The Regal Trophy was an annual knock-out competition for British rugby league football clubs. Organised by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the competition was open to all professional clubs in the British rugby league system, but amateur teams and French clubs also took part at various points during its existence.
First held in 1971–72, the tournament was initially played over five rounds. A preliminary round was added in 1981–82 to accommodate the increasing number of professional teams in the sport. The fixtures were normally played during the early part of the season, with the final usually taking place at a neutral venue in January. The tournament was regarded as less prestigious than the RFL's primary cup competition, the Challenge Cup, and was discontinued when rugby league became a summer sport in 1996.
During its existence, the competition was always referred to by its sponsorship name. The initial sponsors were the tobacco manufacturer John Player & Sons with Regal taking over in 1989 until the competition's end. Over the years, the competition was known as the Player's No.6 Trophy (1971–77), the John Player Trophy (1977–83) and the John Player Special Trophy (1983–89), before finally becoming the Regal Trophy in 1989.
History The competition was introduced in 1971 as the Player's No.6 Trophy, with sponsors John Player & Sons announcing an £11,000 prize fund for the inaugural season. The competition was open to all professional Rugby Football League clubs, with a small number of amateur clubs taking part in most seasons.
In 1977–78, Hull-based Cawoods defeated Halifax 9–8 in the first round of the competition, the first time an amateur team had defeated professional opposition in any competition since 1909.
In 1989, a new sponsorship deal was made with Imperial Tobacco, and the competition was rebranded as the Regal Trophy.
In 1992, several French clubs entered the competition. This marked the first time that French teams had participated in a British rugby league competition, and clubs would later also be accepted into the Challenge Cup and domestic leagues.
Following the introduction of the Super League in 1996, the Regal Trophy faced an uncertain future, and was ultimately abandoned. The BBC could no longer fit the competition into its TV schedule due to the switch to playing rugby league in the summer, and Regal were unwilling to continue sponsoring the tournament without television coverage.
List of finals Season Winners Score Runner-up Venue Attendance Date Player's No.6 Trophy 1971–72 Halifax 22–11 Wakefield Trinity Odsal, Bradford 7,975 Saturday 22 January 1972 1972–73 Leeds 12–7 Salford Fartown Ground, Huddersfield 10,102 Saturday 24 March 1973 1973–74 Warrington 27–16 Rochdale Hornets Central Park, Wigan 9,347 Saturday 9 February 1974 1974–75 Bradford Northern 3–2 Widnes Wilderspool, Warrington 5,935 Saturday 25 January 1975 1975–76 Widnes 19–13 Hull F.C. Headingley, Leeds 9,035 Saturday 24 January 1976 1976–77 Castleford 25–15 Blackpool Borough The Willows, Salford 4,512 Saturday 22 January 1977 1977–78 Warrington 9–4 Widnes Knowsley Road, St Helens 10,258 Saturday 28 January 1978 John Player Trophy 1978–79 Widnes 16–4 Warrington Knowsley Road, St Helens 10,743 Saturday 28 April 1979 1979–80 Bradford Northern 6–0 Widnes Headingley, Leeds 9,909 Saturday 5 January 1980 1980–81 Warrington 12–5 Barrow Central Park, Wigan 12,820 Saturday 24 January 1981 1981–82 Hull F.C. 12–4 Hull Kingston Rovers Headingley, Leeds 25,165 Saturday 23 January 1982 1982–83 Wigan 15–4 Leeds Elland Road, Leeds 19,553 Saturday 22 January 1983 John Player Special Trophy 1983–84 Leeds 18–10 Widnes Central Park, Wigan 9,510 Saturday 14 January 1984 1984–85 Hull Kingston Rovers 12–0 Hull F.C. Boothferry Park, Hull 25,326 Saturday 26 January 1985 1985–86 Wigan 11–8 Hull Kingston Rovers Elland Road, Leeds 17,573 Saturday 11 January 1986 1986–87 Wigan 18–4 Warrington Burnden Park, Bolton 21,144 Saturday 10 January 1987 1987–88 St Helens 15–14 Leeds Central Park, Wigan 16,669 Saturday 9 January 1988 1988–89 Wigan 12–6 Widnes Burnden Park, Bolton 20,709 Saturday 7 January 1989 Regal Trophy 1989–90 Wigan 24–12 Halifax Headingley, Leeds 17,810 Saturday 13 January 1990 1990–91 Warrington 12–2 Bradford Northern Headingley, Leeds 11,154 Saturday 12 January 1991 1991–92 Widnes 24–0 Leeds Central Park, Wigan 15,070 Saturday 11 January 1992 1992–93 Wigan 15–8 Bradford Northern Elland Road, Leeds 13,221 Saturday 23 January 1993 1993–94 Castleford 33–2 Wigan Headingley, Leeds 15,626 Saturday 22 January 1994 1994–95 Wigan 40–10 Warrington McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield 19,636 Saturday 28 January 1995 1995–96 Wigan 25–16 St Helens McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield 17,590 Saturday 13 January 1996
Wins by club RankClubWinsWinning seasons 1 Wigan 8 1982–83, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1992–93, 1994–95, 1995–96 2 Warrington 4 1973–74, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1990–91 3 Widnes 3 1975–76, 1978–79, 1991–924= Bradford Northern 2 1974–75, 1979–80 Castleford 2 1976–77, 1993–94 Leeds 2 1972–73, 1983–845= Halifax 1 1971–72 Hull F.C. 1 1981–82 Hull Kingston Rovers 1 1984–85 St. Helens 1 1987–88
Media coverage The BBC was the exclusive broadcaster of the competition throughout its history. Matches were broadcast on the BBC's Grandstand programme, showing one live match per round. Depending on the TV schedule, only the second-half was shown for some matches in the earlier rounds, but from the semi-final onwards, the entire match was usually covered.
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