1981–82 League Cup (rugby league)


This was the eleventh season for the rugby league League Cup, which was once again known as the John Player Trophy for sponsorship reasons.
Hull F.C. won the trophy, beating derby rivals Hull Kingston Rovers by the score of 12-4 in the final, which was played at Headingley, Leeds, West Yorkshire. The attendance was 25,245 and receipts were £42987.

Background

This season saw two change in the entrants. With the entry of Cardiff City and Carlisle into the league and also this competition, no junior team was invited, and the number of entrants increased to thirty-three

To cater for the odd number, a Preliminary Round consisting of just one single match was introduced.

Competition and Results

Preliminary Round

Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Wed 30 Sep 1981Leigh41-4Blackpool BoroughHilton Park4235

Round 1 - First Round

Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Fri 16 Oct 1981Workington Town22-9BramleyDerwent Park2299
2Sat 17 Oct 1981Hunslet8-44WidnesElland Road1062
3Sat 17 Oct 1981Warrington24-15FulhamWilderspool2639
4Sun 18 Oct 1981Batley7-16Featherstone RoversMount Pleasant1363
5Sun 18 Oct 1981Carlisle14-7Cardiff CityBrunton Park3224
6Sun 18 Oct 1981Castleford21-7LeighWheldon Road5060
7Sun 18 Oct 1981Dewsbury2-34Hull Kingston RoversCrown Flatt3861
8Sun 18 Oct 1981Halifax7-26Hull F.C.Thrum Hall9871
9Sun 18 Oct 1981Huddersfield19-17HuytonFartown9311
10Sun 18 Oct 1981Keighley27-22Wakefield TrinityLawkholme Lane2454
11Sun 18 Oct 1981Leeds19-10WiganHeadingley4976
12Sun 18 Oct 1981Oldham21-7DoncasterWatersheddings1894
13Sun 18 Oct 1981Rochdale Hornets3-19Bradford NorthernAthletic Grounds2235
14Sun 18 Oct 1981St. Helens16-16BarrowKnowsley Road5349
15Sun 18 Oct 1981Swinton32-5YorkStation Road1862
16Sun 18 Oct 1981Whitehaven11-19SalfordRecreation Ground3351

Round 1 - First Round Replays

Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Thu 22 Oct 1981Barrow17-0St. HelensCraven Park5182

Round 2 - Second Round

Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sat 31 Oct 1981Widnes16-10CarlisleNaughton Park3818
2Sun 1 Nov 1981Barrow8-0Bradford NorthernCraven Park5512
3Sun 1 Nov 1981Castleford5-23Hull F.C.Wheldon Road13464
4Sun 1 Nov 1981Hull Kingston Rovers18-6Featherstone RoversCraven Park 10017
5Sun 1 Nov 1981Keighley10-11SalfordOdsal2730
6Sun 1 Nov 1981Leeds13-8WarringtonHeadingley5540
7Sun 1 Nov 1981Oldham13-0HuddersfieldWatersheddings2284
8Sun 1 Nov 1981Swinton19-9Workington TownStation Road2433

Round 3 -Quarter Finals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
-
1Sat 14 Nov 1981Barrow12-14Hull F.C.Craven Park90192
2Sun 15 Nov 1981Oldham14-5LeedsWatersheddings3864
3Sun 15 Nov 1981Salford0-6SwintonThe Willows67283
4Sun 15 Nov 1981Widnes8-9Hull Kingston RoversNaughton Park11019

Round 4 – Semi-Finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
-
1Sat 28 Nov 1981Hull F.C.22-6OldhamHeadingley11080
2Sat 12 Dec 1981Hull Kingston Rovers23-14SwintonHeadingley8193

Final

Teams and Scorers

Hull№Hull Kingston Rovers
teams
Barry Banks1George Fairbairn
Dane O'Hara2Steve Hubbard
Mick Harrison3Mike Smith
James Leuluai4Phil Hogan
Paul Prendiville5Peter Muscroft
Terry Day6Steve Hartley
Tony Dean7Paul Harkin
Trevor Skerrett8Roy Holdstock
Ron Wileman9David Watkinson
Richard 'Charlie' Stone10Steve Crooks
Mick Crane11Phil Lowe
Lee Crooks12Len Casey
Steve 'Knocker' Norton13Dave Hall
Kevin Harkin 14Christopher Burton
? Not used15John Millington
Arthur BuntingCoach
-
12score4
?HT?
Scorers
Tries
Ron Wileman T
Goals
Lee Crooks GGeorge Fairbairn
Drop Goals
Tony Dean DG
RefereeG. Frederick "Fred" Lindop
Man of the matchTrevor Skerrett - Hull -
Competition SponsorJohn Player

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 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?1?
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

General information for those unfamiliar

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.