This was the third season of rugby league's League Cup competition, which for sponsorship reasons was known as the Players No.6 Trophy.
Warrington won the final, beating Rochdale Hornets by the score of 27–16 in the match played at Central Park, Wigan. The attendance was 9,347 and receipts were £4380.
Background This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at thirty-two.
Competition and results
Round 1 - First Round
Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 15 Sep 1973Bramley20-12Hull F.C.McLaren Field7502Sat 15 Sep 1973Keighley30-10HuytonLawkholme Lane59513Sat 15 Sep 1973St. Helens34-16Featherstone RoversKnowsley Road300024Sat 15 Sep 1973Whitehaven26-3Dewsbury CelticRecreation Ground12763, 45Sat 15 Sep 1973Wigan34-0BatleyCentral Park41496Sun 16 Sep 1973Bradford Northern12-34LeedsOdsal90287Sun 16 Sep 1973Castleford88-5MillomWheldon Road 10315, 68Sun 16 Sep 1973Dewsbury33-24WidnesCrown Flatt250879Sun 16 Sep 1973Halifax20-5BarrowThrum Hall1281810Sun 16 Sep 1973New Hunslet11-26LeighElland Road Greyhound Stadium200011Sun 16 Sep 1973Rochdale Hornets18-2HuddersfieldAthletic Grounds195212Sun 16 Sep 1973Salford47-17DoncasterThe Willows412213Sun 16 Sep 1973Wakefield Trinity47-13Blackpool BoroughBelle Vue246214Sun 16 Sep 1973Warrington31-14OldhamWilderspool523815Sun 16 Sep 1973Workington Town20-9Hull Kingston RoversDerwent Park150316Sun 16 Sep 1973York32-13SwintonClarence Street2509
Round 2 - Second Round
Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs NOTE - Matches in this round kicked off earlier to make maximum use of the daylight Use of Floodlights in sporting events was banned by government order from 15 November 1973 due to mining strikes Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 15 Dec 1973Bramley24-12LeighMcLaren Field75092Sat 15 Dec 1973Warrington18-9CastlefordWilderspool220893Sun 16 Dec 1973Halifax7-16DewsburyThrum Hall205094Sun 16 Dec 1973Rochdale Hornets11-0YorkAthletic Grounds227495Sun 16 Dec 1973St. Helens28-2WhitehavenKnowsley Road23109, 106Sun 16 Dec 1973Salford4-17LeedsThe Willows82197Sun 16 Dec 1973Wakefield Trinity10-7Workington TownBelle Vue183598Sun 16 Dec 1973Wigan10-14KeighleyCentral Park25099, 11
Round 3 -Quarter Finals
Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 29 Dec 1973Wakefield Trinity18-18St. HelensBelle Vue2890122Sun 30 Dec 1973Keighley8-11BramleyLawkholme Lane2887133Sun 30 Dec 1973Rochdale Hornets7-5LeedsAthletic Grounds5389134Sun 30 Dec 1973Warrington20-12DewsburyWilderspool609013
Round 3 -Quarter Finals - Replays Involved 1 match with 2 clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sun 6 Jan 1974St. Helens16-10Wakefield TrinityKnowsley Road7287
Round 4 – Semi-Finals
Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sun 6 Jan 1974Rochdale Hornets14-2BramleyAthletic Grounds2835142Sat 12 Jan 1974Warrington20-9St. HelensWilderspool5352
Final Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef Saturday 9 February 1974Warrington27-16Rochdale HornetsCentral Park9347438015, 16
Teams and Scorers John Player yearbook 1974–75
Warrington№Rochdale Hornets teams Derek Whitehead1James "Jim"/"Jimmy" CrellinMichael "Mick"/"Mike" Philbin2Norman BrelsfordDerek Noonan3Tom BrophyFrank Reynolds4David TaylorJohn Bevan5Willie AspinallAlan Whittle6John ButlerParry Gordon7Stephen/Steven "Steve" GartlandDavid "Dave" Chisnall8William "Bill" HollidayKevin Ashcroft (c)9R. HarrisBrian Brady 10S. WhiteheadDavid "Dave" Wright11Terry FogertyRobert "Bobby" Wanbon12William "Bill"/"Billy" SheffieldBarry Philbin13Tony HalmshawWilliam "Bill"/"Billy" Pickup (for Derek Noonan or Frank Reynolds)14Harry Wood (for John Butler or Terry Foggerty)Mike Nicholas (for Dave Chisnall 19-mins)15? Not usedCoachHenry Delooze 27score1612HT0 Scorers Tries Derek Whitehead (1)TNorman Brelsford (2)Derek Noonan (2)TTom Brophy (1)John Bevan (1)TDavid Taylor (1)Mike Nicholas (1)T Goals Derek Whitehead (6)GWilliam "Bill" Holliday (2) RefereeD. Gerald "Gerry" Kershaw (York)Man of the matchKevin Ashcroft - Warrington - Competition SponsorPlayer's №6 Scoring - Try = three points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = one point
Timeline in the final
TimeIncidentScore ?Penalty Goal: Derek Whitehead2-027 minTry: Mike Nicholas5-0Conversion: Derek Whitehead7-039 minTry: Derek Noonan10-0Conversion: Derek Whitehead12-0Half Time12-0Penalty Goal: Colin Whitfield12-043 minTry: Norman Brelsford15-3?Try: Derek Noonan15-3Conversion: Derek Whitehead17-3?Try: David Taylor17-6Conversion: Bill Holliday17-8approx 50 minTry: John Bevan20-8Conversion: Derek Whitehead22-8approx 60 minTry: Derek Whitehead25-8Conversion: Derek Whitehead27-8?Try: Norman Brelsford27-11Conversion: Bill Holliday27-1379 minTry: Tom Brophy27-16Full Time27-16
Prize money As part of the sponsorship deal and funds, the prize money awarded to the competing teams for this season was as follows: Finish PositionCash prizeNo. receiving prizeTotal cashWinner£5,0001£5,000Runner-up£2,5001£2,500Semi-finalist£1,0002£2,000Loser in Rd 3£4504£1,800Loser in Rd 2£3008£2,400Loser in Rd 1£15016£2,400Grand Total£16,100
The road to success This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures
Notes and comments 1 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject states that the match was played at Bradford, whereas it was played at Lawkholme Lane, Keighley 2 * St Helens official archives give the attendance as 2,500 whereas RUGBYLEAGUEproject gives it as 3,000 3 * Dewsbury Celtic are a Junior (amateur) club from Dewsbury, home ground is Crow Nest Park 4 * The John Player Yearbook 1974–75 and the News of the World Football Annual 1974–75 give the attendance as 1,250 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject give it as 1,276 5 * Millom are a Junior (amateur) club from Cumbria, current home ground is the Coronation Field ground 6 * The highest score, to date in the competition against a Junior club 7 * Widnes official archives give the result as a Wiidnes win 8 * Wigan official archives show a score of 30-3 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject give it as 20-5 9 * Matches kicked off Earlier to accommodate daylight. Use of Floodlights was banned by government order from 15 November 1973 due to mining strikes. 10 * Wigan official archives give score as 28-3 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject give it as 28-2 11 * Wigan's hooker (Colin Clarke) and two Keighley players (Wilmot and Burke) were sent off during this second half of this match. 12 * The John Player Yearbook 1974–75 give the date as 9-12-1974 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject give the date as 29-12-1974 13 * The John Player Yearbook 1974–75 give the date as 9-12-1974 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject give the date as 30-12-1974 14 * The John Player Yearbook 1974–75, the News of the World Football Annual 1974–75 and Wigan official archives give the date as Saturday 5-1-1974 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject give the date as Sunday 6-1-1974 15 * The John Player Yearbook 1974–75 gives the attendance as 10,047 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject give the attendance as 9,347 16 * 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 1973–74 Northern Rugby Football League season 1973 Lancashire Cup 1973 Yorkshire Cup Player's No.6 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 Wakefield until I die