The Independent Television Floodlit Trophy or the Independent Television Floodlit Competition was a rugby league competition initiated and sponsored by ITV.
The competition was on a knock-out basis, between eight clubs, matches being played under floodlights on various London football grounds, and the second half of each game being shown live in the London Area only on Associated-Rediffusion's "Cavalcade of Sport" programme, which was aired between 8:30 and 9:30 PM.
The idea of playing sport under floodlights was still something of a novelty for most sports, and rugby league was no exception.
The second half of the matches were shown live in the London Area only and no one in the heartlands could watch. That competition only ran for this one season.
The tournament was won by Warrington, who defeated Leigh 43–18 at Loftus Road with Harry Bath, the second row forward, being the hero scoring 22 points from 2 tries and 8 goals. Each of the participating clubs received a payment of £400.
Background ITV was launched on 24 September 1955 and the new channel, wanting to make their mark from the start, were quick to add sport to the programmes.
At this time there were no ITV broadcasts to the North of England; the Winter Hill transmitter (between Chorley and Bolton) did not become operational until 3 May 1956 when Granada TV started broadcasting.
The competition appeared to have been a little rushed as, although the Rugby League Council had been approached and negotiations had been proceeding, an agreement to run a competition was only finalised on 29 August.
The tournament The tournament officially took place in October and November 1955, (the first match actually took place Wednesday 28 September) and the literature stated that the contestants comprised "the top four sides from each county", based on the previous seasons league positions. However, these rankings do not conform to the finishing positions in either the Championship or the county leagues from the 1954–55 season.
The first match to be played in Round 1 was between Wigan and Huddersfield, with Wigan suffering a defeat by 33–11.
Competition and results
Round 1 – first round The first round involved four matches and eight clubs, with all games being played in London. The two teams who won by the largest points margin progressed to the final. Game NoDateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttRef1Wed 28 Sep 1955Huddersfield33–11WiganWoolwich Stadium5002Wed 19 Oct 1955Hunslet20–46LeighLoftus Road1,5003Wed 2 Nov 1955Oldham8–7Featherstone RoversLoftus Road5004Wed 9 Nov 1955Wakefield Trinity9–33WarringtonLoftus Road
Table
PosClubP WD LPFPAPtsPD1Leigh110046202262Warrington11003392243Huddersfield110033112224Oldham110087215Featherstone Rovers1001780-16Wigan100111330-227Wakefield Trinity10019330-248Hunslet100120460-26 Pos = Finishing position P = Games played W = Wins D = Draw L = Lose PF = Points scored PA = Points against Pts = League points PD = Points scored difference
Final
FB 1 Eric FraserRW 2 Brian BevanRC 3 Len HortonLC 4 Ally NaughtonLW 5 Bill KilbrideSO 6 Eric FrodshamSH 7 Gerry Helme PR 8 Dan NaughtonHK 9 Tom McKinneyPR 10 Peter O'TooleSR 11 Harry BathSR 12 Bob RyanLF 13 Bill McFarlane FB 1 Jimmy LedgardRW 2 Keith HoldenRC 3 Bobby WilsonLC 4 James MurphyLW 5 Jack GibsonSO 6 Albert MooreSH 7 Tom O'BrienPR 8 Bill RobinsonHK 9 Martin DickensPR 10 Stan OwenSR 11 Peter DaviesSR 12 John CrookLF 13 Joe McFarlane
See also 1955–56 Northern Rugby Football League season 1955 Lancashire Cup 1955 Yorkshire Cup BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Rugby league county cups
References
External links 1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season at wigan.rlfans.com The Northern Union at warringtonwolves.org Huddersfield R L Heritage Trandiffusion Warrington Wolves 1940s and 1950s Wigan archives Huddersfield Yearbook 1956 I'm Wakefield until I die Old London Sports Venues