The 1979–80 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the fifteenth occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held. This year, for the last time, a new name appeared on the trophy when Hull F.C. won the trophy by beating Hull Kingston Rovers by the score of 13-3 The match was played at Boulevard, in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. The attendance was 18,500, and the receipts were £16,605 The attendance was a record for a BBC2 Floodlit Trophy, never to be beaten
Background This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at twenty-two. The format remained as a knock-out competition from the preliminary round through to the final. The preliminary round involved twelve clubs, to reduce the numbers taking part in the competition proper to just sixteen.
Competition and results
Preliminary round Involved six matches and 12 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttNotesRefPTue 4 Sep 1979Bramley5–21HunsletMcLaren FieldPTue 4 Sep 1979Hull F.C.8–1HalifaxBoulevard1PWed 5 Sep 1979Castleford22–12Wakefield TrinityWheldon Road PTue 11 Sep 1979Whitehaven5–29BarrowRecreation GroundPWed 19 Sep 1979Oldham9–20St HelensWatersheddings1,355PWed 26 Sep 1979Warrington4–12LeighWilderspool
First round Involved eight matches and 16 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttNotesRef1Tue 25 Sep 1979Keighley9–2DewsburyLawkholme Lane2Sun 30 Sep 1979Hull F.C.34–2HuddersfieldBoulevard23Tue 2 Oct 1979Widnes27–13SwintonNaughton Park34Tue 9 Oct 1979St Helens45–17Rochdale HornetsKnowsley Road3,0003 45Tue 9 Oct 1979Salford24–6WiganThe Willows6Tue 16 Oct 1979Hull Kingston Rovers25–12CastlefordCraven Park37Tue 23 Oct 1979Hunslet10–12LeedsMount Pleasant38Tue 30 Oct 1979Leigh20–4BarrowHilton Park3
Second round Involved four matches with eight clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttNotesRef1Tue 6 Nov 1979Hull Kingston Rovers41–15KeighleyCraven Park32Tue 13 Nov 1979Leigh14–5WidnesHilton Park33Tue 27 Nov 1979Hull F.C.16–9LeedsBoulevard34Tue 20 Nov 1979St HelensP–PSalfordKnowsley RoadRFri 30 Nov 1979St Helens15–10SalfordKnowsley Road4,500
Semi-finals Involved two matches and four clubs Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttNotesRef1Tue 4 Dec 1979Hull F.C.9–6LeighBoulevard32Tue 11 Dec 1979Hull Kingston Rovers10–7St HelensKnowsley Road7,7663
Final The attendance was a record for a BBC2 Floodlit Trophy final, never to be beaten.
Teams Hull F.C.No.Hull Kingston Rovers Teams Paul Woods1Ian RobinsonGraham Bray2Steve HubbardGraham Evans3Mike SmithPhil Coupland4Bernard WatsonSteve Dennison5Clive Sullivan (c)John Newlove6Dave HallKeith Hepworth7Allan AgarKeith Tindall8Roy HoldstockRon Wileman9Graham TyremanVince Farrar (c)10Brian LockwoodCharlie Stone11Phil LoweKeith Boxall12Geoff ClarksonSteve Norton13Phil HoganSubsGraham Walters14Steve HartleyCharlie Birdsall15John MillingtonArthur BuntingCoachRoger Millward
The road to success This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures
Notes and comments 1 * the first BBC2 Floodlit Trophy match to end with a team scoring 1 point 2 * Played in daylight 3 * This match was televised 4 * At the time this was the third highest score
Postscript To date, this was the last season for the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Competition, which had taken place annually only since its inauguration in the 1965-66 season. Despite several minor disagreements between the BBC and the RFL, including over shirt sponsorship in the early 1970s, overall the competition had been a great success. However financial cutbacks at the BBC lead to its cancellation after the 1979–80 competition. Therefore, this season was to be the last.
See also 1979–80 Northern Rugby Football League season BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
References
External links