1987–88 League Cup (rugby league)


This was the seventeenth season for the League Cup, known as the John Player Special Trophy for sponsorship purposes.
St. Helens won the final, beating Leeds by the score of 15-14. The match was played at Central Park, Wigan. The attendance was 16,669 and receipts were £62232.

Background

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

Blackpool Borough moved to Springfield Park in Wigan and renamed as Springfield Borough

Competition and Results

Preliminary Round

Involved 4 matches and 8 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sat 31 Oct 1987Heworth5-32SwintonClarence Street10631
2Sun 1 Nov 1987Featherstone Rovers34-16Thatto HeathPost Office Road10452
3Sun 1 Nov 1987York38-2BramleyClarence Street11743
4Sun 8 Nov 1987Oldham36-8FulhamWatersheddings3197

Round 1 - First Round

Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Fri 13 Nov 1987Springfield Borough14-2BarrowSpringfield Park629
2Sat 14 Nov 1987Oldham22-6Bradford NorthernWatersheddings4858
3Sat 14 Nov 1987St. Helens12-10WidnesKnowsley Road7322
4Sun 15 Nov 1987Batley18-16HunsletMount Pleasant1117
5Sun 15 Nov 1987Carlisle16-22WarringtonBrunton Park1055
6Sun 15 Nov 1987Dewsbury14-12DoncasterCrown Flatt1081
7Sun 15 Nov 1987Featherstone Rovers12-34CastlefordPost Office Road3376
8Sun 15 Nov 1987Keighley6-32HalifaxThrum Hall52364
9Sun 15 Nov 1987Hull F.C.42-6Workington TownBoulevard2447
10Sun 15 Nov 1987Hull Kingston Rovers30-12Rochdale HornetsCraven Park 2308
11Sun 15 Nov 1987Leigh28-12Huddersfield BarracudasHilton Park2082
12Sun 15 Nov 1987Runcorn Highfield4-6Mansfield MarksmanCanal Street514
13Sun 15 Nov 1987Swinton12-18SalfordStation Road3459
14Sun 15 Nov 1987Wakefield Trinity22-22YorkBelle Vue1864
15Sun 15 Nov 1987Whitehaven14-18LeedsRecreation Ground3663
16Sun 15 Nov 1987Wigan34-8Sheffield EaglesCentral Park7484

Round 1 - First Round Replays

Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Wed 18 Nov 1987York6-30Wakefield TrinityClarence Street1467

Round 2 - Second Round

Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sat 21 Nov 1987Wigan26-16CastlefordCentral Park9613
2Sun 22 Nov 1987Batley0-44OldhamMount Pleasant2808
3Sun 22 Nov 1987Hull F.C.19-7LeighBoulevard3982
4Sun 22 Nov 1987Leeds20-10HalifaxHeadingley13498
5Sun 22 Nov 1987St. Helens40-0Mansfield MarksmanKnowsley Road4966
6Sun 22 Nov 1987Salford14-5DewsburyThe Willows2129
7Sun 22 Nov 1987Springfield Borough14-8Wakefield TrinitySpringfield Park1265
8Sun 22 Nov 1987Warrington12-8Hull Kingston RoversWilderspool4550

Round 3 -Quarter Finals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
-
1Sat 28 Nov 1987Warrington10-14OldhamWilderspool5152
2Sun 29 Nov 1987St. Helens20-16Hull F.C.Knowsley Road7400
3Sun 29 Nov 1987Salford12-16WiganThe Willows7986
4Sun 29 Nov 1987Springfield Borough12-22LeedsSpringfield Park3894

Round 4 – Semi-Finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
-
1Sat 12 Dec 1987Leeds19-6WiganBurnden Park13538
2Sat 19 Dec 1987St. Helens18-8OldhamKnowsley Road8136

Final

Teams and Scorers

St. Helens№Leeds
teams
Phil Veivers1Marty Gurr
Dave Tanner2Steve Morris
Paul Loughlin3Garry Schofield
Mark Elia4Peter Jackson
Les Quirk5John Basnett
Shane Cooper6David Creasser
Neil Holding7Ray Ashton
Tony Burke8Peter Tunks
Paul Groves9Colin Maskill
Peter Souto10Kevin Rayne
Paul Forber11Roy Powell
Roy Haggerty12Paul Medley
Andy Platt13David Heron
David Large 14Carl Gibson
Stuart Evans 15xJohn Fairbank
Alex MurphyCoach
-
15score14
9HT14
Scorers
Tries
Paul Loughlin TPeter Jackson
TDavid Creasser -
Goals
Paul Loughlin GDavid Creasser
Drop Goals
Neil Holding DG
RefereeG. Frederick "Fred" Lindop
Man of the matchPaul Loughlin - St Helens -
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.