1973–74 Player's No.6 Trophy

1973–74 Player's No.6 Trophy
1973–74 Player's No.6 Trophy
Structure	National knockout championship
Teams	32
Winners	Warrington
Runners-up	Rochdale Hornets
	← 1972–73 1974–75 →

This was the third season of rugby league's League Cup competition, which for sponsorship reasons was known as the Players No.6 Trophy.

Warrington won the final, beating Rochdale Hornets by the score of 27–16 in the match played at Central Park, Wigan. The attendance was 9,347 and receipts were £4380.

Background

This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at thirty-two.

Competition and results

^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Round 1 - First Round

^[5] Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Venue	Att	Notes	Ref

1	Sat 15 Sep 1973	Bramley	20-12	Hull F.C.	McLaren Field	750		^[6]
2	Sat 15 Sep 1973	Keighley	30-10	Huyton	Lawkholme Lane	595	1
3	Sat 15 Sep 1973	St. Helens	34-16	Featherstone Rovers	Knowsley Road	3000	2	^[7]
4	Sat 15 Sep 1973	Whitehaven	26-3	Dewsbury Celtic	Recreation Ground	1276	3, 4
5	Sat 15 Sep 1973	Wigan	34-0	Batley	Central Park	4149		^[4]
6	Sun 16 Sep 1973	Bradford Northern	12-34	Leeds	Odsal	9028
7	Sun 16 Sep 1973	Castleford	88-5	Millom	Wheldon Road	1031	5, 6
8	Sun 16 Sep 1973	Dewsbury	33-24	Widnes	Crown Flatt	2508	7	^[8]
9	Sun 16 Sep 1973	Halifax	20-5	Barrow	Thrum Hall	1281	8
10	Sun 16 Sep 1973	New Hunslet	11-26	Leigh	Elland Road Greyhound Stadium	2000
11	Sun 16 Sep 1973	Rochdale Hornets	18-2	Huddersfield	Athletic Grounds	1952		^[9]
12	Sun 16 Sep 1973	Salford	47-17	Doncaster	The Willows	4122
13	Sun 16 Sep 1973	Wakefield Trinity	47-13	Blackpool Borough	Belle Vue	2462		^[10]
14	Sun 16 Sep 1973	Warrington	31-14	Oldham	Wilderspool	5238		^[11]
15	Sun 16 Sep 1973	Workington Town	20-9	Hull Kingston Rovers	Derwent Park	1503
16	Sun 16 Sep 1973	York	32-13	Swinton	Clarence Street	2509

Round 2 - Second Round

^[12] Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs
NOTE - Matches in this round kicked off earlier to make maximum use of the daylight
Use of Floodlights in sporting events was banned by government order from 15 November 1973 due to mining strikes

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Venue	Att	Notes	Ref

1	Sat 15 Dec 1973	Bramley	24-12	Leigh	McLaren Field	750	9
2	Sat 15 Dec 1973	Warrington	18-9	Castleford	Wilderspool	2208	9	^[11]
3	Sun 16 Dec 1973	Halifax	7-16	Dewsbury	Thrum Hall	2050	9
4	Sun 16 Dec 1973	Rochdale Hornets	11-0	York	Athletic Grounds	2274	9
5	Sun 16 Dec 1973	St. Helens	28-2	Whitehaven	Knowsley Road	2310	9, 10	^[7]
6	Sun 16 Dec 1973	Salford	4-17	Leeds	The Willows	821	9
7	Sun 16 Dec 1973	Wakefield Trinity	10-7	Workington Town	Belle Vue	1835	9	^[10]
8	Sun 16 Dec 1973	Wigan	10-14	Keighley	Central Park	2509	9, 11	^[4]

Round 3 -Quarter Finals

^[12] Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Venue	Att	Notes	Ref

1	Sat 29 Dec 1973	Wakefield Trinity	18-18	St. Helens	Belle Vue	2890	12	^[7]^[10]
2	Sun 30 Dec 1973	Keighley	8-11	Bramley	Lawkholme Lane	2887	13
3	Sun 30 Dec 1973	Rochdale Hornets	7-5	Leeds	Athletic Grounds	5389	13
4	Sun 30 Dec 1973	Warrington	20-12	Dewsbury	Wilderspool	6090	13	^[11]

Round 3 -Quarter Finals - Replays

Involved 1 match with 2 clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref

1	Sun 6 Jan 1974	St. Helens		16-10		Wakefield Trinity	Knowsley Road	7287			^[7]^[10]

Round 4 – Semi-Finals

^[12] Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Venue	Att	Notes	Ref

1	Sun 6 Jan 1974	Rochdale Hornets	14-2	Bramley	Athletic Grounds	2835	14
2	Sat 12 Jan 1974	Warrington	20-9	St. Helens	Wilderspool	5352		^[7]^[11]

Final

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref

	Saturday 9 February 1974	Warrington		27-16		Rochdale Hornets	Central Park	9347	4380	15, 16	^[11]^[13]^[14]

Teams and Scorers John Player yearbook 1974–75

^[13]^[14]

Warrington	№	Rochdale Hornets

	teams
Derek Whitehead	1	James "Jim"/"Jimmy" Crellin
Michael "Mick"/"Mike" Philbin [1]	2	Norman Brelsford
Derek Noonan	3	Tom Brophy
Frank Reynolds [2]	4	David Taylor
John Bevan	5	Willie Aspinall
Alan Whittle	6	John Butler
Parry Gordon	7	Stephen/Steven "Steve" Gartland
David "Dave" Chisnall	8	William "Bill" Holliday
Kevin Ashcroft (c)	9	R. Harris
Brian Brady [3] Archived 2015-02-23 at the Wayback Machine	10	S. Whitehead
David "Dave" Wright [4]	11	Terry Fogerty
Robert "Bobby" Wanbon	12	William "Bill"/"Billy" Sheffield
Barry Philbin	13	Tony Halmshaw
William "Bill"/"Billy" Pickup [5] (for Derek Noonan or Frank Reynolds)	14	Harry Wood (for John Butler or Terry Foggerty)
Mike Nicholas (for Dave Chisnall 19-mins)	15	? Not used
	Coach	Henry Delooze

27	score	16
12	HT	0

	Scorers
	Tries
Derek Whitehead (1)	T	Norman Brelsford (2)
Derek Noonan (2)	T	Tom Brophy (1)
John Bevan (1)	T	David Taylor (1)
Mike Nicholas (1)	T
	Goals
Derek Whitehead (6)	G	William "Bill" Holliday (2)

Referee		D. Gerald "Gerry" Kershaw (York)
Man of the match		Kevin Ashcroft - Warrington - Hooker
Competition Sponsor		Player's №6

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

Timeline in the final

Time	Incident	Score

?	Penalty Goal: Derek Whitehead	2-0
27 min	Try: Mike Nicholas	5-0
	Conversion: Derek Whitehead	7-0
39 min	Try: Derek Noonan	10-0
	Conversion: Derek Whitehead	12-0
Half Time		12-0
	Penalty Goal: Colin Whitfield	12-0
43 min	Try: Norman Brelsford	15-3
?	Try: Derek Noonan	15-3
	Conversion: Derek Whitehead	17-3
?	Try: David Taylor	17-6
	Conversion: Bill Holliday	17-8
approx 50 min	Try: John Bevan	20-8
	Conversion: Derek Whitehead	22-8
approx 60 min	Try: Derek Whitehead	25-8
	Conversion: Derek Whitehead	27-8
?	Try: Norman Brelsford	27-11
	Conversion: Bill Holliday	27-13
79 min	Try: Tom Brophy	27-16
Full Time		27-16

Prize money

As part of the sponsorship deal and funds, the prize money awarded to the competing teams for this season was as follows:^[15]

Finish Position	Cash Prize	No. receiving prize	Total Cash
Winner	£5,000	1	£5,000
Runner-up	£2,500	1	£2,500
Semi-finalist	£1,000	2	£2,000
Loser in Rd 3	£450	4	£1,800
Loser in Rd 2	£300	8	£2,400
Loser in Rd 1	£150	16	£2,400
Grand Total			£16,100

The road to success

This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

First round		Second round		Third round		Semifinals		Final

Warrington	31

Oldham	14
		Warrington	18

		Castleford	9
Castleford	88

Millom	5
				Warrington	20

				Dewsbury	12
Halifax	20

Barrow	5
		Halifax	7

		Dewsbury	16
Dewsbury	33

Widnes	24
						Warrington	20

						St. Helens	9
Wakefield Trinity	47

Blackpool Borough	13
		Wakefield Trinity	10

		Workington Town	7
Workington Town	20

Hull Kingston Rovers	9
				Wakefield Trinity	18 (16)

				St. Helens	18 (27)
St. Helens	34

Featherstone Rovers	13
		St. Helens	28

		Whitehaven	2
Whitehaven	26

Dewsbury Celtic	3
								Warrington	27

								Rochdale Hornets	16
Rochdale Hornets	18

Huddersfield	2
		Rochdale Hornets	11

		York	0
York	32

Swinton	13
				Rochdale Hornets	7

				Leeds	5
Salford	47

Doncaster	17
		Salford	4

		Leeds	17
Bradford Northern	12

Leeds	34
						Rochdale Hornets	14

						Bramley	2
Wigan	37

Batley	0
		Wigan	10

		Keighley	14
Keighley	30

Huyton	10
				Keighley	8

				Bramley	11
Bramley	20

Hull F.C.	12
		Bramley	24

		Leigh	12
New Hunslet	11

Leigh	26

Notes and comments

1 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject^[1] states that the match was played at Bradford, whereas it was played at Lawkholme Lane, Keighley
2 * St Helens official archives^[7] give the attendance as 2,500 whereas RUGBYLEAGUEproject^[1] gives it as 3,000
3 * Dewsbury Celtic are a Junior (amateur) club from Dewsbury, home ground is Crow Nest Park
4 * The John Player Yearbook 1974–75^[3] and the News of the World Football Annual 1974–75^[2] give the attendance as 1,250 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject^[1] give it as 1,276
5 * Millom are a Junior (amateur) club from Cumbria, current home ground is the Coronation Field ground
6 * The highest score, to date in the competition against a Junior club
7 * Widnes official archives^[8] give the result as a Wiidnes win
8 * Wigan official archives^[4] show a score of 30-3 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject^[1] give it as 20-5
9 * Matches kicked off Earlier to accommodate daylight. Use of Floodlights was banned by government order from 15 November 1973 due to mining strikes.
10 * Wigan official archives^[4] give score as 28-3 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject^[1] give it as 28-2
11 * Wigan's hooker (Colin Clarke) and two Keighley players (Wilmot and Burke) were sent off during this second half of this match.
12 * The John Player Yearbook 1974–75^[3] give the date as 9-12-1974 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject^[1] give the date as 29-12-1974
13 * The John Player Yearbook 1974–75^[3] give the date as 9-12-1974 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject^[1] give the date as 30-12-1974
14 * The John Player Yearbook 1974–75,^[3] the News of the World Football Annual 1974–75^[2] and Wigan official archives^[4] give the date as Saturday 5-1-1974 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject^[1] give the date as Sunday 6-1-1974
15 * The John Player Yearbook 1974–75^[3] gives the attendance as 10,047 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject^[1] give the attendance as 9,347
16 * 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

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j "Rugby League Project".
^ ^a ^b ^c Frank Butler and Patrick Collins (1974). News of the World Football Annual 1974–75 - 88th year. News of the World Ltd.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Jack Winstanley & Malcolm Ryding (1991). John Player Yearbook 1974–75. Queen Anne Press.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
^ "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
^ "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
^ ^a ^b "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
^ "Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage" (PDF).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Wakefield until I die".
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2014-02-02.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
^ ^a ^b Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.
^ ^a ^b Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
^ Fletcher, Raymond; Howes, David, eds. (1992). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1992-93. London: Headline Publishing Group. p. 396. ISBN 978-0-7472-7906-8.

External links

[RLP.orgMisc-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j "Rugby League Project".

[NOTW1974–75Misc-2] Frank Butler and Patrick Collins (1974). News of the World Football Annual 1974–75 - 88th year. News of the World Ltd.

[JP1974–75Misc-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Jack Winstanley & Malcolm Ryding (1991). John Player Yearbook 1974–75. Queen Anne Press.

[CherryMisc-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".

[CherryJP73R1Misc-5] "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".

[HullMisc-6] "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".

[SaintsMisc-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".

[ChemicsMisc-8] "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".

[HuddHeritageMisc-9] "Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage" (PDF).

[WakefieldTIDMisc-10] "Wakefield until I die".

[WiresMisc-11] "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2014-02-02.

[CherryJP73R2etcMisc-12] "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".

[Roth1990-91Misc-13] Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617851 X.

[Roth1991-92Misc-14] Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.

[15] Fletcher, Raymond; Howes, David, eds. (1992). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1992-93. London: Headline Publishing Group. p. 396. ISBN 978-0-7472-7906-8.

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v t e John Player Trophy / Regal Trophy
Years	1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96
Related articles	Rugby Football League Challenge Cup Rugby Football League Championship First Division Rugby Football League Championship Second Division