1976–77 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

The 1976–77 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the twelfth occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held.

1976–77 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
Structure	Floodlit knockout championship
Teams	22
Winners	Castleford
Runners-up	Leigh
← 1975–76 1977–78 →

Castleford won the trophy by beating Leigh by the score of 12-4 (away from home on the opponent's own ground)
The match was played at Hilton Park, Leigh, now in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 5,402, and the receipts were £2.793
Castleford had won the first three BBC2 Floodlit Trophy finals, this brought the wins up to four

Background

This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at twenty-two.
The format remained as used in last season's tournament, i.e. as a knock-out competition from the preliminary round through to the final.
The preliminary round involved twelve clubs, to reduce the numbers taking part in the competition proper to just sixteen.

Competition and results

^[1][2]

Preliminary round

Involved 6 matches and 12 clubs

Game No	Fixture date	Home team		Score		Away team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
P	Sun 29 Aug 1976	Rochdale Hornets		2-5		Widnes	Athletic Grounds				[3]
P	Wed 8 Sep 1976	Halifax		19-25		Hull F.C.	Thrum Hall				[4]
P	Tue 14 Sep 1976	Hull Kingston Rovers		19-12		Dewsbury	Craven Park (1)
P	Tue 14 Sep 1976	Leigh		11-10		Warrington	Hilton Park				[5]
P	Tue 14 Sep 1976	Wakefield Trinity		20-5		Bramley	Belle Vue				[6]
P	Tue 14 Sep 1976	Whitehaven		25-11		Barrow	Recreation Ground			1

Round 1 – first round

Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs

Game No	Fixture date	Home team		Score		Away team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Tue 28 Sep 1976	Huddersfield		5-2		Wakefield Trinity	Fartown				[7]
2	Tue 28 Sep 1976	Leigh		22-18		Salford	Hilton Park
3	Tue 5 Oct 1976	Castleford		16-8		Hull Kingston Rovers	Wheldon Road
4	Tue 5 Oct 1976	Keighley		2-16		Hull F.C.	Lawkholme Lane				[4]
5	Tue 5 Oct 1976	Whitehaven		3-21		Oldham	Recreation Ground
6	Tue 12 Oct 1976	Widnes		13-14		Wigan	Naughton Park			2	[3][8]
7	Tue 19 Oct 1976	Leeds		22-10		New Hunslet	Headingley
8	Tue 26 Oct 1976	Swinton		15-22		St. Helens	Station Road	1,265			[9]

Round 2 – quarter finals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Game No	Fixture date	Home team		Score		Away team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Tue 2 Nov 1976	Hull F.C.		6-0		Oldham	Boulevard				[4]
2	Tue 9 Nov 1976	Leeds		2-17		Castleford	Headingley
3	Tue 16 Nov 1976	Huddersfield		9-7		St. Helens	Fartown	1,787			[7][9]
4	Tue 23 Nov 1976	Leigh		12-5		Wigan	Hilton Park			2	[8]

Round 3 – semi-finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No	Fixture date	Home team		Score		Away team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Tue 30 Nov 1976	Leigh		19-10		Huddersfield	Hilton Park				[7]
2	Tue 7 Dec 1976	Hull F.C.		8-15		Castleford	Boulevard				[4]

Final

Game No	Fixture date	Home team		Score		Away team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
F	Tuesday 14 December 1976	Leigh		4-12		Castleford	Hilton Park	5,402	2.793	2 3	[10][11]

Teams and scorers

^[10]

Castleford	№	Leigh
	teams
Geoff Wraith	1	Mick Hogan
Steve Fenton	2	Alan Prescott
John Joyner	3	Mick Stacey
Philip Johnson	4	John Woods
Jamie Walsh	5	Joe Walsh
Bruce Burton	6	John Taylor
Gary Stephens	7	Cliff Sayer
Paul Kahn	8	Dave Chisnall
Robert Spurr	9	Kevin Ashcroft
Alan Dickinson	10	Geoff Fletcher
Malcolm "Mal" Reilly	11	Dave Macko
Geoffrey "Sammy" Lloyd	12	Paul Grimes
Steve 'Knocker' Norton	13	Dennis Boyd
Malcolm "Mal" Reilly	Coach	Kevin Ashcroft
12	score	4
0	HT	1
	Scorers
	Tries
Jamie Walsh (1)	T	Joe Walsh (1)
Bruce Burton (1)	T
	Goals
Geoffrey "Sammy" Lloyd (3)	G
	Drop Goals
	DG	Kevin Ashcroft (1)
Referee		J E Jackson (Pudsey)

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

The road to success

This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

	First round					Second round					Semi-finals					Final
	Leigh		22
	Salford		18
						Leigh		12
						Wigan		5
	Widnes		13
	Wigan		14
											Leigh		19
											Huddersfield		10
	Huddersfield		5
	Wakefield Trinity		2
						Huddersfield		9
						St. Helens		7
	Swinton		16
	St. Helens		22
																Leigh		4
																Castleford		12
	Keighley		2
	Hull F.C.		16
						Hull F.C.		6
						Oldham		0
	Whitehaven		3
	Oldham		21
											Hull F.C.		8
											Castleford		15
	Leeds		22
	New Hunslet		10
						Leeds		2
						Castleford		17
	Castleford		16
	Hull Kingston Rovers		8

Notes and comments

1 * Whitehaven, who joined the competition in season 1973–74, play their first game at home in the competition - they also win their first game in the competition
2 * This match was televised
3 * Hilton Park was the home ground of Leigh from 1947 to 2008. The final capacity was in the region of 11,000, much less than the record attendance of 31,326, set in 1953 for a Challenge Cup match v St. Helens

See also

• 1976–77 Northern Rugby Football League season
• 1976 Lancashire Cup
• 1976 Yorkshire Cup
• BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
• Rugby league county cups