1978–79 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
# 1978–79 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

The 1978–79 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the 14th staging of the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition, and was held in 1978.

Previous two times runner-up Widnes won the trophy by beating the previous year's winners and cup holders St. Helens by 13-7. The match was played at Knowsley Road, Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. 10,250 fans attended, and the receipts were £7,017.

## Background

This season Batley dropped out after only one season, but Bramley returned; thus the number of entrants remaining the same at twenty-two. The format remained 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

### Preliminary round

Involved 6 matches and 12 clubs

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| P | Sat 26 Aug 1978 | Leeds | 47-11 | Bramley | Headingley | 10099 | 1 2 |
| P | Sun 27 Aug 1978 | Barrow | 17-11 | Oldham | Craven Park | | |
| P | Sun 27 Aug 1978 | Wigan | 27-10 | Swinton | Central Park | | |
| P | Tue 5 Sep 1978 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 39-2 | New Hunslet | Craven Park (1) | | |
| P | Tue 5 Sep 1978 | Keighley | 10-0 | Dewsbury | Lawkholme Lane | | |
| P | Tue 12 Sep 1978 | St. Helens | 13-9 | Warrington | Knowsley Road | 5,000 | |

### Round 1 – first round

Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Tue 26 Sep 1978 | Castleford | 20-11 | Wakefield Trinity | Wheldon Road | | 3 |
| 2 | Thu 28 Sep 1978 | Barrow | 17-5 | Leigh | Craven Park | | |
| 3 | Tue 3 Oct 1978 | Halifax | 12-21 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Thrum Hall | | 3 |
| 4 | Tue 3 Oct 1978 | Keighley | 15-25 | Huddersfield | Lawkholme Lane | | |
| 5 | Tue 3 Oct 1978 | Widnes | 17-13 | Whitehaven | Naughton Park | | |
| 6 | Tue 10 Oct 1978 | Leeds | 8-14 | Hull F.C. | Headingley | | |
| 7 | Tue 17 Oct 1978 | Salford | 15-17 | St. Helens | The Willows | 4,632 | 3 |
| 8 | Tue 24 Oct 1978 | Wigan | 13-2 | Rochdale Hornets | Central Park | | 3 4 |

### Round 2 – quarter finals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Tue 31 Oct 1978 | Barrow | 0-6 | Hull F.C. | Craven Park | | |
| 2 | Tue 7 Nov 1978 | St. Helens | 47-5 | Castleford | Knowsley Road | 4,247 | 5 |
| 3 | Wed 15 Nov 1978 | Rochdale Hornets | 10-9 | Huddersfield | Athletic Grounds | | |
| 4 | Tue 21 Nov 1978 | Hull Kingston Rovers | P | Widnes | Craven Park (1) | | 6 |

### Round 2 -Quarter-finals – replay

Involved 1 matches and 2 clubs

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R | Tue 21 Nov 1978 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 10-13 | Widnes | Craven Park (1) | | | | |

### 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 28 Nov 1978 | Hull F.C. | 5-13 | St. Helens | Boulevard | 8,428 | | 3 | |
| 2 | Tue 05 Dec 1978 | Rochdale Hornets | P | Widnes | Athletic Grounds | | | 7 | |

### Round 3 – Semi-finals – replay

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R | Fri 08 Dec 1978 | Rochdale Hornets | 9-26 | Widnes | Athletic Grounds | | | | |

### Final

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| F | Tuesday 12 December 1978 | St. Helens | 7-13 | Widnes | Knowsley Road | 10,250 | 7,017 | 3 8 9 | |

**Teams and scorers**

| Widnes | № | St. Helens |
| - | - | - |
| | teams | |
| David Eckersley | 1 | Geoff Pimblett |
| Stuart Wright | 2 | Les Jones |
| Eric Hughes | 3 | Peter Glynn |
| Mal Aspey | 4 | Eddie Cunningham |
| Peter Shaw | 5 | Roy Mathias |
| Mick Burke | 6 | Bill Francis |
| Reg Bowden | 7 | Neil Holding |
| Brian Hogan | 8 | David "Dave" Chisnall |
| Keith Elwell | 9 | Graham Liptrot |
| Jim Mills | 10 | Mel James |
| Mick Adams | 11 | George Nicholls |
| Alan Dearden | 12 | John Knighton |
| Doug Laughton | 13 | Harry Pinner |
| Doug Laughton | Coach | Eric Ashton |
| 13 | score | 7 |
| 8 | HT | 5 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| Stuart Wright (2) | T | David "Dave" Chisnall (1) |
| Mick Burke (1) | T | |
| | Goals | |
| Mick Burke (2) | G | Geoff Pimblett (2) |
| Referee | | J McDonald (Wigan) |

Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points

### The road to success

This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

| First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Final | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Barrow | Barrow | 17 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 5 | Barrow | Barrow | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 6 | | | | | | | |
| Leeds | Leeds | 8 | Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 6 | | | | | | | |
| Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 14 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 14 | | | | Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 5 | | | | |
| | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 13 | | | | |
| Salford | Salford | 15 | | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 13 | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 17 | | | | | | | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 17 | St. Helens | St. Helens | 47 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Castleford | Castleford | 5 | | | | | | | |
| Castleford | Castleford | 20 | Castleford | Castleford | 5 | | | | | | | |
| Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 11 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 11 | | | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 7 |
| | | | | | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 13 |
| Wigan | Wigan | 13 | | | | | | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 13 |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 2 | Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 10 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 9 | | | | | | | |
| Keighley | Keighley | 15 | Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 9 | | | | | | | |
| Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 25 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 25 | | | | Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 9 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 26 | | | | |
| Halifax | Halifax | 12 | | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 26 | | | | |
| Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 21 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 21 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 10 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Widnes | Widnes | 13 | | | | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 17 | Widnes | Widnes | 13 | | | | | | | |
| Whitehaven | Whitehaven | 13 | | | | | | | | | | |

## Notes and comments

1 * At the time this was the second highest score, only to be equalled about two months later in the Second round 2 * The RUGBYLEAGUEprojects gives the attendance as 10,099 but this appears to be the attendance at the previous year's final added in error 3 * This match was televised 4 * The Wigan archives state "Wigan were kicked out the competition for playing Steve Breheny (who was at the time suspended) in the last round". For fuller details see the report on the website 5 * At the time this equalled the second highest score 6 * Postponed due to pending court case brought by Wigan against the RFL 7 * Postponed 8 * The Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990–1991 and 1991-92 and the RUGBYLEAGUEprojects gives the attendance as 10,250 but the official St. Helens archives give it as 10,500 9 * Knowsley Road was the home of St Helens R.F.C. from 1890 until its closure in 2010. The final capacity was 17,500 although the record attendance was 35,695 set on 26 December 1949 for a league game between St Helens and Wigan.

### General information for those unfamiliar

The Rugby League BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was a knock-out competition sponsored by the BBC and between rugby league clubs, entrance to which was conditional upon the club having floodlights. Most matches were played on an evening, and those of which the second half was televised, were played on a Tuesday evening. Despite the competition being named as 'Floodlit', many matches took place during the afternoons and not under floodlights, and several of the entrants, including Barrow and Bramley did not have adequate lighting. And, when in 1973, due to the world oil crisis, the government restricted the use of floodlights in sport, all the matches, including the Trophy final, had to be played in the afternoon rather than at night. The Rugby League season always (until the onset of "Summer Rugby" in 1996) 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 taking place in December (The only exception to this was when disruption of the fixture list was caused by inclement weather)

