The 1965–66 Challenge Cup was the 65th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup.
The final was contested by St Helens and Wigan at Wembley Stadium in London.
The final was played on Saturday 21 May 1966, where St Helens beat Wigan 21–2 in front of a crowd of 98,536.
The Lance Todd Trophy was awarded to St Helens winger Len Killeen, who also kicked an exceptionally long goal from well inside his own half.
First round Date Team one Team two Score25 Feb Widnes Brookhouse23-526 Feb Barrow Crosfield Recs 11-226 Feb Batley Huddersfield 4-426 Feb Blackpool Borough Workington Town 2-1626 Feb Bradford Northern Doncaster 23-226 Feb Bramley Hull Kingston Rovers 5-526 Feb Featherstone Rovers Rochdale Hornets 22-626 Feb Hull Salford 11-226 Feb Hunslet Whitehaven 7-926 Feb Keighley Dewsbury 4-526 Feb Leeds York 17-426 Feb Leigh Liverpool City 15-626 Feb Swinton Oldham 18-526 Feb Wakefield Trinity St Helens 0-1026 Feb Warrington Castleford 15-726 Feb Wigan Halifax 8-401 Mar - replayHuddersfield Batley23-501 Mar - replayHull Kingston Rovers Bramley7-2
Second round Date Team one Team two Score19 Mar Leeds Hull 22-1219 Mar Featherstone Rovers Warrington 14-15 19 Mar Wigan Whitehaven 40-619 Mar Widnes Bradford Northern 6-719 Mar Huddersfield Leigh 8-019 Mar Workington Town Hull Kingston Rovers 5-719 Mar Dewsbury Barrow 23-1519 Mar St Helens Swinton 16-4
Quarter-finals Date Team one Team two Score04 Apr St HelensHull Kingston Rovers12-1005 Apr DewsburyHuddersfield 8-206 Apr Bradford Northern Wigan6-1506 Apr Warrington Leeds2-215 Apr Leeds Warrington 8-0
Semi-finals Date Team one Team two Score16 Apr St Helens Dewsbury 12-523 Apr Wigan Leeds 7-2
Final
FB 1 Frank BarrowRW 2 Tom van VollenhovenRC 3 Alex MurphyLC 4 Billy BenyonLW 5 Len KilleenSO 6 Peter Harvey SH 7 Tommy Bishop PR 8 Albert HalsallHK 9 Bill SayerPR 10 Cliff WatsonSR 11 Ray FrenchSR 12 John WarlowLF 13 John MantleSubstitutes (not used):IC 14 Tony BarrowIC 15 Jeff Hitchen Coach: Joe Coan FB 1 Ray AshbyRW 2 Billy BostonRC 3 David StephensLC 4 Eric Ashton (c)LW 5 Trevor LakeSO 6 Cliff Hill SH 7 Frank Parr PR 8 Danny GardinerHK 9 Tom WooseyPR 10 Brian McTigueSR 11 Tony StephensSR 12 Laurie GilfedderLF 13 Harry MajorSubstitutes (not used):IC 14 ?IC 15 ?Player-coach: Eric Ashton
Crowd listed in some sources as 100,000 for Final.
References
External links
Challenge Cup official website Challenge Cup 1965/66 results at Rugby League Project