1976–77 League Cup (rugby league)
This was the sixth season for the League Cup, which was once again known as the Players No.6 Trophy because of its sponsorship.
Castleford won the final, beating 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
The council of the Rugby Football League voted to introduce a new competition, to be similar to The Football Association and Scottish Football Association's "League Cup". It was to be a similar knock-out structure to, and to be secondary to, the Challenge Cup. As this was being formulated, sports sponsorship was becoming more prevalent and as a result John Player and Sons, a division of Imperial Tobacco Company, became sponsors, and the competition never became widely known as the "League Cup"The competition ran from 1971–72 until 1995-96 and was initially intended for the professional clubs plus the two amateur BARLA National Cup finalists. In later seasons the entries were expanded to take in other amateur and French teams. The competition was dropped due to "fixture congestion" when Rugby League became a summer sport
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 usually taking place in late January
The competition was variably known, by its sponsorship name, as the Player's No.6 Trophy, the John Player Trophy, the John Player Special Trophy, and the Regal Trophy in 1989.
Competition and Results
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.Round 1 - First Round
Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| 1 | Sat 23 Oct 1976 | Hull F.C. | 18-5 | Warrington | Boulevard | ||||||
| 2 | Sat 23 Oct 1976 | Leeds | 34-10 | Rochdale Hornets | Headingley | ||||||
| 3 | Sun 24 Oct 1976 | Blackpool Borough | 16-15 | Barrow | Borough Park | ||||||
| 4 | Sun 24 Oct 1976 | Bradford Northern | 23-18 | Huddersfield | Odsal | ||||||
| 5 | Sun 24 Oct 1976 | Bramley | 33-5 | Dewsbury | McLaren Field | ||||||
| 6 | Sun 24 Oct 1976 | Featherstone Rovers | 43-13 | Whitehaven | Post Office Road | ||||||
| 7 | Sun 24 Oct 1976 | Ovenden | 4-24 | Halifax | Thrum Hall | 3680 | 1, 2 | ||||
| 8 | Sun 24 Oct 1976 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 7-12 | St. Helens | Craven Park | 5984 | |||||
| 9 | Sun 24 Oct 1976 | Huyton | 6-8 | York | Alt Park, Huyton | ||||||
| 10 | Sun 24 Oct 1976 | Leigh | 29-7 | Swinton | Hilton Park | ||||||
| 11 | Sun 24 Oct 1976 | New Hunslet | 10-24 | Castleford | Elland Road Greyhound Stadium | ||||||
| 12 | Sun 24 Oct 1976 | Oldham | 17-9 | Batley | Watersheddings | ||||||
| 13 | Sun 24 Oct 1976 | Ace Caravans | 15-39 | Salford | The Willows | 3037 | 3, 4, 5 | ||||
| 14 | Sun 24 Oct 1976 | Wakefield Trinity | 8-10 | Widnes | Belle Vue | ||||||
| 15 | Sun 24 Oct 1976 | Wigan | 33-0 | Keighley | Central Park | ||||||
| 16 | Sun 24 Oct 1976 | Workington Town | 45-15 | Doncaster | Derwent Park |
Round 2 - Second Round
Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| 1 | Sat 6 Nov 1976 | Leeds | 18-17 | Salford | Headingley | ||||||
| 2 | Sat 6 Nov 1976 | St. Helens | 18-22 | Castleford | Knowsley Road | 2691 | |||||
| 3 | Sun 7 Nov 1976 | Blackpool Borough | 7-3 | Halifax | Borough Park | ||||||
| 4 | Sun 7 Nov 1976 | Hull F.C. | 19-5 | Bradford Northern | Boulevard | ||||||
| 5 | Sun 7 Nov 1976 | Oldham | 13-28 | Leigh | Watersheddings | 6 | |||||
| 6 | Sun 7 Nov 1976 | Widnes | 10-0 | Featherstone Rovers | Naughton Park | ||||||
| 7 | Sun 7 Nov 1976 | Workington Town | 17-13 | Bramley | Derwent Park | ||||||
| 8 | Sun 7 Nov 1976 | York | 8-7 | Wigan | Clarence Street | 6503 | 7 |
Round 3 -Quarter Finals
Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| - | |||||||||||
| 1 | Sat 20 Dec 1976 | Leeds | 14-20 | Castleford | Headingley | ||||||
| 2 | Sun 21 Dec 1976 | Leigh | 17-12 | Hull F.C. | Hilton Park | ||||||
| 3 | Sun 21 Dec 1976 | Widnes | 13-10 | York | Naughton Park | ||||||
| 4 | Sun 21 Dec 1976 | Workington Town | 5-11 | Blackpool Borough | Derwent Park |
Round 4 – Semi-Finals
Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| - | |||||||||||
| 1 | Sat 27 Dec 1976 | Castleford | 15-10 | Widnes | Wheldon Road | 8 | |||||
| 2 | Sat 11 Jan 1976 | Blackpool Borough | 15-5 | Leigh | Borough Park | 8 |
Final
Teams and Scorers
| Castleford | № | Blackpool Borough |
| teams | ||
| Geoffrey Wraith | 1 | Doug Reynolds |
| Steve Fenton | 2 | Doug Robinson |
| John Joyner | 3 | John Heritage |
| Philip Johnson | 4 | Paul Machen |
| Trevor Briggs | 5 | Phil Pitman |
| Bruce Burton | 6 | Ged Marsh |
| Gary Stephens | 7 | Jackie Newall |
| Paul Kahn | 8 | James "Jim"/"Jimmy" Hamilton |
| Robert Spurr | 9 | Howard Allen |
| Alan Dickinson | 10 | Joe Egan |
| Mal Reilly | 11 | Paul Gamblex |
| Geoffrey "Sammy" Lloyd | 12 | Ken Groves |
| Steve 'Knocker' Norton | 13 | Malcolm Pattinson |
| ? Not used | 14 | Cliff Lamb |
| ? Not used | 15 | Phil Hurst |
| Coach | Jim Crellin | - |
| - | ||
| 25 | score | 15 |
| HT | - | |
| Scorers | ||
| Tries | ||
| Geoffrey Wraith | T | P. Machen |
| John Joyner | T | Howard Allen |
| Philip Johnson | T | J. Egan |
| Bruce Burton | T | |
| Gary Stephens | T | |
| Goals | ||
| Geoffrey "Sammy" Lloyd | G | J. Egan |
| Referee | Micheal "Mick" J. Naughton | |
| Man of the match | Gary Stephens - Castleford - | |
| joint with | Howard Allen - Blackpool Borough - | |
| Competition Sponsor | Player's №6 |
Scoring - Try = three 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 Position | Cash Prize | No. receiving prize | Total Cash |
| Winner | £6,000 | 1 | £6,000 |
| Runner-up | £3,000 | 1 | £3,000 |
| semi-finalist | ? | 2 | ? |
| loser in Rd 3 | ? | 4 | ? |
| loser in Rd 2 | ? | 8 | ? |
| Loser in Rd 1 | ? | 16 | ? |
| Grand Total |
Note - the author is unable to trace the award amounts for this season. Can anyone help ?