The Captain Morgan Trophy was a knock-out trophy introduced by the Rugby League for season 1973–74. It was scrapped after only one season.
Background The Captain Morgan Trophy was a knock-out trophy introduced by the Rugby League supposedly intended to fill an "Imaginary" void in the season's fixture list. The competition was introduced for the season 1973–1974, but failed to catch the imagination of the public, or the clubs themselves and only took place for the one single season. The competition was sponsored by the House of Seagram, makers at that time of Captain Morgan Rum. (Note – This product is now produced by Diageo plc.),
The Captain Morgan Trophy competition had slightly different qualification and draw rules, as follows :- 1) Qualification for the competition was open to:- a) the eight winners of the first round of the Yorkshire County cup b) The seven winners of the first round of the Lancashire county cup and because there were only fifteen teams in the Lancashire competition, the Lancashire team losing in the first round by the smallest margin. c) The idea of this arrangement was to eliminate some of the "lesser" or "poorer" teams from the competition, thus reducing the number of games which are very one sided. This objective was somewhat defeated after teams like St. Helens, Hull F.C. and Hull Kingston Rovers failed to gain entry. 2) In addition to this, for the first round the draw kept the Yorkshire sides apart from those on the West of the Pennines (i.e. those in Lancashire and Cumberland) 3) The two sets of teams were all brought together for the subsequent rounds.
The first and only final was held at The Willows in Salford, on 26 January 1974. Warrington defeated Featherstone Rovers 4–0 in front of a disappointing crowd of only 5,269. The "Man of the Match" award was won by Derek Whitehead. The Warrington team was Derek Whitehead, Mick Philbin, Derek Noonan, Frank Reynolds, John Bevan, Alan Whittle, Parry Gordon, Dave Chisnall, Kevin Ashcroft, Brian Brady, Bobby Wanbon, David Wright, Ian Mather, with substitutes Billy Pickup (not used) and Joe Price. (Alex Murphy was injured) The Featherstone Rovers team included Harold Box and John "Keith" Bridges.
Competition and results
Round 1 Game NoFixture DateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueH-TAttNotesRef124-10-1973Wakefield Trinity 24–5 Batley Belle Vue 8–0 2010 227-10-1973Bradford Northern 6–14 Leeds Odsal 6–8 5028 328-10-1973Featherstone Rovers 27–8 Keighley Post Office Rd 9–2 1948 428-10-1973Swinton 18–7 Whitehaven Station Road 13–2 1298 528-10-1973Workington Town 22–13 Rochdale Hornets Derwent Park 12–8 1135 631-10-1973Wigan 4–12 Warrington Central Park 2–6 8577 706-11-1973Salford 32–9 Widnes The Willows 20–4 1709 807-11-1973Castleford 32–7 Huddersfield Wheldon Road 9–5 886
Round 2 Game NoFixture DateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueH-TAttNotesRef117-11-1973 Leeds 32–21 Swinton Headingley 17–4 3416 218-11-1973 Warrington 15–7 Castleford Wilderspool 10–2 5246 318-11-1973 Workington Town 10–5 Salford Derwent Park 10–3 1703 425-11-1973 Featherstone Rovers 20–14 Wakefield Trinity Post Office Rd 12–7 4000
Round 3 – Semi Finals Game NoFixture DateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueH-TAttNotesRef1 08-12-1973 Leeds 13–20 WarringtonHeadingley 11–7 4053 2 09-12-1973 Featherstone Rovers 37–18 Workington Town Post Office Rd 12–5 3000
Round 4 – Final Game NoFixture DateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueH-TAttNotesRef126 January 1974Warrington 4–0 Featherstone RoversThe Willows, Salford4–0 5259
See also British rugby league system 1973–74 Northern Rugby Football League season Cumberland League Rugby league county cups List of defunct rugby league clubs
Notes
References
External links Saints Heritage Society Cherry and White – Wigan Fan Site season 1973–74 Hull&Proud Fixtures & Results season 1973–74 Widnes Vikings – One team, one passion Season In Review – 1973–74 Warrington Wolves Archives 1973 Warrington Wolves Archives 1974