1977–78 Yorkshire Cup

1977–78 Yorkshire Cup
StructureRegional knockout championship
Teams16
WinnersCastleford
Runners-upFeatherstone Rovers

The 1977–78 Yorkshire Cup was the seventieth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. This year, for the first time for eighteen years (and the last time in the history of the Yorkshire Cup), a new name appeared on the trophy, with Castleford winning it by beating Featherstone Rovers in the final by the score of 17-7. The match was played at Headingley, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 6,318 and receipts were £4,528. It as also Featherstone Rovers's second consecutive Yorkshire Cup final appearances, both of which resulted in a defeat.

Background

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The Rugby Football League's Yorkshire Cup competition was a knock-out competition between (mainly professional) rugby league clubs from the county of Yorkshire. The actual area was at times increased to encompass other teams from outside the county such as Newcastle, Mansfield, Coventry, and even London (in the form of Acton & Willesden).

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 (or just before) December (The only exception to this was when disruption of the fixture list was caused during, and immediately after, the two World Wars)

Competition and results

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This season there were no junior/amateur clubs taking part, no new entrants and no "leavers" and so the total of entries remained the same at sixteen. This in turn resulted in no byes in the first round.[1]

Round 1

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Involved 8 matches (with no byes) and 16 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 20 Aug 1977 Batley 6-33 Leeds Mount Pleasant
2 Sat 20 Aug 1977 Bradford Northern 9-20 Featherstone Rovers Odsal
3 Sun 21 Aug 1977 Dewsbury 5-12 Castleford Crown Flatt
4 Sun 21 Aug 1977 Huddersfield 17-20 York Fartown
5 Sun 21 Aug 1977 Hull F.C. 33-19 Bramley Boulevard [2]
6 Sun 21 Aug 1977 Keighley 16-0 Halifax Lawkholme Lane
7 Sun 21 Aug 1977 New Hunslet 14-8 Hull Kingston Rovers Elland Road Greyhound Stadium
8 Sun 21 Aug 1977 Wakefield Trinity 23-10 Doncaster Belle Vue

Round 2 - Quarter-finals

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Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 27 Aug 1977 Leeds 18-18 Hull F.C. Headingley [2]
2 Sun 28 Aug 1977 Castleford 23-17 York Wheldon Road
3 Sun 28 Aug 1977 Keighley 17-8 New Hunslet Lawkholme Lane
4 Sun 28 Aug 1977 Wakefield Trinity 2-12 Featherstone Rovers Belle Vue

Round 2 - replays

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Involved 1 match and 2 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
r Wed 31 Aug 1977 Hull F.C. 19-11 Leeds Boulevard [2]

Round 3 – Semi-finals

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Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Tue 13 Sep 1977 Hull F.C. 5-19 Featherstone Rovers Boulevard [2]
2 Fri 17 Sep 1977 Keighley 4-14 Castleford Lawkholme Lane

Final

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Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Saturday 15 October 1977 Castleford 17-7 Featherstone Rovers Headingley 6,318 £4,528 1 [3][4][5]

Teams and scorers

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[4]

Castleford Featherstone Rovers
teams
Geoff Wraith 1 John Marsden
Terrence "Terry" Richardson 2 Steve Evans
John Joyner 3 John Gilbert
Philip Johnson 4 Steve Quinn
Steve Fenton 5 Ken Kellett
Bruce Burton 6 John Newlove
Clive Pickerill 7 Peter Butler
Tony Fisher 8 Jeff Townend
Robert Spurr 9 John "Keith" Bridges
Alf Weston 10 Vince Farrar (Captain)
James Huddlestone 11 Michael "Mick" Gibbins
Mal Reilly (Captain) 12 Richard 'Charlie' Stone
Geoffrey "Sammy" Lloyd 13 Keith Bell
Gary Stephens (for Clive Pickerill) 14 Neil Tuffs (for Steve Quinn)
Derek Woodall (for Tony Fisher) 15 Peter Smith (for Richard Stone)
Malcolm "Mal" Reilly Coach Keith Cotton
17 score 7
4 HT 2
Scorers
Tries
Bruce Burton (2) T Peter Smith (1)
Goals
Geoffrey "Sammy" Lloyd (5) G Steve Quinn (1)
G Townsend (1)
Drop Goals
Bruce Burton (1) DG
Referee Michael "Mick" J. Naughton (Widnes)
White Rose Trophy for Man of the match Bruce Burton - Castleford - stand-off
sponsored by
Competition Sponsor Esso

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

The road to success

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First round Second round Semi-finals Final
            
Keighley 16
Halifax 0
Keighley 17
New Hunslet 8
New Hunslet 14
Hull Kingston Rovers 8
Keighley 4
Castleford 14
Dewsbury 5
Castleford 12
Castleford 23
York 17
Huddersfield 17
York 20
Castleford 17
Featherstone Rovers 7
Batley 6
Leeds 33
Leeds 18 (11)
Hull F.C. 18 (19)
Hull F.C. 33
Bramley 19
Hull F.C. 5
Featherstone Rovers 19
Wakefield Trinity 23
Doncaster 10
Wakefield Trinity 2
Featherstone Rovers 12
Bradford Northern 9
Featherstone Rovers 20

Notes

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1 * Headingley, Leeds, is the home ground of Leeds RLFC with a capacity of 21,000. The record attendance was 40,175 for a league match between Leeds and Bradford Northern on 21 May 1947.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Rugby League Project".
  2. ^ a b c d "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
  3. ^ Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
  4. ^ a b Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.
  5. ^ Yorkshire County Rugby League Committee. Match Programme ESSO Yorkshitre Cup final 1976. Yorkshire CRL.
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