1976–77 was the sixty-fourth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion had been held.
Widnes won the trophy by beating Workington Town by the score of 16-11
The match was played at Central Park, Wigan, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 9,399 and receipts were £6,414.00
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 number of participating clubs, this resulted in one “blank” or “dummy” fixture 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 1Sat 21 Aug 1976Wigan37-5St. HelensCentral Park23702Sun 22 Aug 1976Barrow7-40WarringtonCraven Park3Sun 22 Aug 1976Blackpool Borough17-10OldhamBorough Park4Sun 22 Aug 1976Leigh41-13WhitehavenHilton Park5Sun 22 Aug 1976Salford46-14HuytonThe Willows6Sun 22 Aug 1976Widnes25-13Rochdale HornetsNaughton Park7Sun 22 Aug 1976Workington Town15-11SwintonDerwent Park8blankblank
Round 2 - Quarter-finals Involved 3 matches (with one bye) and 7 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sun 29 Aug 1976Warrington14-13SalfordWilderspool2Sun 29 Aug 1976Wigan14-16LeighCentral Park3Sun 29 Aug 1976Workington Town30-8Blackpool BoroughDerwent Park4Widnesbye
Round 3 – Semi-finals Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Wed 08 Sep 1976Leigh16-24WidnesHilton Park2Tue 21 Sep 1976Warrington9-9Workington TownWilderspool
Round 3 – Semi-finals - replays Involved 1 match and 2 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Wed 29 Sep 1976Workington Town26-15WarringtonDerwent Park
Final Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef Saturday 30 October 1976Widnes16-11Workington TownCentral Park9,3996,4141 2 3
Teams and scorers
Widnes№Workington Town teams Ray Dutton1Paul CharltonStuart Wright2David CollisterMal Aspey3Ray WilkinsMick George4Ian WrightAlan Prescott5Iain McCorquodaleDavid Eckersley6Brian LauderReg Bowden7Arnold "Boxer" WalkerBill Ramsey8Jim MillsKeith Elwell9Alan BanksNick Nelson10Ralph CalvinMick Adams11Eddie BowmanAlan Dearden12Les GorleyDoug Laughton13Bill PattinsonPaul Woods14Harry MarlandBarry Sheridan15Peter Gorley (for Bill Pattinson 16score119HT5 Scorers Tries Stuart Wright (1)TRay Wilkins (1)Mick George (1)T Goals Ray Dutton (4)GIain McCorquodale (4) Drop Goals Ray Dutton (1)DGReg Bowden (1)DGRefereeW H (Billy) Thompson (Huddersfield)Man of the matchDavid Eckersley - Widnes - sponsored byRugby LeaguerCompetition SponsorForshaws (Burtonwood Brewery Co Ltd) Scoring - Try = three points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = one point
The road to success
Notes and comments 1 * News of the World Football annual of 1976–77 has the score as 17-11 - other publications and archived records e.g. Widnes official archives have the score as 16-11
2 * Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-92 gives the attendance as 7,566 - RUGBYLEAGUEprojects give the attendance as 9,399
3 * 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
See also 1976–77 Northern Rugby Football League season Rugby league county cups
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