The 1967–68 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the third occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held.
Castleford won the trophy by beating Leigh by the score of 8-5 The match was played at Headingley, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 9,716 and receipts were £2,099 This was the third of Castleford's three victories in successive seasons in the first three Floodlit competitions
Background This season the original eight invitees plus the three "newcomers" from last season (Barrow, Rochdale Hornets and Salford) are joined by a further seven clubs. These are Halifax, Huddersfield, Hull FC, Hull Kingston Rovers, Keighley, Wakefield Trinity and Wigan and bring the total of entrants up to eighteen. This involved the introduction of a preliminary knock-out round on a knock-out basis, to reduce the numbers to sixteen, followed by a straightforward knock out competition.
Competition and results
Preliminary round Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef PMon 18 Sep 1967Hull Kingston Rovers12-8Hull F.C.Craven Park (1)1 2PTue 19 Sep 1967Halifax16-0HuddersfieldThrum Hall2,6883 4
Round 1 – first round Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Mon 2 Oct 1967Wigan32-6WidnesCentral Park52Tue 3 Oct 1967Salford3-5LeighThe Willows3Mon 9 Oct 1967Halifax5-5LeedsThrum Hall4Tue 10 Oct 1967Rochdale Hornets2-10SwintonAthletic Grounds5Tue 17 Oct 1967Castleford18-7KeighleyWheldon Road 66Mon 23 Oct 1967Barrow4-8WarringtonCraven Park77Tue 24 Oct 1967Wakefield Trinity5-5Hull Kingston RoversBelle Vue88Tue 7 Nov 1967St. Helens14-0OldhamKnowsley Road6700
Round 1 – replays Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef RMon 23 Oct 1967Leeds12-7HalifaxHeadingley9RMon 6 Nov 1967Hull Kingston Rovers13-10Wakefield TrinityCraven Park (1)
Round 2 – quarter finals Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Tue 31 Oct 1967Leigh10-2SwintonHilton Park2Tue 14 Nov 1967Hull Kingston Rovers12-13WarringtonCraven Park (1)3Tue 21 Nov 1967St. HelensPWiganKnowsley Road104Tue 28 Nov 1967Castleford12-9LeedsWheldon Road
Round 2 – quarter finals – replays Involved 1 match and 2 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef RWed 22 Nov 1967St. Helens11-22WiganKnowsley Road15341
Round 3 – semi-finals Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Tue 6 Dec 1967Leigh10-2WiganHilton Park112Tue 12 Dec 1967Warrington2-14CastlefordWilderspool
Final Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef FSaturday 16 January 1968Castleford8-5LeighHeadingley9,7162,09912 13
Teams and scorers Castleford№Leigh teams Derek Edwards1Tom GraineyDennis Harris2Rod TickleTony Thomas3Gordon LewisIan Stenton4Mick CollinsRon Willett5Joseph WalshAlan "Chuck" Hardisty (c)6Terry EntwistleKeith Hepworth7Alex MurphyDennis Hartley8Allan WhitworthJohn Ward9Kevin AshcroftDoug Walton10Harry MajorWiliam "Bill" Bryant11Bob WeldingMichael Redfearn12Mick MurphyMal Reilly13Laurie GilfedderRonald Hill (unused?)14Ray Fox Clive Dickinson (replaced injured Bill Bryant in the first half)15George ClintonCoachAlex Murphy 8score56HT5 Scorers Tries TRod Tickle (1) Goals Ron Willett (4)GLaurie Gilfedder (1)RefereeG. Frederick "Fred" Lindop (Wakefield) Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points
The road to success This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures
Notes and comments 1 * Hull F.C. join the competition and play first game in the competition 2 * Hull Kingston Rovers join the competition and play first game in the competition, and first at home in the competition 3 * Halifax join the competition and play first game in the competition, and first at home in the competition 4 * Huddersfield join the competition and play first game in the competition 5 * Wigan join the competition and play first game in the competition, and first at home in the competition 6 * Keighley join the competition and play first game in the competition 7 * Warrington, one of the ten original competitors in 1965-66, win their first game in the competition 8 * Wakefield Trinity join the competition and play first game in the competition, and first at home in the competition 9 * Leeds, one of the ten original competitors in 1965-66, win their first game in the competition 10 * Postponed due to fog 11 * match on TV 12 * The first of only two occasions on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was played on a neutral ground 13 * Headingley, Leeds, is the home ground of Leeds RLFC with a capacity of 21,000. The record attendance was 40,175 for a league match between Leeds and Bradford Northern on 21 May 1947.
See also 1967–68 Northern Rugby Football League season 1967 Lancashire Cup 1967 Yorkshire Cup BBC2 Floodlit Trophy 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 Huddersfield R L Heritage