1981–82 Lancashire Cup

1981–82 Lancashire Cup
StructureRegional knockout championship
Teams16
WinnersLeigh
Runners-upWidnes

The 1981–82 Lancashire Cup (known as the Forshaws Lancashire Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 69th staging of the rugby league knockout competition, the Lancashire Cup.

Leigh won the trophy with an 8–3 win against Widnes.

Background

This season saw the introduction of two new non-Lancashire clubs, Carlisle and Fulham, increasing the number of clubs in the competition from 14 to 16, meaning there was no longer a need for any teams to receive byes in the first round.

In his column for the Manchester Evening News, Warrington player Ken Kelly was especially critical of the addition of London-based Fulham, arguing it made a mockery of the competition.[1]

Competition and results

First round

The first round involved eight matches and 16 clubs. Carlisle's match against Wigan was the club's first ever competitive fixture.

Game no. Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Ref
1 14 August 1981 Oldham 7–17 Salford Watersheddings 2915
2 16 August 1981 Barrow 15–7 Warrington Craven Park 3197 [2]
3 16 August 1981 Blackpool Borough 0–28 St Helens Borough Park 2239 [3]
4 16 August 1981 Carlisle 6–9 Wigan Brunton Park 2779 [4]
5 16 August 1981 Fulham 32–15 Swinton Craven Cottage 3207
6 16 August 1981 Leigh 37–2 Whitehaven Hilton Park 3915
7 16 August 1981 Rochdale Hornets 8–14 Widnes Athletic Grounds 1054 [5]
8 16 August 1981 Workington Town 35–2 Huyton Derwent Park 1417

Second round

The second round involved four matches and eight clubs.

Game no. Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Ref
1 23 August 1981 Leigh 32–17 Workington Town Hilton Park 4283
2 23 August 1981 St. Helens 40–17 Barrow Knowsley Road 4303 [3]
3 23 August 1981 Salford 19–3 Fulham The Willows 3462
4 23 August 1981 Wigan 11–26 Widnes Central Park 6711 [4][5]

Semifinals

The semifinals involved two matches and four clubs.

Game no. Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Ref
1 2 September 1981 Leigh 20–6 St. Helens Hilton Park 8196 [3]
2 2 September 1981 Widnes 33–2 Salford Naughton Park 5849 [5]

Final

The final was played at Central Park, Wigan. The attendance was 9,011 and receipts were £14,029. This was Leigh's first Lancashire Cup since the 1970–71 season.[6]

Game no. Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Ref
26 September 1981 Leigh 8–3 Widnes Central Park 9011 [5][7]

Teams and scorers

[5][7]

Leigh No. Widnes
Mick Hogan 1 Mick Burke
Des Drummond 2 Mick George[8]
Terry Bilsbury 3 Eric Hughes
Steve Donlan 4 Eddie Cunningham
Graham Worgan 5 Keith Bentley
John Woods 6 Dave Moran[9]
Ken Green 7 Andy Gregory
Alf Wilkinson 8 Mike O'Neill
Ray Tabern 9 Keith Elwell
Tony Cooke 10 Brian Lockwood
Thomas Martyn 11 Les Gorley
Geoffrey Clarkson 12 Eric Prescott
Mick McTigue 13 Mick Adams
?? 14
x Billy Platt (for Thomas Martyn) 15
8 Score 3
5 HT 0
Scorers
Tries
Terry Bilsbury (1) T Keith Bentley (1)
Goals
John Woods (2) G
Drop goals
Steve Donlan (1) DG
Referee W H (Billy) Thompson (Huddersfield)
Man of the match Ray Tabern - Leigh - Hooker
Sponsored by Burtonwood Brewery
Competition sponsor Forshaws (Burtonwood Brewery Co Ltd)

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

The road to success

First round Second round Semi-finals Final
            
Leigh 37
Whitehaven 2
Leigh 32
Workington Town 17
Workington Town 35
Huyton 2
Leigh 20
St. Helens 6
Blackpool Borough 0
St. Helens 28
St. Helens 40
Barrow 17
Barrow 15
Warrington 7
Leigh 8
Widnes 3
Carlisle 6
Wigan 9
Wigan 11
Widnes 26
Rochdale Hornets 8
Widnes 14
Widnes 33
Salford 2
Oldham 7
Salford 17
Salford 19
Fulham 3
Fulham 32
Swinton 15

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Fulham in Lancashire". Super Pink. Manchester Evening News. No. 34920. 15 August 1981. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. ^ "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014.
  3. ^ a b c "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  4. ^ a b "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results". Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  6. ^ Fletcher & Howes (1982), p. 148.
  7. ^ a b Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
  8. ^ [1]
  9. ^ [2]

References

  • Fletcher, Raymond; Howes, David, eds. (1982). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1982-83. Rothmans Publications. ISBN 978-0-907574-15-6.