The 1988–89 John Player Special Trophy was the eighteenth season for the competition (named as such due to sponsorship from John Player & Sons).
Wigan won the final, beating Widnes by the score of 12-6. The match was played at Burnden Park, Bolton, Greater Manchester. The attendance was 20,709 and receipts were £94874.
Background This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at thirty-six Huddersfield dropped the "Barracuda" suffix and the ground reverted to the traditional Fartown name, much to the relief of most of the fans - and - Springfield Borough moved to Chorley after only one season and re-branded themselves Chorley Borough, playing at Victory Park, the home of Chorley FC
Competition and results
Preliminary round
Involved 4 matches and 8 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sun 30 Oct 1988Featherstone Rovers46-2HunsletPost Office Road19722Sun 30 Oct 1988Wigan St Patricks36-2Elland (Halifax)Central Park25101, 23Sun 30 Oct 1988Workington Town2-28CastlefordDerwent Park15024Sun 6 Nov 1988Bramley56-10FulhamMcLaren Field850
Round 1 - First Round
Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 12 Nov 1988Leeds12-21CastlefordHeadingley100062Sun 13 Nov 1988Bradford Northern34-18DewsburyOdsal25553Sun 13 Nov 1988Bramley32-6Mansfield MarksmanMcLaren Field11514Sun 13 Nov 1988Halifax22-4SalfordThrum Hall66615Sun 13 Nov 1988Huddersfield4-22Chorley BoroughFartown11206Sun 13 Nov 1988Hull F.C.26-10BatleyBoulevard40547Sun 13 Nov 1988Hull Kingston Rovers40-0KeighleyCraven Park (1)33198Sun 13 Nov 1988Leigh42-14BarrowHilton Park32569Sun 13 Nov 1988Rochdale Hornets26-20WhitehavenAthletic Grounds88810Sun 13 Nov 1988Runcorn Highfield2-92WiganCentral Park72333, 4, 511Sun 13 Nov 1988Sheffield Eagles80-8Wigan St PatricksOwlerton Stadium62112Sun 13 Nov 1988Swinton13-16DoncasterStation Road218213Sun 13 Nov 1988Wakefield Trinity34-14CarlisleBelle Vue251314Sun 13 Nov 1988Warrington21-14OldhamWilderspool552815Sun 13 Nov 1988Widnes37-12Featherstone RoversNaughton Park5299616Sun 13 Nov 1988York6-14St. HelensClarence Street3082
Round 2 - Second Round
Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 26 Nov 1988Wigan20-16HalifaxCentral Park108262Sun 27 Nov 1988Castleford18-19Bradford NorthernWheldon Road 76883Sun 27 Nov 1988Chorley Borough22-36Hull Kingston RoversVictory Park9834Sun 27 Nov 1988Leigh40-8DoncasterHilton Park43215Sun 27 Nov 1988St. Helens16-13Hull F.C.Knowsley Road74856Sun 27 Nov 1988Sheffield Eagles9-32WidnesOwlerton Stadium27167Sun 27 Nov 1988Wakefield Trinity38-12Rochdale HornetsBelle Vue24868Sun 27 Nov 1988Warrington42-10BramleyWilderspool3274
Round 3 -Quarter Finals
Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 3 Dec 1988Widnes16-7WarringtonNaughton Park64492Sun 4 Dec 1988Bradford Northern6-0LeighOdsal39753Sun 4 Dec 1988Hull Kingston Rovers16-16WiganCraven Park (1)71424Sun 4 Dec 1988St. Helens34-18Wakefield TrinityKnowsley Road7602
Round 3 -Quarter Finals - Replays Involved 1 match with 2 clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Wed 7 Dec 1988Wigan30-0Hull Kingston RoversCentral Park13278
Round 4 – Semi-Finals
Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 10 Dec 1988Widnes20-18St. HelensWigan ??67552Sat 17 Dec 1988Wigan16-5Bradford NorthernLeeds ??6809
Final Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef Saturday 7 January 1989Wigan12-6WidnesBurnden Park20709948747
Teams and scorers
Wigan№Widnes teams Steve Hampson1Alan TaitDean Bell2Rick ThackrayKevin Iro3Andy CurrierJoe Lydon4Darren WrightTony Iro5Martin "Chariots" OffiahGed Byrne6Tony MylerShaun Edwards7David HulmeAdrian Shelford8Kurt SorensenMartin Dermott9Phil McKenzieShaun Wane10Joe GrimaDenis Betts11Mike O'NeillIan Potter12Emosi KolotoEllery Hanley13"Richie" EyresAndy Gregory (for Joe Lydon 51 min)14?? Not usedAndy Goodway (for Adrian Shelford 20 min)15Paul Hulme (for Emosi Koloto 44 min)Graham LoweCoachDoug Laughton 12score66HT6 Scorers Tries Kevin Iro (1)TDarren Wright (1)Ellery Hanley (1)T Goals Joe Lydon (2)GAndy Currier (1) RefereeJohn Holdsworth (Kippax)Man of the matchEllery Hanley - Wigan - Competition SponsorJohn Player Special Scoring - Try = four points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = one point
Timeline in the final
TimeIncidentScore incidentsincidentsscore6th MinuteTry: Kevin Iro4-013th MinuteTry: Darren Wright4-4 Conversion: Andy Currier4-621st MinutePenalty Goal: Joe Lydon6-6Half Time6-642nd MinutePenalty Goal: Joe Lydon8-669th MinuteTry: Ellery Hanley12-6Full Time12-6
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 * Wigan St Patricks are a Junior (amateur) club from Wigan 2 * Elland are a Junior (amateur) club from the Halifax area of Yorkshire 3 * Runcorn Highfield forfeited home advantage for a larger gate. Runcorn Players were also in dispute and the club fielded a very reduced strength team comprised a number of trialists and reserves (and coach Bill Ashurst, (an ex Wigan player) who came out of retirement especially to play, and was disappointedly sent off 12 minutes after coming off the subs bench) 4 * A Wigan record victory in this tournament 5 * The highest score, highest score by home team and highest winning margin in the competition, between all clubs to date 6 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject and Widnes official archives give the score as 37-12 but Wigan official archives gives it as 37-2 7 * Burnden Park was the home of English football club Bolton Wanderers from 1895 to 1997. It hosted the 1900-01 FA Cup Final replay in which Tottenham Hotspur beat Sheffield United 3.1. The record attendance was for a 6th round F A Cup match with Stoke City (Stanley Matthews played for Stoke at the time) at which, although the ground capacity was set at 70,000, an estimated 85,000 fans crowded in, and when two crush barriers broke, the result was 33 fans killed and another 400 injured. The capacity at closure was a mere 25,000
See also 1988–89 Rugby Football League season 1988 Lancashire Cup 1988 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