The 1976–77 Player's No.6 Trophy was a British rugby league knockout tournament. It was the sixth season that the competition was staged, which was once again known as the Player's No.6 Trophy because of its sponsorship.
Castleford won the final, beating Second Division side Blackpool Borough by the score of 25–15. The match was played at The Willows, Salford. The attendance was 4,512 and receipts were £2,919.
Background This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at thirty-two. For the second season there were no drawn matches in the competition.
Competition and results Round 1 - First Round
Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 23 Oct 1976Hull F.C.18-5WarringtonBoulevard2Sat 23 Oct 1976Leeds34-10Rochdale HornetsHeadingley3Sun 24 Oct 1976Blackpool Borough16-15BarrowBorough Park4Sun 24 Oct 1976Bradford Northern23-18HuddersfieldOdsal5Sun 24 Oct 1976Bramley33-5DewsburyMcLaren Field6Sun 24 Oct 1976Featherstone Rovers43-13WhitehavenPost Office Road7Sun 24 Oct 1976Ovenden4-24HalifaxThrum Hall36801, 28Sun 24 Oct 1976Hull Kingston Rovers7-12St. HelensCraven Park (1)59849Sun 24 Oct 1976Huyton6-8YorkAlt Park, Huyton10Sun 24 Oct 1976Leigh29-7SwintonHilton Park11Sun 24 Oct 1976New Hunslet10-24CastlefordElland Road Greyhound Stadium12Sun 24 Oct 1976Oldham17-9BatleyWatersheddings13Sun 24 Oct 1976Ace Caravans15-39SalfordThe Willows30373, 4, 514Sun 24 Oct 1976Wakefield Trinity8-10WidnesBelle Vue15Sun 24 Oct 1976Wigan33-0KeighleyCentral Park16Sun 24 Oct 1976Workington Town45-15DoncasterDerwent Park
Round 2 - Second Round
Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 6 Nov 1976Leeds18-17SalfordHeadingley2Sat 6 Nov 1976St. Helens18-22CastlefordKnowsley Road26913Sun 7 Nov 1976Blackpool Borough7-3HalifaxBorough Park4Sun 7 Nov 1976Hull F.C.19-5Bradford NorthernBoulevard5Sun 7 Nov 1976Oldham13-28LeighWatersheddings66Sun 7 Nov 1976Widnes10-0Featherstone RoversNaughton Park7Sun 7 Nov 1976Workington Town17-13BramleyDerwent Park8Sun 7 Nov 1976York8-7WiganClarence Street65037
Round 3 -Quarter Finals
Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 20 Dec 1976Leeds14-20CastlefordHeadingley2Sun 21 Dec 1976Leigh17-12Hull F.C.Hilton Park3Sun 21 Dec 1976Widnes13-10YorkNaughton Park4Sun 21 Dec 1976Workington Town5-11Blackpool BoroughDerwent Park
Round 4 – Semi-Finals
Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 27 Dec 1976Castleford15-10WidnesWheldon Road 82Sat 11 Dec 1976Blackpool Borough15-5LeighBorough Park8
Final
Teams and scorers
CastlefordNo.Blackpool Borough teams Geoffrey Wraith1Doug ReynoldsSteve Fenton2Doug RobinsonJohn Joyner3John HeritagePhilip Johnson4Paul MachenTrevor Briggs5Phil PitmanBruce Burton6Ged MarshGary Stephens7Jackie NewallPaul Kahn8Jimmy HamiltonRobert Spurr9Howard AllenAlan Dickinson10Joe EganMal Reilly11Paul GambleGeoffrey "Sammy" Lloyd12Ken GrovesSteve 'Knocker' Norton13Malcolm Pattinson? Not used14Cliff Lamb (for Phil Pitman)? Not used15Phil Hurst (for Ken Groves)Coach Jim Crellin
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£6,0001£6,000Runner-up£3,0001£3,000Semi-finalist£1,5002£3,000Loser in Rd 3£7004£2,800Loser in Rd 2£5508£4,400Loser in Rd 1£40016£6,400Grand Total£25,600
The road to success This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures
Notes 1 * Ovenden are a Junior (amateur) club from Halifax 2 * Ovenden were drawn at home but chose to give away home advantage 3 * Ace Caravans were a Junior (amateur) club from Hull 4 * Ace Caravans were drawn at home but chose to give away home advantage 5 * The Rothmans Yearbooks 1990-91 and 1991-92 gave the attendance as 3,037 but The News of the World/Empire News annual 1977–78 gave it as 3,680 6 * The News of the World/Empire News annual 1977–78 gives the score as 13-25 but other sources including RUGBYLEAGUEprojects, Wigan official archives give the score as 13-28 7 * Wigan's (No. 4) Bill Francis & York's (No. 11) Gary Hetherington were both sent off for fighting in the 78th Minute 8 * Wigan official website states incorrectly that the match date was Saturday 27 November 9 * The Willows was the home ground of Salford with a final capacity of 11,363 which included 2,500 seats. The record attendance was 26,470 on the 13 February 1937 in the Challenge Cup first round match vs Warr
See also 1976–77 Northern Rugby Football League season 1976 Lancashire Cup 1976 Yorkshire Cup Player's No.6 Trophy Rugby league county cups
References
External links