1975 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
1975 was the eleventh occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held.
St. Helens won the trophy by beating Dewsbury by the score of 22-2
The match was played at Knowsley Road, Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. The attendance was 3,858, and the receipts were £1,747
Background
This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at twenty-two.The format was again changed slightly, in that the preliminary round as well as the remainder of the tournament was played on a knock-out basis.
The preliminary round now involved twelve clubs, to reduce the numbers taking part in the competition proper to just sixteen.
Competition and Results
Preliminary Round
Involved 6 matches and 12 Clubs| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| P | Sun 14 Sep 1975 | Dewsbury | 7-3 | Wakefield Trinity | Crown Flatt | 1 | |||||
| P | Sun 14 Sep 1975 | Halifax | 6-32 | Bramley | Thrum Hall | ||||||
| P | Tue 23 Sep 1975 | Swinton | 6-12 | Warrington | Station Road | ||||||
| P | Wed 24 Sep 1975 | Leeds | 21-10 | Castleford | Headingley | ||||||
| P | Tue 30 Sep 1975 | Wigan | 14-14 | Salford | Central Park | ||||||
| P | Wed 8 Oct 1975 | Rochdale Hornets | 7-15 | St. Helens | Athletic Grounds | 805 |
Preliminary Round - Replays
Involved 4 matches and the same 8 Clubs in reverse fixtures| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| R | Tue 7 Oct 1975 | Salford | 19-25 | Wigan | The Willows |
Round 1 - First Round
Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| 1 | Tue 30 Sep 1975 | Oldham | 16-10 | Widnes | Watersheddings | ||||||
| 2 | Tue 7 Oct 1975 | Dewsbury | 22-10 | Keighley | Crown Flatt | ||||||
| 3 | Tue 7 Oct 1975 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 11-12 | Huddersfield | Craven Park | ||||||
| 4 | Tue 14 Oct 1975 | Barrow | 12-7 | Leigh | Craven Park | ||||||
| 5 | Tue 21 Oct 1975 | Hull F.C. | 18-11 | Bramley | Boulevard | ||||||
| 6 | Tue 21 Oct 1975 | New Hunslet | 9-10 | Leeds | Elland Road Greyhound Stadium | ||||||
| 7 | Wed 22 Oct 1975 | St. Helens | 38-10 | Whitehaven | Knowsley Road | 2,600 | |||||
| 8 | Tue 28 Oct 1975 | Warrington | 8-14 | Wigan | Wilderspool | 2 |
Round 2 -Quarter Finals
Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| 1 | Tue 4 Nov 1975 | Leeds | 17-10 | Wigan | Headingley | 2 | |||||
| 2 | Tue 11 Nov 1975 | Oldham | 9-11 | Dewsbury | Watersheddings | ||||||
| 3 | Tue 18 Nov 1975 | St. Helens | 36-13 | Hull F.C. | Knowsley Road | 2,500 | |||||
| 4 | Tue 25 Nov 1975 | Barrow | 14-0 | Huddersfield | Craven Park |
Round 3 – Semi-Finals
Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| 1 | Tue 2 Dec 1975 | St. Helens | 11-9 | Barrow | Knowsley Road | 2.000 | |||||
| 2 | Tue 9 Dec 1975 | Dewsbury | 7-0 | Leeds | Crown Flatt |
Final
Teams and Scorers
| St. Helens | № | Dewsbury |
| teams | ||
| Geoff Pimblett | 1 | Langley |
| Les Jones | 2 | Hegarty |
| Billy Benyon | 3 | Chalkley |
| David Hull | 4 | Simpson |
| Roy Mathias | 5 | Mitchell |
| Frank Wilson | 6 | Nigel Stephenson |
| Jeff Heaton | 7 | Alan Bates |
| John Mantle | 8 | Harry Beverley |
| Anthony "Tony" Karalius | 9 | Price |
| Mel James | 10 | Hankins |
| George Nicholls | 11 | Halloran |
| Eric Chisnall | 12 | Bell |
| Kel Coslett | 13 | Jeff Grayshon |
| Eric Ashton | Coach | ?? |
| - | ||
| 22 | score | 2 |
| 11 | HT | 0 |
| Scorers | ||
| Tries | ||
| Billy Benyon | T | |
| David Hull | T | |
| Roy Mathias | T | |
| Frank Wilson | T | |
| Goals | ||
| Kel Coslett | G | Nigel Stephenson |
| Geoff Pimblett | G | |
| Drop Goals | ||
| Jeff Heaton | DG | |
| Referee | W H Thompson |
Scoring - Try = three points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = two points
The road to success
This tree excludes any preliminary round fixturesGeneral information for those unfamiliar
The Rugby League BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was a knock-out competition sponsored by the BBC and between rugby league clubs, entrance to which was conditional upon the club having floodlights. Most matches were played on an evening, and those of which the second half was televised, were played on a Tuesday evening.Despite the competition being named as 'Floodlit', many matches took place during the afternoons and not under floodlights, and several of the entrants, including Barrow and Bramley did not have adequate lighting. And, when in 1973, due to the world oil crisis, the government restricted the use of floodlights in sport, all the matches, including the Trophy final, had to be played in the afternoon rather than at night.
The Rugby League season always ran from around August-time through to around May-time and this competition always took place early in the season, in the Autumn, with the final taking place in December