1993–94 League Cup (rugby league)


The 1993–94 League Cup was the twenty-third season of the rugby league League Cup, known as the Regal Trophy due to sponsorship by Regal.
Castleford won the final, beating the pre-match favourites Wigan by the score of 33-2. The match was played at Headingley, Leeds in front of an attendance of 15,626.

Background

This season saw virtually a complete re-vamping of the competition for instance; The Preliminary round was renamed "First Round", with every other succeeding round being renamed. The First Round now consisted of 16 matches involving 32 clubs, with a further 16 clubs being given byes into the Second Round. The number of entrants was further increased by inviting eleven of the top junior clubs. The inclusion of two French clubs continued with the inclusion of AS Saint Estève. The sixteen First Round winners added to the sixteen clubs given byes, gave a total of entrants into the second round as thirty-two. There were no drawn matches in the competition this season.

Competition and Results

Round 1 - First Round - (a Preliminary Round)

Involved 16 matches and 32 clubs, with 16 byes
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Fri 29 Oct 1993Dewsbury56-10West BowlingMount Pleasant6161
2Sun 31 Oct 1993Barrow54-12Leigh Miners' WelfareCraven Park11402
3Sun 31 Oct 1993Batley64-1QueensMount Pleasant6083
4Sun 31 Oct 1993Bramley17-8Woolston RoversMcLaren Field5104
5Sun 31 Oct 1993Carlisle36-24CarcassonneGifford Park5935
6Sun 31 Oct 1993Doncaster62-4MysonBentley Road Stadium/Tattersfield8586
7Sun 31 Oct 1993Highfield30-22EllenboroughHoghton Road Stadium2277
8Sun 31 Oct 1993Huddersfield36-8Irlam HornetsLeeds Road17058
9Sun 31 Oct 1993Hunslet30-19Chorley Borough Elland Road299
10Sun 31 Oct 1993Keighley Cougars72-12Nottingham CityCougar Park22839
11Sun 31 Oct 1993London Crusaders48-16AS Saint EstèveBarnet Copthall74610
12Sun 31 Oct 1993Rochdale Hornets80-10Blackpool GladiatorsSpotland863
13Sun 31 Oct 1993Ryedale-York66-14Hemel StagsRyedale Stadium83511
14Sun 31 Oct 1993Swinton24-13Saddleworth RangersGigg Lane46812
15Sun 31 Oct 1993Whitehaven46-0EgremontRecreation Ground148013
16Sun 31 Oct 1993Workington Town74-6Wigan St PatricksDerwent Park146414
1Bradford Northernbye
2Castlefordbye
3Featherstone Roversbye
4Halifaxbye
5Hull F.C.bye
6Hull Kingston Roversbye
7Leedsbye
8Leighbye
9Oldhambye
10Salfordbye
11St. Helensbye
12Sheffield Eaglesbye
13Wakefield Trinitybye
14Warringtonbye
15Widnesbye
16Wiganbye

Round 2 Second Round

Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Fri 12 Nov 1993Dewsbury6-20St. HelensMount Pleasant2272
2Sat 13 Nov 1993Salford21-12LeedsThe Willows1799
3Sun 14 Nov 1993Barrow8-28Bradford NorthernCraven Park2796
4Sun 14 Nov 1993Batley8-6Sheffield EaglesMount Pleasant1278
5Sun 14 Nov 1993Carlisle28-12Wakefield TrinityGifford Park746
6Sun 14 Nov 1993Halifax19-10Keighley CougarsThrum Hall7321
7Sun 14 Nov 1993Highfield8-26OldhamHoghton Road Stadium880
8Sun 14 Nov 1993Leigh20-12HuddersfieldHilton Park3407
9Sun 14 Nov 1993London Crusaders26-12Featherstone RoversBarnet Copthall981
10Sun 14 Nov 1993Rochdale Hornets10-11BramleySpotland730
11Sun 14 Nov 1993Ryedale-York12-11Workington TownRyedale Stadium1456
12Sun 14 Nov 1993Swinton14-36Hull F.C.Gigg Lane85115
13Sun 14 Nov 1993Warrington58-16HunsletWilderspool3037
14Sun 14 Nov 1993Whitehaven8-22WiganRecreation Ground518516
15Sun 14 Nov 1993Widnes24-4DoncasterNaughton Park307517
16Mon 15 Nov 1993Hull Kingston Rovers12-16CastlefordCraven Park 2724

Round 3 - Third Round

Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sat 11 Dec 1993St. Helens8-16WarringtonKnowsley Road5366
2Sun 12 Dec 1993Carlisle34-4BramleyGifford Park516
3Sun 12 Dec 1993Hull F.C.10-6WidnesBoulevard341218
4Sun 12 Dec 1993Oldham8-16WiganWatersheddings634219
5Sun 12 Dec 1993Ryedale-York10-42London CrusadersRyedale Stadium741
6Mon 13 Dec 1993Castleford54-14LeighWheldon Road2116
7Tue 14 Dec 1993Batley8-12SalfordMount Pleasant809
8Thu 16 Dec 1993Bradford Northern16-8HalifaxOdsal5057

Round 4 -Quarter Finals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
-
Sat 18 Dec 1993Warrington10-27WiganWilderspool732120, 21-
Sun 19 Dec 1993Castleford44-4CarlisleWheldon Road262420-
Sun 19 Dec 1993London Crusaders10-22Bradford NorthernBarnet Copthall187820-
Sun 19 Dec 1993Salford26-6Hull F.C.The Willows320720, 22-

Round 5 – Semi-Finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
-
Sat 1 Jan 1994Bradford Northern10-23CastlefordOdsal8351-
Sat 8 Jan 1994Salford12-18WiganThe Willows7483-

Final

Teams and Scorers

Castleford Tigers№Wigan
teams
Graham Steadman1Joe Lydon
St. John Ellis2Jason Robinson
Richie Blackmore3Barrie-Jon Mather
Grant Anderson4Gary Connolly
Simon Middleton5Martin Offiah
Tony Kemp6Frano Botica
Mike Ford7Shaun Edwards
Lee Crooks8Kelvin Skerrett
Richard Russell9Martin Dermott
Martin Ketteridge10Andy Platt
Tony Morrison11Neil Cowie
Ian Smales12Andy Farrell
Tawera Nikau13Phil Clarke
Andy Hay 14Sam Panapa
Dean Sampson 15Mick Cassidy
John JoynerCoachJohn Dorahy
-
33score2
20HT2
Scorers
Tries
Martin Ketteridge T
Tawera Nikau T
Grant Anderson T
Lee Crooks T
Goals
Lee Crooks GFrano Botica
Drop Goals
Tony Kemp DG
RefereeDave Campbell
Man of the matchMartin Ketteridge Rugby league positions
Competition SponsorRegal

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
Winner35000135000
Runner-up18500118500
semi-finalist9750219500
quarter-finalist6225424900
loser in Rd 34000832000
loser in Rd 226501642400
Professional Clubs in Rd 126501847700
Amateur Clubs in Rd 110001414000
Development Fund1260001126000
Total Prize Fund234000234000
Grand Total360000360000

The road to success

This tree excludes the First 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.