The 1971–72 Lancashire Cup was the fifty-ninth occasion on which the completion had been held. Wigan won the trophy by beating Widnes by the score of 15-8 in the final. The match was played at Knowsley Road, Eccleston, St Helens, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 6,970 and receipts were £2,204.00 (the first final after the UK went decimal)
Background
The total number of teams entering the competition decreased by two down to a total of 14, due to no junior/amateur clubs taking part. The same fixture format was retained, but due to the decrease in the number of participating clubs, resulted in one "blank" or "dummy" fixtures in the first round, and one bye in the second round.
Competition and results
Round 1 Involved 7 matches (with one "blank" fixture) and 14 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Thu 05-08-1971Huyton6-16WiganAlt Park, Huyton2Fri 06-08-1971St. Helens11-10LeighKnowsley Road7,0003Fri 06-08-1971Warrington17-9WhitehavenWilderspool4Fri 06-08-1971Widnes22-4Blackpool BoroughNaughton Park5Sat 07-08-1971Barrow5-13Rochdale HornetsCraven Park6Sun 08-08-1971Salford46-5Workington TownThe Willows7Sun 08-08-1971Swinton10-7OldhamStation Road8blankblank
Round 2 - Quarter-finals Involved 3 matches (with one bye) and 7 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Thu 12-08-1971St. Helens23-6WarringtonKnowsley Road5,6502Sun 15-08-1971Swinton20-11SalfordStation Road3Sun 15-08-1971Widnes17-8Rochdale HornetsNaughton Park4Wiganbye
Round 3 – Semi-finals Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Tue 17-08-1971St. Helens10-12WidnesKnowsley Road6,0002Wed 18-08-1971Swinton2-12WiganStation Road
Final Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef Saturday 28 August 1971Wigan15-8WidnesKnowsley Road6,9702,2041
Teams and scorers
Wigan№Widnes teams Colin Tyrer1Ray DuttonPhil Eastham2Dennis BrownBill Francis3Mick McLoughlinChris Fuller 4Mal AspeyStuart Wright5Johnny GaydonDavid Hill6Dennis O'NeillWarren Ayres7Reg BowdenDennis Ashcroft8John WarlowColin Clarke9John ForanGeoff Fletcher10Joe DoughtyBill Ashurst11John KirwanKevin O'Loughlin 12Alan WalshDoug Laughton13George NichollsDave Gandy (for Stuart Wright)14Ged Lowe (for Alan Walsh)?15?Eric AshtonCoach? 15score85HT3 Scorers Tries Warren Ayres (1)TDennis O'Neill (1)Bill Francis (1)TJohnny Gaydon (1)Phil Eastham (1)T Goals Colin Tyrer (3)GMal Aspey (1)RefereeW H (Billy) Thompson (Huddersfield) Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points
The road to success
Notes and comments 1 * Knowsley Road was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 to 2010. The final capacity was in the region of 18,000, although the actual record attendance was 35,695 set on 26 December 1949, for a league game between St Helens and Wigan
See also British rugby league system 1971–72 Northern Rugby Football League season Rugby league county cups List of defunct rugby league clubs
References
External links Saints Heritage Society 1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season at wigan.rlfans.com Hull&Proud Fixtures & Results 1896/1897 Widnes Vikings - One team, one passion Season In Review - 1896-97 The Northern Union at warringtonwolves.org