1982–83 League Cup (rugby league)


This was the twelfth season of the League Cup, which was known as the John Player Trophy for sponsorship purposes.
Wigan claimed the trophy by beating Leeds by the score of 22-11 in the final played at Elland Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire. The attendance was 19,553 and receipts were £49027.

Background

This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at thirty-three.

The preliminary round of one match remained

Competition and Results

Preliminary Round

Involved 1 matches and 2 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
Sun 21 Nov 1982Huyton9-19Workington TownAlt Park, Huyton240-

Round 1 - First Round

Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sat 27 Nov 1982St. Helens17-5FulhamKnowsley Road2365
2Sun 5 Dec 1982Blackpool Borough6-5BatleyBorough Park592
3Sun 5 Dec 1982Cardiff City7-11Rochdale HornetsNinian Park620
4Sun 5 Dec 1982Carlisle26-17DoncasterBrunton Park1413
5Sun 5 Dec 1982Castleford10-16WiganWheldon Road5422
6Sun 5 Dec 1982Dewsbury11-28BarrowCrown Flatt866
7Sun 5 Dec 1982Featherstone Rovers14-18Hull F.C.Post Office Road4005
8Sun 5 Dec 1982Hull Kingston Rovers42-3WhitehavenCraven Park 5929
9Sun 5 Dec 1982Keighley0-18Bradford NorthernLawkholme Lane4278
10Sun 5 Dec 1982Leeds17-7BramleyHeadingley4085
11Sun 5 Dec 1982Leigh13-12OldhamHilton Park5780
12Sun 5 Dec 1982Salford23-11HunsletThe Willows1471
13Sun 5 Dec 1982Swinton13-22HuddersfieldStation Road1417
14Sun 5 Dec 1982Warrington19-8HalifaxWilderspool2892
15Sun 5 Dec 1982Widnes17-12Wakefield TrinityNaughton Park4075
16Sun 5 Dec 1982York18-15Workington TownClarence Street2134

Round 2 - Second Round

Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sat 11 Dec 1982Hull Kingston Rovers36-7LeighCraven Park 59751
2Sun 12 Dec 1982Bradford Northern12-12Hull F.C.Odsal62221
3Sun 12 Dec 1982Carlisle2-10WidnesBrunton Park19051
4Sun 12 Dec 1982Leeds31-10YorkHeadingley37181
5Sun 12 Dec 1982Rochdale Hornets5-27BarrowAthletic Grounds12951
6Sun 12 Dec 1982Salford21-19HuddersfieldThe Willows19241
7Sun 12 Dec 1982Warrington36-15Blackpool BoroughWilderspool23471, 2
8Sun 12 Dec 1982Wigan9-5St. HelensCentral Park121721

Round 2 - Second Round Replays

Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
Wed 15 Dec 1982Hull F.C.8-10Bradford NorthernBoulevard76281-

Round 3 -Quarter Finals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
-
1Sat 18 Dec 1982Salford4-5WiganThe Willows3237
2Sun 19 Dec 1982Barrow8-13LeedsCraven Park4216
3Sun 19 Dec 1982Warrington11-10Hull Kingston RoversWilderspool3943
4Sun 19 Dec 1982Widnes16-10Bradford NorthernNaughton Park4667

Round 4 – Semi-Finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
-
1Tue 28 Dec 1982Leeds8-2WidnesFartown7247
2Sat 1 Jan 1983Wigan15-14WarringtonKnowsley Road9017

Final

Teams and Scorers

Wigan№Leeds
teams
Barry Williams1Neil Hague
Dennis Ramsdale2Mark Campbell
David Stephenson3Ian Wilkinson
Colin Whitfield4Les Dyl
Henderson Gill5Andy Smith
Martin Foy6John Holmes
Jimmy Fairhurst7Kevin Dick
Glyn Shaw8Roy Dickinson
Nicky Kiss9David Ward
Danny Campbell10Tony Burke
Graeme West11Andy Sykes
Mick Scott12Wayne Heron
John Pendlebury13David Heron
Brian Juliff 14? Not used
Brian Case 15? Not used
Alex MurphyCoachRobin Dewhurst
-
15score4
3HT4
Scorers
Tries
Henderson Gill T
Brian Juliff T
Goals
Colin Whitfield GKevin Dick
Drop Goals
Colin Whitfield DG
RefereeRonald "Ronnie" Campbell
Man of the matchMartin Foy - Wigan -
Competition SponsorJohn Player

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

Timeline in the final

TimeIncidentScore
7 minDrop goal: Colin Whitfield1-0
?Penalty Goal: Kevin Dick1-2
?Penalty Goal: Kevin Dick1-4
?Penalty Goal: Colin Whitfield3-4
Half Time3-4
57 minTry: Henderson Gill6-4
Conversion: Colin Whitfield8-4-
64 minPenalty Goal: Colin Whitfield10-4
?Try: Brian Juliff13-4
Conversion: Colin Whitfield15-4-
Full Time15-4

Prize Money

As part of the sponsorship deal and funds, the prize money awarded to the competing teams for this season is as follows :-
Finish PositionCash PrizeNo. receiving prizeTotal 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?1?
Grand Total

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

The road to success

This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

General information for those unfamiliar

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 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 variably known, by its sponsorship name, as the Player's No.6 Trophy, the John Player Trophy, the John Player Special Trophy, and the Regal Trophy in 1989.