1982–83 John Player Trophy
# 1982–83 John Player Trophy

This was the twelfth season of the League Cup, which was known as the John Player Trophy for sponsorship purposes.

Wigan claimed the trophy by beating Leeds by the score of 22-11 in the final played at Elland Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire. The attendance was 19,553 and receipts were £49027.

## Background

This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at thirty-three. The preliminary round of one match remained

## Competition and results

### Preliminary round

Involved 1 matches and 2 Clubs

| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Sun 21 Nov 1982 | Huyton | 9-19 | Workington Town | Alt Park, Huyton | 240 | | | |

### Round 1 - First Round

Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs

| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Sat 27 Nov 1982 | St. Helens | 17-5 | Fulham | Knowsley Road | 2365 |
| 2 | Sun 5 Dec 1982 | Blackpool Borough | 6-5 | Batley | Borough Park | 592 |
| 3 | Sun 5 Dec 1982 | Cardiff City | 7-11 | Rochdale Hornets | Ninian Park | 620 |
| 4 | Sun 5 Dec 1982 | Carlisle | 26-17 | Doncaster | Brunton Park | 1413 |
| 5 | Sun 5 Dec 1982 | Castleford | 10-16 | Wigan | Wheldon Road | 5422 |
| 6 | Sun 5 Dec 1982 | Dewsbury | 11-28 | Barrow | Crown Flatt | 866 |
| 7 | Sun 5 Dec 1982 | Featherstone Rovers | 14-18 | Hull F.C. | Post Office Road | 4005 |
| 8 | Sun 5 Dec 1982 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 42-3 | Whitehaven | Craven Park (1) | 5929 |
| 9 | Sun 5 Dec 1982 | Keighley | 0-18 | Bradford Northern | Lawkholme Lane | 4278 |
| 10 | Sun 5 Dec 1982 | Leeds | 17-7 | Bramley | Headingley | 4085 |
| 11 | Sun 5 Dec 1982 | Leigh | 13-12 | Oldham | Hilton Park | 5780 |
| 12 | Sun 5 Dec 1982 | Salford | 23-11 | Hunslet | The Willows | 1471 |
| 13 | Sun 5 Dec 1982 | Swinton | 13-22 | Huddersfield | Station Road | 1417 |
| 14 | Sun 5 Dec 1982 | Warrington | 19-8 | Halifax | Wilderspool | 2892 |
| 15 | Sun 5 Dec 1982 | Widnes | 17-12 | Wakefield Trinity | Naughton Park | 4075 |
| 16 | Sun 5 Dec 1982 | York | 18-15 | Workington Town | Clarence Street | 2134 |

### Round 2 - Second Round

Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs

| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Sat 11 Dec 1982 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 36-7 | Leigh | Craven Park (1) | 5975 | 1 |
| 2 | Sun 12 Dec 1982 | Bradford Northern | 12-12 | Hull F.C. | Odsal | 6222 | 1 |
| 3 | Sun 12 Dec 1982 | Carlisle | 2-10 | Widnes | Brunton Park | 1905 | 1 |
| 4 | Sun 12 Dec 1982 | Leeds | 31-10 | York | Headingley | 3718 | 1 |
| 5 | Sun 12 Dec 1982 | Rochdale Hornets | 5-27 | Barrow | Athletic Grounds | 1295 | 1 |
| 6 | Sun 12 Dec 1982 | Salford | 21-19 | Huddersfield | The Willows | 1924 | 1 |
| 7 | Sun 12 Dec 1982 | Warrington | 36-15 | Blackpool Borough | Wilderspool | 2347 | 1, 2 |
| 8 | Sun 12 Dec 1982 | Wigan | 9-5 | St. Helens | Central Park | 12172 | 1 |

### Round 2 - Second Round Replays

Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs

| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Wed 15 Dec 1982 | Hull F.C. | 8-10 | Bradford Northern | Boulevard | 7628 | | 1 | |

### Round 3 -Quarter Finals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Sat 18 Dec 1982 | Salford | 4-5 | Wigan | The Willows | 3237 |
| 2 | Sun 19 Dec 1982 | Barrow | 8-13 | Leeds | Craven Park | 4216 |
| 3 | Sun 19 Dec 1982 | Warrington | 11-10 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Wilderspool | 3943 |
| 4 | Sun 19 Dec 1982 | Widnes | 16-10 | Bradford Northern | Naughton Park | 4667 |

### Round 4 – 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 Dec 1982 | Leeds | 8-2 | Widnes | Fartown | 7247 | | | |
| 2 | Sat 1 Jan 1983 | Wigan | 15-14 | Warrington | Knowsley Road | 9017 | | | |

### Final

| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Saturday 22 January 1983 | Wigan | 15-4 | Leeds | Elland Road | 19553 | 49027 | 3 | |

**Teams and scorers**

| Wigan | № | Leeds |
| - | - | - |
| | teams | |
| Barry Williams | 1 | Neil Hague |
| Dennis Ramsdale | 2 | Mark Campbell |
| David Stephenson | 3 | Ian Wilkinson |
| Colin Whitfield | 4 | Les Dyl |
| Henderson Gill | 5 | Andy Smith |
| Martin Foy | 6 | John Holmes |
| Jimmy Fairhurst | 7 | Kevin Dick |
| Glyn Shaw | 8 | Roy Dickinson |
| Nicky Kiss | 9 | David Ward |
| Danny Campbell | 10 | Tony Burke |
| Graeme West | 11 | Andy Sykes |
| Mick Scott | 12 | Wayne Heron |
| John Pendlebury | 13 | David Heron |
| Brian Juliff (for Henderson Gill 61 min) | 14 | ? Not used |
| Brian Case (for Graeme West 50 min) | 15 | ? Not used |
| Alex Murphy | Coach | Robin Dewhurst |
| 15 | score | 4 |
| 3 | HT | 4 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| Henderson Gill (1) | T | |
| Brian Juliff (1) | T | |
| | Goals | |
| Colin Whitfield (4) | G | Kevin Dick (2) |
| | Drop Goals | |
| Colin Whitfield (1) | DG | |
| Referee | | Ronald "Ronnie" Campbell (Widnes) |
| Man of the match | | Martin Foy - Wigan - stand-off |
| Competition Sponsor | | John Player |

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

**Timeline in the final**

| Time | Incident | Score |
| - | - | - |
| 7 min | Drop goal: Colin Whitfield | 1-0 |
| ? | Penalty Goal: Kevin Dick | 1-2 |
| ? | Penalty Goal: Kevin Dick | 1-4 |
| ? | Penalty Goal: Colin Whitfield | 3-4 |
| Half Time | | 3-4 |
| 57 min | Try: Henderson Gill | 6-4 |
| | Conversion: Colin Whitfield | 8-4 |
| 64 min | Penalty Goal: Colin Whitfield | 10-4 |
| ? | Try: Brian Juliff | 13-4 |
| | Conversion: Colin Whitfield | 15-4 |
| Full Time | | 15-4 |

### Prize money

As part of the sponsorship deal and funds, the prize money awarded to the competing teams for this season is as follows :-

| Finish Position | Cash Prize | No. receiving prize | Total Cash |
| - | - | - | - |
| Winner | ? | 1 | ? |
| Runner-up | ? | 1 | ? |
| semi-finalist | ? | 2 | ? |
| loser in Rd 3 | ? | 4 | ? |
| loser in Rd 2 | ? | 8 | ? |
| Loser in Rd 1 | ? | 16 | ? |
| Loser in Prelim Round | ? | 1 | ? |
| Grand Total | | | |

Note - the author is unable to trace the award amounts for this season. Can anyone help ?

### The road to success

This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

| First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Third round | Third round | Third round | | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | | Final | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Salford | Salford | 23 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Hunslet | Hunslet | 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Hunslet | Hunslet | 11 | Salford | Salford | 21 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 19 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Swinton | Swinton | 13 | Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 19 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 22 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 22 | | | | Salford | Salford | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Wigan | Wigan | 5 | | | | | | | | |
| Castleford | Castleford | 10 | | | | | | | Wigan | Wigan | 5 | | | | | | | | |
| Wigan | Wigan | 16 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Wigan | Wigan | 16 | Wigan | Wigan | 9 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 17 | St. Helens | St. Helens | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Fulham | Fulham | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Fulham | Fulham | 2 | | | | | | | | Wigan | Wigan | 15 | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | Warrington | Warrington | 14 | | | | |
| Warrington | Warrington | 19 | | | | | | | | | | | Warrington | Warrington | 14 | | | | |
| Halifax | Halifax | 8 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Halifax | Halifax | 8 | Warrington | Warrington | 36 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Blackpool Borough | Blackpool Borough | 15 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Blackpool Borough | Blackpool Borough | 6 | Blackpool Borough | Blackpool Borough | 15 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Batley | Batley | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Batley | Batley | 5 | | | | Warrington | Warrington | 11 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 10 | | | | | | | | |
| Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 42 | | | | | | | Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 10 | | | | | | | | |
| Whitehaven | Whitehaven | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Whitehaven | Whitehaven | 3 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 36 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Leigh | Leigh | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 13 | Leigh | Leigh | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | 12 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | 12 | | | | | | | | | | | | Wigan | Wigan | 15 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Leeds | Leeds | 4 |
| Cardiff City | Cardiff City | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Leeds | Leeds | 4 |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 11 | Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Barrow | Barrow | 27 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Dewsbury | Dewsbury | 11 | Barrow | Barrow | 27 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Barrow | Barrow | 28 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Barrow | Barrow | 28 | | | | Barrow | Barrow | 8 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Leeds | Leeds | 13 | | | | | | | | |
| Leeds | Leeds | 17 | | | | | | | Leeds | Leeds | 13 | | | | | | | | |
| Bramley | Bramley | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Bramley | Bramley | 7 | Leeds | Leeds | 31 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | York | York | 10 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| York | York | 18 | York | York | 10 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Workington Town | Workington Town | 15 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Workington Town | Workington Town | 15 | | | | | | | | Leeds | Leeds | 8 | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 2 | | | | |
| Carlisle | Carlisle | 26 | | | | | | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 2 | | | | |
| Doncaster | Doncaster | 17 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Doncaster | Doncaster | 17 | Carlisle | Carlisle | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Widnes | Widnes | 10 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 17 | Widnes | Widnes | 10 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 12 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 12 | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 16 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 11 | | | | | | | | |
| Keighley | Keighley | 0 | | | | | | | Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 11 | | | | | | | | |
| Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 18 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 18 | Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 12 (10) | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 12 (8) | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Featherstone Rovers | Featherstone Rovers | 14 | Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 12 (8) | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 18 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Notes and comments

1 * Wigan official archives erroneously describe the match as being one of the first round matches 2 * Wigan official archives give the score as 36-5 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject and Warrington Wolves official archives give it as 36-17 3 * Elland Road, Leeds, is the home ground of Leeds United A.F.C. with a capacity of 37,914 (The record attendance was 57,892 set on 15 March 1967 for a cup match Leeds v Sunderland). The ground was originally established in 1897 by Holbeck RLFC who played there until their demise after the conclusion of the 1903-04 season

