The 1972–73 Lancashire Cup was the sixtieth occasion on which the competition was held. Salford won the trophy by beating Swinton by the score of 25–11 in the final. The match was played at Wilderspool, Warrington, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 6,865 and receipts were £3,321.00
Background
The total number of teams entering the competition remained at last season's total of 14 with 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 teamVenueAttRecNotesFixture dateHome teamRef 1Fri 1 September 1972Salford41-17OldhamThe Willows2Fri 1 September 1972Wigan15-7Workington TownCentral Park3Sun 3 September 1972Huyton12-18BarrowAlt Park, Huyton4Sun 3 September 1972Leigh6-20WidnesHilton Park5Sun 3 September 1972Swinton28-25Blackpool BoroughStation Road6Sun 3 September 1972Warrington16-18St. HelensWilderspool8,5007Sun 3 September 1972Whitehaven19-24Rochdale HornetsRecreation Ground8blankblank
Round 2 - Quarter-finals Involved 3 matches (with one bye) and 7 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Wed 13 September 1972Widnes11-2St. HelensNaughton Park9,00012Fri 15 September 1972Barrow4-7SwintonCraven Park3Fri 15 September 1972Salford46-13Rochdale HornetsThe Willows4Wiganbye
Round 3 – Semi-finals Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Thu 5 October 1972Widnes4-13SwintonNaughton Park2Thu 6 October 1972Wigan2-14SalfordCentral Park
Final Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef Saturday 21 October 1972Salford25-11SwintonWilderspool6,8653,3212
Teams and scorers
SalfordNo.Swinton teams Paul Charlton1Paul JacksonEastham2Bob FleayDavid Watkins3John CookeChris Hesketh4Alan BuckleyMaurice Richards5John GomersallKen Gill6Peter KennyPeter Banner7Ken GowersMackay8Albert HalsallWalker9Graham EvansJohnny Ward10Harold BateWhitehead11Rod SmithColin Dixon12Granville HoyleEric Prescott13Bill Pattinson?14Mick Philbin (for Peter Kenny)?15Bill Holliday (for Rod Smith)Cliff EvansCoach25score1110HT4 Scorers Tries Peter Banner (1)TBob Fleay (1)Eastham (1)TDavid Watkins (1)TMaurice Richards (1)TPaul Charlton (1)T Goals David Watkins (5)GKen Gowers (3) Drop GoalsDGPeter Kenny (1)RefereeW. "Billy" H. Thompson (Huddersfield)
Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points
The road to success
Notes and comments 1 * The score of 13-2 is shows in the official St. Helens archives and also in the official Widnes archives . RUGBYLEAGUEproject shows the score as being 11–2 2 * Wilderspool was the home ground of Warrington from 1883 to the end of the 2003 Summer season when they moved into the new purpose-built Halliwell Jones Stadium. Wilderspool remained as a sports/Ruugby League ground and is/was used by Woolston Rovers/Warrington Wizards junior club. The ground had a final capacity of 9,000 although the record attendance was set in a Challenge cup third round match on 13 March 1948 when 34,304 spectators saw Warrington lose to Wigan 10–13.
See also British rugby league system 1972–73 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