1983–84 League Cup


This was the thirteenth season of the rugby league League Cup, which was this season known as the John Player Special Trophy for sponsorship reasons.
Leeds won the trophy, beating Widnes by the score of 18-10 in the final. The match was played at Central Park, Wigan and the attendance was 9,510. The gate receipts were £19824.

Background

This season saw one change in the entrants, Kent Invicta joined the league and also the competition, the number of entrants now rising to thirty-four

The preliminary round now increased to two matches and involved four clubs, to reduce the numbers of entrants to the first round proper to thirty-two

Unfortunately, early in the season Bramley went into administration, and although they survived, during this period of administration they withdrew from this competition, leaving Hull Kingston Rovers with a bye in the first round.

Competition and Results

Preliminary Round

Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sun 23 Oct 1983Batley11-12DoncasterMount Pleasant782
2Sun 23 Oct 1983Whitehaven0-36WidnesRecreation Ground1655

Round 1 - First Round

Involved 15 matches with one bye and 31 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sat 5 11 1983CastlefordPHull F.C.1
2Sun 6 Nov 1983Blackpool Borough9-12LeedsBorough Park1351
3Sun 6 Nov 1983Cardiff City41-6Rochdale HornetsNinian Park645
4Sun 6 Nov 1983Carlisle10-5Workington TownBrunton Park1297
5Sun 6 Nov 1983Dewsbury14-17KeighleyCrown Flatt814
6Sun 6 Nov 1983Featherstone Rovers12-10FulhamPost Office Road2011
7Sun 6 Nov 1983Halifax12-29BarrowThrum Hall2699
8Sun 6 Nov 1983Kent Invicta7-40St. HelensAthletic Ground, Maidstone21072
9Sun 6 Nov 1983Oldham12-20LeighWatersheddings6264
10Sun 6 Nov 1983Swinton17-16HunsletStation Road1243
11Sun 6 Nov 1983Wakefield Trinity18-32WarringtonBelle Vue2935
12Sun 6 Nov 1983Widnes2-1Bradford NorthernNaughton Park56403
13Sun 6 Nov 1983Wigan30-13YorkCentral Park6388
14Sun 6 Nov 1983Doncaster11-22SalfordBentley Road Stadium/Tattersfield458
15Sun 6 Nov 1983Huddersfield8-21HuytonFartown582
16Hull Kingston Roversbye4

Round 1 - First Round Replays

Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sun 6 Nov 1983Castleford4-8Hull F.C.Wheldon Road7979

Round 2 - Second Round

Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sat 19 Nov 1983Warrington10-18St. HelensWilderspool4171
2Sun 20 Nov 1983Cardiff City38-12HuytonNinian Park1085
3Sun 20 Nov 1983Carlisle17-68LeighBrunton Park21525
4Sun 20 Nov 1983Featherstone Rovers20-14Hull F.C.Post Office Road7833
5Sun 20 Nov 1983Keighley8-23SwintonLawkholme Lane1577
6Sun 20 Nov 1983Leeds12-6Hull Kingston RoversHeadingley86236
7Sun 20 Nov 1983Widnes18-6BarrowNaughton Park7030
8Sun 20 Nov 1983Wigan24-15SalfordCentral Park7290

Round 3 -Quarter Finals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
-
1Sat 26 Nov 1983Widnes20-15WiganNaughton Park6492
2Sun 27 Nov 1983Leigh12-8Cardiff CityHilton Park4134
3Sun 27 Nov 1983St. Helens16-12Featherstone RoversKnowsley Road5196
4Sun 27 Nov 1983Swinton12-16LeedsStation Road3438

Round 4 – Semi-Finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
-
1Sat 10 Dec 1983Leigh11-18LeedsFartown5740
2Sat 17 Dec 1983Widnes18-4St. HelensWilderspool5729

Final

Teams and Scorers

Leeds№Widnes
teams
Ian Wilkinson1Mick Burke
Paul Prendiville2Stuart Wright
David Creasser3Keiron O'Loughlin
Dean Bell4Joe Lydon
Andy Smith5Ralph Linton
John Holmes6Eric Hughes
Kevin Dick7Andy Gregory
Keith Rayne8Mike O'Neill
David Ward9Keith Elwell
Kevin Rayne10Kevin Tamati
Gary Moorby11Les Gorley
Mark Laurie12Fred Whitfield
Terry Webb13Mick Adams
? Not used14? Not used
Kevin Squire 15? Not used
Maurice BamfordCoachVince Karalius & Harry Dawson
-
18score10
14HT10
Scorers
Tries
John Holmes TJoe Lydon
Kevin Dick TRalph Linton
Goals
David Creasser GMick Burke
RefereeWilliam "Billy" H. Thompson
Man of the matchMark Laurie - Leeds -
Competition SponsorJohn Player Special

Scoring - Try = four 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 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???
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.