1969–70 Lancashire Cup
# 1969–70 Lancashire Cup

The season of 1969–70 was the fifty-seventh occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion had been held. Swinton won the trophy by beating Leigh by the score of 11-2 The match was played at Central Park, Wigan, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 13,532 and receipts were £3,651-0s-0d

## Background

The total number of teams entering the competition increased by two, up to the total of 16. This was as a result of inviting two junior (or amateur) clubs, St Helens Amateurs and Maryport. The same fixture format was retained, and due to the increase in the number of participating clubs, resulted in a full fixture list with no byes or “blank” or “dummy” fixtures.

## Competition and results

### Round 1

Involved 8 matches (with no bye or “blank” fixture) and 16 clubs

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Saturday 15 August 1969 | Leigh | 15-12 | Warrington | Hilton Park | |
| 2 | Saturday 16 August 1969 | Oldham | 24-28 | Swinton | Watersheddings | |
| 3 | Saturday 16 August 1969 | Whitehaven | 24-10 | Barrow | Recreation Ground | |
| 4 | Saturday 16 August 1969 | Wigan | 25-9 | Salford | Central Park | |
| 5 | Sunday 17 August 1969 | Huyton | 13-16 | Blackpool Borough | Alt Park, Huyton | 1 |
| 6 | Sunday 17 August 1969 | Rochdale Hornets | 42-5 | St Helens Amateurs | Athletic Grounds | 1 |
| 7 | Sunday 17 August 1969 | Widnes | 16-15 | Workington Town | Naughton Park | |
| 8 | Monday 1 September 1969 | St. Helens | 58-5 | Maryport | Knowsley Road | 3 |

### Round 2 - Quarter-finals

Involved 4 matches (with no bye) and 8 clubs

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Wednesday 17 September 1969 | Swinton | 59-5 | Blackpool Borough | Station Road |
| 2 | Monday 22 September 1969 | Wigan | 38-12 | Whitehaven | Central Park |
| 3 | Monday 29 September 1969 | Widnes | 22-14 | St. Helens | Naughton Park |
| 4 | Wednesday 1 October 1969 | Rochdale Hornets | 10-11 | Leigh | Athletic Grounds |

### 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 | Wednesday 1 October 1969 | Leigh | 15-4 | Widnes | Hilton Park | | | | |
| 2 | Wednesday 8 October 1969 | Swinton | 9-6 | Wigan | Station Road | 12,326 | | | |

### Final

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Saturday 1 November 1969 | Swinton | 11-2 | Leigh | Central Park | 13,532 | £3,651 | 4 | |

**Teams and scorers**

| Swinton | № | Leigh |
| - | - | - |
| | teams | |
| Ken Gowers | 1 | Tom Grainey |
| John Gomersall | 2 | Rod Tickle |
| Bob Fleet (c) | 3 | Tom Warburton |
| Alan Buckley | 4 | Mick Collins |
| Mick Philbin | 5 | Harold Stringer |
| Billy Davies | 6 | David Eckersley |
| Peter Kenny | 7 | Alex Murphy (c) |
| Harold Bate | 8 | Dave Chisnall |
| Derek Clarke | 9 | Kevin Ashcroft |
| Graham Mackay | 10 | Derek Watts |
| Bill Holliday | 11 | Bob Welding |
| Rod Smith | 12 | Jimmy Fiddler |
| Dave Robinson | 13 | Geoff Lyon |
| Jeff Price (not used) | 14 | Dennis Brown (for Harold Stringer) |
| Malcolm Cummings (not used) | 15 | Paul Grimes (not used) |
| 11 | score | 2 |
| 2 | HT | 0 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| Mick Philbin (1) | T | |
| | Drop Goals | |
| Peter Kenny (4) | DG | Alex Murphy (1) |
| Referee | | Eric Clay, Leeds |

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

### The road to success

| First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Final | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Oldham | Oldham | 24 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Swinton | Swinton | 28 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Swinton | Swinton | 28 | Swinton | Swinton | 59 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Blackpool Borough | Blackpool Borough | 5 | | | | | | | |
| Huyton | Huyton | 13 | Blackpool Borough | Blackpool Borough | 5 | | | | | | | |
| Blackpool Borough | Blackpool Borough | 16 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Blackpool Borough | Blackpool Borough | 16 | | | | Swinton | Swinton | 9 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Wigan | Wigan | 6 | | | | |
| Wigan | Wigan | 25 | | | | | | | Wigan | Wigan | 6 | | | | |
| Salford | Salford | 9 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Salford | Salford | 9 | Wigan | Wigan | 38 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Whitehaven | Whitehaven | 12 | | | | | | | |
| Whitehaven | Whitehaven | 24 | Whitehaven | Whitehaven | 12 | | | | | | | |
| Barrow | Barrow | 10 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Barrow | Barrow | 10 | | | | | | | | Swinton | Swinton | 11 |
| | | | | | | | | | | Leigh | Leigh | 2 |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 42 | | | | | | | | | | | Leigh | Leigh | 2 |
| St Helens Amateurs | St Helens Amateurs | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| St Helens Amateurs | St Helens Amateurs | 5 | Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 10 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Leigh | Leigh | 11 | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 15 | Leigh | Leigh | 11 | | | | | | | |
| Warrington | Warrington | 12 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Warrington | Warrington | 12 | | | | Leigh | Leigh | 15 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 4 | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 16 | | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 4 | | | | |
| Workington Town | Workington Town | 15 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Workington Town | Workington Town | 15 | Widnes | Widnes | 22 | | | | | | | |
| | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 14 | | | | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 58 | St. Helens | St. Helens | 14 | | | | | | | |
| Maryport | Maryport | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |

## Notes and comments

1 * The first Lancashire Cup match to be played at Huyton's newly completed new stadium

2 * St Helens Amateurs were a junior (or amateur) club

3 * Maryport a junior (or amateur) club from Cumberland 4 * Central Park was the home ground of Wigan with a final capacity of 18,000, although the record attendance was 47,747 for Wigan v St Helens 27 March 1959

