This was the thirteenth season of the rugby league League Cup, which was this season known as the John Player Special Trophy for sponsorship reasons.
Leeds won the trophy, beating Widnes by the score of 18-10 in the final. The match was played at Central Park, Wigan and the attendance was 9,510. The gate receipts were £19824.
Background This season saw one change in the entrants, Kent Invicta joined the league and also the competition, the number of entrants now rising to thirty-four The preliminary round now increased to two matches and involved four clubs, to reduce the numbers of entrants to the first round proper to thirty-two Unfortunately, early in the season Bramley went into administration, and although they survived, during this period of administration they withdrew from this competition, leaving Hull Kingston Rovers with a bye in the first round.
Competition and results
Preliminary round
Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sun 23 Oct 1983Batley11-12DoncasterMount Pleasant7822Sun 23 Oct 1983Whitehaven0-36WidnesRecreation Ground1655
Round 1 - First Round
Involved 15 matches with one bye and 31 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 5 11 1983CastlefordPHull F.C.12Sun 6 Nov 1983Blackpool Borough9-12LeedsBorough Park13513Sun 6 Nov 1983Cardiff City41-6Rochdale HornetsNinian Park6454Sun 6 Nov 1983Carlisle10-5Workington TownBrunton Park12975Sun 6 Nov 1983Dewsbury14-17KeighleyCrown Flatt8146Sun 6 Nov 1983Featherstone Rovers12-10FulhamPost Office Road20117Sun 6 Nov 1983Halifax12-29BarrowThrum Hall26998Sun 6 Nov 1983Kent Invicta7-40St. HelensAthletic Ground, Maidstone210729Sun 6 Nov 1983Oldham12-20LeighWatersheddings626410Sun 6 Nov 1983Swinton17-16HunsletStation Road124311Sun 6 Nov 1983Wakefield Trinity18-32WarringtonBelle Vue293512Sun 6 Nov 1983Widnes2-1Bradford NorthernNaughton Park5640313Sun 6 Nov 1983Wigan30-13YorkCentral Park638814Sun 6 Nov 1983Doncaster11-22SalfordBentley Road Stadium/Tattersfield45815Sun 6 Nov 1983Huddersfield8-21HuytonFartown58216Hull Kingston Roversbye4
Round 1 - First Round Replays Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sun 6 Nov 1983Castleford4-8Hull F.C.Wheldon Road 7979
Round 2 - Second Round
Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 19 Nov 1983Warrington10-18St. HelensWilderspool41712Sun 20 Nov 1983Cardiff City38-12HuytonNinian Park10853Sun 20 Nov 1983Carlisle17-68LeighBrunton Park215254Sun 20 Nov 1983Featherstone Rovers20-14Hull F.C.Post Office Road78335Sun 20 Nov 1983Keighley8-23SwintonLawkholme Lane15776Sun 20 Nov 1983Leeds12-6Hull Kingston RoversHeadingley862367Sun 20 Nov 1983Widnes18-6BarrowNaughton Park70308Sun 20 Nov 1983Wigan24-15SalfordCentral Park7290
Round 3 -Quarter Finals
Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 26 Nov 1983Widnes20-15WiganNaughton Park64922Sun 27 Nov 1983Leigh12-8Cardiff CityHilton Park41343Sun 27 Nov 1983St. Helens16-12Featherstone RoversKnowsley Road51964Sun 27 Nov 1983Swinton12-16LeedsStation Road3438
Round 4 – Semi-Finals
Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 10 Dec 1983Leigh11-18LeedsFartown57402Sat 17 Dec 1983Widnes18-4St. HelensWilderspool5729
Final Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef Saturday 14 January 1984Leeds18-10WidnesCentral Park9510198247
Teams and scorers
Leeds№Widnes teams Ian Wilkinson1Mick BurkePaul Prendiville2Stuart WrightDavid Creasser3Keiron O'LoughlinDean Bell4Joe LydonAndy Smith5Ralph LintonJohn Holmes6Eric HughesKevin Dick7Andy GregoryKeith Rayne8Mike O'NeillDavid Ward9Keith ElwellKevin Rayne10Kevin TamatiGary Moorby11Les GorleyMark Laurie12Fred WhitfieldTerry Webb13Mick Adams? Not used14? Not usedKevin Squire (for David Ward)15? Not usedMaurice BamfordCoachVince Karalius & Harry Dawson 18score1014HT10 Scorers Tries John Holmes (1)TJoe Lydon (1)Kevin Dick (1)TRalph Linton (1) Goals David Creasser (5)GMick Burke (1) RefereeWilliam "Billy" H. Thompson (Huddersfield)Man of the matchMark Laurie - Leeds - Competition SponsorJohn Player Special Scoring - Try = four points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = one point
Prize money As part of the sponsorship deal and funds, the prize money awarded to the competing teams for this season is as follows :- Finish PositionCash prizeNo. receiving prizeTotal cash Winner?1?Runner-up?1?semi-finalist?2?loser in Rd 3?4?loser in Rd 2?8?Loser in Rd 1?16?Loser in Prelim Round???Grand Total Note - the author is unable to trace the award amounts for this season. Can anyone help ?
The road to success This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures
Notes and comments 1 * This match had been chosen for Saturday BBC coverage but was cancelled and moved to Sunday at two days notice due to Industrial Action at the BBC 2 * Kent Invicta's record crowd 3 * 3 dropped goals 4 * Bramley withdrew from this competition while in liquidation 5 * highest score (and highest away score) o date between two professional clubs 6 * Wigan official archives state the home team are Leigh, an obvious printing error as earlier in the same fixture list Leigh are away at CarlisleCarlisle 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 1983–84 Rugby Football League season 1983 Lancashire Cup 1983 Yorkshire Cup John Player Special 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