The 1968–69 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the fourth occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held. This year was a new name on the trophy after Castleford's three year winning streak came to an end. Wigan won the trophy by beating St. Helens by the score of 7-4 The match was played at Central Park, Wigan, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 13,479 and receipts were £3,291 This was to be Wigan's only success in the competition.
Background This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at eighteen. However the format was changed slightly with the games in the preliminary round being on a two-legged home and away basis. This preliminary round now involved four clubs, reducing the numbers to sixteen, followed by a straightforward knock out competition.
Competition and results
Preliminary round – first leg Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueaggAttRecNotesRefP1Mon 9 Sep 1968Wakefield Trinity11-15CastlefordBelle VueP1Tue 10 Sep 1968St. Helens21-5BarrowKnowsley Road
Preliminary round – second leg Involved 2 matches with the same 4 Clubs with reverse fixtures Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueaggAttRecNotesRefP2Mon 23 Sep 1968Castleford18-0Wakefield TrinityWheldon Road 33-111P2Mon 23 Sep 1968Barrow18-11St. HelensCraven Park23-322672
Round 1 – first round Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef1Tue 1 Oct 1968Leeds24-19SalfordHeadingley2Tue 8 Oct 1968Wigan10-7CastlefordCentral Park23Mon 14 Oct 1968Hull F.C.22-13WidnesBoulevard34Mon 14 Oct 1968St. Helens12-10SwintonKnowsley Road49005Tue 15 Oct 1968Leigh27-19Hull Kingston RoversHilton Park6Tue 15 Oct 1968Rochdale Hornets16-14OldhamAthletic Grounds47Tue 22 Oct 1968Keighley8-11HuddersfieldLawkholme Lane279558Tue 29 Oct 1968Warrington30-12HalifaxWilderspool
Round 2 – quarter finals Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef1Tue 5 Nov 1968Rochdale Hornets7-23WiganAthletic Grounds22Tue 12 Nov 1968Leigh25-11LeedsHilton Park3Tue 19 Nov 1968Warrington18-5HuddersfieldWilderspool4Tue 26 Nov 1968St. Helens14-10Hull F.C.Knowsley Road
Round 3 – semi-finals Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef1Tue 3 Dec 1968Wigan9-7LeighCentral Park22Tue 10 Dec 1968St. Helens29-6WarringtonKnowsley Road
Final Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRefTuesday 17 December 1968Wigan7-4St. HelensCentral Park13,4793,2912 6
Teams and scorers
Wigan№St. Helens teams Colin Tyrer1Cen WilliamsBill Francis2Frank WilsonEric Ashton3Billy BenyonBill Ashurst4Frank MylerPeter Rowe5John WillsCliff Hill6Alan WhittleJohnny Jackson7Tommy BishopJohn Stephens8John WarlowColin Clarke9Bill SayerKeith Mills10Cliff WatsonTerry Fogerty11John MantleKevin O'Loughlin12Brian HoganDoug Laughton13Kel CoslettGeoff Lyon14Eric PrescottA. N. Other15Eric ChisnallEric AshtonCoachCliff Evans 7score42HT4 Scorers Tries Cliff Hill (1)T Goals Colin Tyrer (2)GKel Coslett (2)Referee(Sergeant Major) Eric Clay (Leeds) 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 * Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-91 and 1991-1992 and "100 Years of Rugby. The History of Wakefield Trinity 1873-1973" give the score as 18–0 but as obvious error in the wonderfully detailed independent WEB "Wakefield 'till I die" gives the score as 13-0 2 * This match was televised 3 * Hull F.C. (who joined the competition in season 1967-68) play their first game at home in the competition 4 * Rochdale Hornets, who joined the competition in season 1966-67, win their first game in the competition 5 * Keighley (who joined the competition in season 1967-68) play their first game at home in the competition 6 * The attendance was a record at that time 7 * 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 1968–69 Northern Rugby Football League season 1968 Lancashire Cup 1968 Yorkshire Cup BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Rugby league county cups
References
External links