ||||||
| 5 | Tue 5 Oct 1971 | Castleford | 7-8 | Huddersfield | Wheldon Road | ||||||
| 6 | Tue 12 Oct 1971 | Leigh | 6-2 | Warrington | Hilton Park | ||||||
| 7 | Tue 19 Oct 1971 | Salford | 15-17 | Rochdale Hornets | The Willows | ||||||
| 8 | Tue 26 Oct 1971 | Wigan | 10-15 | Widnes | Central Park | 1 |
Round 2 -Quarter Finals
Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| - | |||||||||||
| 1 | Tue 2 Nov 1971 | Leeds | 26-10 | Halifax | Headingley | ||||||
| 2 | Tue 9 Nov 1971 | Leigh | 4-13 | St. Helens | Hilton Park | 4500 | |||||
| 3 | Tue 16 Nov 1971 | Huddersfield | 7-15 | Hull F.C. | Fartown | ||||||
| 4 | Tue 23 Nov 1971 | Rochdale Hornets | 6-5 | Widnes | Athletic Grounds |
Round 3 – Semi-Finals
Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| - | |||||||||||
| 1 | Tue 30 Nov 1971 | Leeds | 0-17 | St. Helens | Headingley | 6;269 | |||||
| 2 | Tue 7 Dec 1971 | Rochdale Hornets | 30-8 | Hull F.C. | Athletic Grounds |
Final
Teams and Scorers
| St. Helens | № | Rochdale Hornets |
| teams | ||
| Geoff Pimblett | 1 | Joe Chamberlain |
| Les Jones | 2 | Norman Brelsford |
| Billy Benyon | 3 | J. Crelin |
| Johnny Walsh | 4 | D. Taylor |
| Frank Wilson | 5 | B. Glover |
| Ken Kelly | 6 | F. Myler |
| Jeff Heaton | 7 | Peter Gartland |
| Graham Rees | 8 | Peter Birchall |
| Anthony "Tony" Karalius | 9 | P. Clarke |
| Eric Chisnall | 10 | E. Brown |
| Eric Prescott | 11 | R. Welding |
| John Mantle | 12 | Billy Sheffield |
| Kel Coslett | 13 | Henry Delooze |
| ? not used | 14 | ? not used |
| ? not used | 15 | A. Hodkinson |
| Jim Challinor | Coach | ?? |
| - | ||
| 8 | score | 2 |
| 4 | HT | 2 |
| Scorers | ||
| Goals | ||
| Kel Coslett | G | Joe Chamberlain |
| Referee | "Sergeant Major" Eric Clay | |
Scoring - Try = three points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = two points
The road to success
This tree excludes any preliminary round fixturesGeneral 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 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