1976–77 Player's No.6 Trophy

1976–77 Player's No.6 Trophy
StructureNational knockout championship
Teams32
WinnersCastleford
Runners-upBlackpool Borough

The 1976–77 Player's No.6 Trophy was a British rugby league knockout tournament. It was the sixth season that the competition was staged, which was once again known as the Player's No.6 Trophy because of its sponsorship.

Castleford won the final, beating Second Division side Blackpool Borough by the score of 25–15. The match was played at The Willows, Salford. The attendance was 4,512 and receipts were £2,919.

Background

This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at thirty-two. For the second season there were no drawn matches in the competition.[1][2][3]

Competition and results

Round 1 - First Round

[4] Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 23 Oct 1976 Hull F.C. 18-5 Warrington Boulevard [5][6]
2 Sat 23 Oct 1976 Leeds 34-10 Rochdale Hornets Headingley
3 Sun 24 Oct 1976 Blackpool Borough 16-15 Barrow Borough Park
4 Sun 24 Oct 1976 Bradford Northern 23-18 Huddersfield Odsal
5 Sun 24 Oct 1976 Bramley 33-5 Dewsbury McLaren Field
6 Sun 24 Oct 1976 Featherstone Rovers 43-13 Whitehaven Post Office Road
7 Sun 24 Oct 1976 Ovenden 4-24 Halifax Thrum Hall 3680 1, 2
8 Sun 24 Oct 1976 Hull Kingston Rovers 7-12 St. Helens Craven Park (1) 5984 [7]
9 Sun 24 Oct 1976 Huyton 6-8 York Alt Park, Huyton
10 Sun 24 Oct 1976 Leigh 29-7 Swinton Hilton Park
11 Sun 24 Oct 1976 New Hunslet 10-24 Castleford Elland Road Greyhound Stadium
12 Sun 24 Oct 1976 Oldham 17-9 Batley Watersheddings
13 Sun 24 Oct 1976 Ace Caravans 15-39 Salford The Willows 3037 3, 4, 5
14 Sun 24 Oct 1976 Wakefield Trinity 8-10 Widnes Belle Vue [8][9]
15 Sun 24 Oct 1976 Wigan 33-0 Keighley Central Park [3]
16 Sun 24 Oct 1976 Workington Town 45-15 Doncaster Derwent Park

Round 2 - Second Round

[10] Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 6 Nov 1976 Leeds 18-17 Salford Headingley
2 Sat 6 Nov 1976 St. Helens 18-22 Castleford Knowsley Road 2691 [7]
3 Sun 7 Nov 1976 Blackpool Borough 7-3 Halifax Borough Park
4 Sun 7 Nov 1976 Hull F.C. 19-5 Bradford Northern Boulevard [5]
5 Sun 7 Nov 1976 Oldham 13-28 Leigh Watersheddings 6
6 Sun 7 Nov 1976 Widnes 10-0 Featherstone Rovers Naughton Park [9]
7 Sun 7 Nov 1976 Workington Town 17-13 Bramley Derwent Park
8 Sun 7 Nov 1976 York 8-7 Wigan Clarence Street 6503 7 [3]

Round 3 -Quarter Finals

[10] Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 20 Dec 1976 Leeds 14-20 Castleford Headingley
2 Sun 21 Dec 1976 Leigh 17-12 Hull F.C. Hilton Park [5]
3 Sun 21 Dec 1976 Widnes 13-10 York Naughton Park [9]
4 Sun 21 Dec 1976 Workington Town 5-11 Blackpool Borough Derwent Park

Round 4 – Semi-Finals

[10] Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 27 Dec 1976 Castleford 15-10 Widnes Wheldon Road 8 [9]
2 Sat 11 Dec 1976 Blackpool Borough 15-5 Leigh Borough Park 8

Final

22 January 1977
Castleford 25 – 15 Blackpool Borough
Tries: Burton, Johnson, Joyner, Stephens, Wraith
Goals: Lloyd (5)
 Tries: Machen, Allen, Egan
Goals: Egan (3)
The Willows, Salford
Attendance: 4,512
Referee: Mick Naughton (Widnes)
Player of the Match: Gary Stephens
and Howard Allen (awarded jointly)[11]

Teams and scorers

[12][13]

Castleford No. Blackpool Borough
teams
Geoffrey Wraith 1 Doug Reynolds
Steve Fenton 2 Doug Robinson
John Joyner 3 John Heritage
Philip Johnson 4 Paul Machen
Trevor Briggs 5 Phil Pitman
Bruce Burton 6 Ged Marsh
Gary Stephens 7 Jackie Newall
Paul Kahn 8 James "Jim"/"Jimmy" Hamilton
Robert Spurr 9 Howard Allen
Alan Dickinson 10 Joe Egan
Mal Reilly 11 Paul Gamble
Geoffrey "Sammy" Lloyd 12 Ken Groves
Steve 'Knocker' Norton 13 Malcolm Pattinson
? Not used 14 Cliff Lamb (for Phil Pitman)
? Not used 15 Phil Hurst (for Ken Groves)
Coach Jim Crellin

Prize money

As part of the sponsorship deal and funds, the prize money awarded to the competing teams for this season was as follows:[14]

Finish Position Cash Prize No. receiving prize Total Cash
Winner £6,000 1 £6,000
Runner-up £3,000 1 £3,000
Semi-finalist £1,500 2 £3,000
Loser in Rd 3 £700 4 £2,800
Loser in Rd 2 £550 8 £4,400
Loser in Rd 1 £400 16 £6,400
Grand Total £25,600

The road to success

This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

First round Second round Third round Semifinals Final
               
Leeds 34
Rochdale Hornets 10
Leeds 18
Salford 17
Ace Caravans 15
Salford 39
Leeds 14
Castleford 20
Hull Kingston Rovers 7
St. Helens 12
St. Helens 18
Castleford 22
New Hunslet 10
Castleford 24
Castleford 15
Widnes 10
Wakefield Trinity 8
Widnes 10
Widnes 10
Featherstone Rovers 0
Featherstone Rovers 43
Whitehaven 13
Widnes 13
York 10
Huyton 6
York 8
York 8
Wigan 7
Wigan 33
Keighley 0
Castleford 25
Blackpool Borough 15
Workington Town 45
Doncaster 15
Workington Town 17
Bramley 13
Bramley 22
Dewsbury 5
Workington Town 5
Blackpool Borough 11
Blackpool Borough 16
Barrow 15
Blackpool Borough 7
Halifax 3
Ovenden 4
Halifax 24
Blackpool Borough 15
Leigh 5
Oldham 17
Batley 9
Oldham 13
Leigh 28
Leigh 29
Swinton 7
Leigh 17
Hull F.C. 12
Hull F.C. 18
Warrington 5
Hull F.C. 19
Bradford Northern 5
Bradford Northern 23
Huddersfield 18

Notes

1 * Ovenden are a Junior (amateur) club from Halifax
2 * Ovenden were drawn at home but chose to give away home advantage
3 * Ace Caravans were a Junior (amateur) club from Hull
4 * Ace Caravans were drawn at home but chose to give away home advantage
5 * The Rothmans Yearbooks 1990-91[12] and 1991-92[13] gave the attendance as 3,037 but The News of the World/Empire News annual 1977–78[2] gave it as 3,680
6 * The News of the World/Empire News annual 1977–78[2] gives the score as 13-25 but other sources including RUGBYLEAGUEprojects,[1] Wigan official archives[3] give the score as 13-28
7 * Wigan's centre (No. 4) Bill Francis & York's second-row (No. 11) Gary Hetherington were both sent off for fighting in the 78th Minute
8 * Wigan official website[10] states incorrectly that the match date was Saturday 27 November
9 * The Willows was the home ground of Salford with a final capacity of 11,363 which included 2,500 seats. The record attendance was 26,470 on the 13 February 1937 in the Challenge Cup first round match vs Warr

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Rugby League Project".
  2. ^ a b c Frank Butler and Patrick Collins (1977). News of the World Football Annual 1977–78 - 91st year. News of the World Ltd.
  3. ^ a b c d "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results". Archived from the original on 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2014-07-12.
  4. ^ "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player round 1 archived results".
  5. ^ a b c "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
  6. ^ "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2014-02-02.
  7. ^ a b "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  8. ^ "Wakefield until I die".
  9. ^ a b c d "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  10. ^ a b c d "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player round 2 onwards results".
  11. ^ Cotter, Garrett (23 January 1977). "No time for fairy tales". The Observer. London. p. 20. ProQuest 476361417.
  12. ^ a b Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.
  13. ^ a b Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
  14. ^ Fletcher, Raymond; Howes, David, eds. (1992). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1992-93. London: Headline Publishing Group. p. 396. ISBN 978-0-7472-7906-8.