1974 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy


1974 was the tenth occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held. A new name was put on the trophy when Salford won by beating Warrington by the score of 10-5 in a replay. The final was played at The Willows, Salford,. The attendance was 4,473, receipts were £1913 and the score 0-0. The replay was at Wilderspool. The attendance was 5,778, receipts were £2434 and the score 10-5. This was the first floodlit final to require a replay after a drawn first match.

Background

This season saw New Hunslet join the competition, which increased the number of entrants by one, to a new high total of twenty-two. 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 exceptions to the two-legged preliminary rounds were the two matches where the four clubs had agreed to play a sudden-death match to avoid fixture congestion. The preliminary round now involved twelve clubs, to reduce the numbers taking part in the competition proper to just sixteen.

Competition and results

Preliminary Round - First Leg

Involved 6 matches and 12 clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueaggAttRecNotesRef
-
P1Tue 10 Sep 1974Oldham8-7Hull Kingston RoversWatersheddings1,381
P1Wed 11 Sep 1974Huddersfield12-4CastlefordFartown656
P1Tue 17 Sep 1974Hull F.C.12-2KeighleyBoulevard1,500
P1Tue 17 Sep 1974St. Helens21-12Wakefield TrinityKnowsley Road3,2721
P1Tue 17 Sep 1974Widnes15-13BarrowNaughton Park3,000
P1Tue 24 Sep 1974Leigh19-5BramleyHilton Park2,000

Preliminary Round - Second Leg

Involved 4 matches and the same 8 Clubs in reverse fixtures
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueaggAttRecNotesRef
-
P2Tue 17 Sep 1974Hull Kingston Rovers19-11OldhamCraven Park 26-192,252
P2CastlefordHuddersfield4-122
P2KeighleyHull F.C.2-122
P2Tue 24 Sep 1974Wakefield Trinity18-15St. HelensBelle Vue30-362,583
P2Tue 1 Oct 1974Barrow3-8WidnesCraven Park16-23870
P2Wed 2 Oct 1974Bramley15-9LeighMcLaren Field20-281.100

Round 1 - First Round

Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Tue 1 Oct 1974Warrington10-5SwintonWilderspool3,552
2Tue 8 Oct 1974Halifax15-4WhitehavenThrum Hall750
3Tue 15 Oct 1974St. Helens30-2LeedsKnowsley Road3,5764
4Tue 22 Oct 1974Dewsbury8-14LeighCrown Flatt1,4005
5Wed 23 Oct 1974New Hunslet12-5WidnesElland Road Greyhound Stadium1,2506
6Tue 29 Oct 1974Salford16-2HuddersfieldThe Willows2,926
7Wed 30 Oct 1974Hull Kingston Rovers20-10WiganCraven Park 2,009
8Wed 30 Oct 1974Rochdale Hornets14-4Hull F.C.Athletic Grounds780

Round 2 -Quarter Finals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
-
1Tue 5 Nov 1974Warrington36-17New HunsletWilderspool2,144
2Tue 12 Nov 1974St. Helens7-11SalfordKnowsley Road4,4747
3Tue 19 Nov 1974Leigh8-0Rochdale HornetsHilton Park2,000
4Tue 26 Nov 1974Halifax24-28Hull Kingston RoversThrum Hall752

Round 3 – Semi-Finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
-
1Tue 3 Dec 1974Salford27-10Hull Kingston RoversThe Willows3,7273
2Tue 10 Dec 1974Warrington32-0LeighWilderspool2,4953

Final

Final - Replay

Teams and Scorers

SalfordNoWarrington
teams
Paul Charlton1Derek Whitehead
Keith Fielding2Dave Sutton
Chris Hesketh3Dave Cunliffe
Gordon Graham4Alan Whittle
Maurice Richards5John Bevan
Tom Brophy6Derek Noonan
Peter Banner7Parry Gordon
Mike Coulman8David "Dave" Chisnall
Ellis Devlin9Kevin Ashcroft
Alan Grice10Dave Wright or Gilly Wright
John Knighton11Wayne Gaskell
Colin Dixon12Tommy Conroy
Eric Prescott13Barry Philbin
??CoachAlex Murphy
-
0score0
0HT0
RefereeWilliam "Billy" H. Thompson
Replay
teams
Stead1Dave Cunliffe
Keith Fielding2Derek Whitehead
Chris Hesketh3Billy Pickup
David Watkins4Alan Whittle
Maurice Richards5John Bevan
Ken Gill6Derek Noonan
Peter Banner7Parry Gordon
Alan Grice8David "Dave" Chisnall
Walker9Kevin Ashcroft
Mackay10Robert "Bobby" Wanbon
Colin Dixon11Wayne Gaskell
John Knighton12Mike Nicholas
Eric Prescott13Barry Philbin
14Wilf Briggs -
?15Brian Brady
??CoachAlex Murphy
-
1005
1002
Scorers
Tries
Keith Fielding TJohn Bevan
Maurice Richards T
Goals
David Watkins GDerek Whitehead
RefereeWilliam "Billy" H. Thompson

Scoring - Try = three points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = two points

The road to success

This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

General 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