1991–92 League Cup (rugby league)


This was the twenty-first season of rugby league's League Cup competition, known as the Regal Trophy for sponsorship purposes.
Widnes won the final, beating Leeds by the score of 24-0. The match was played at Central Park, Wigan. The attendance was 15,070.

Background

This season saw two "name" changes and one of the three junior clubs being replaced by a new league club. The number of entrants remained the same at thirty-eight.

The changes were :-

1 Runcorn Highfield became Highfield and now played at Hoghton Road Stadium in Sutton, a suburb of St. Helens and home to St Helens Town A.F.C., taking the place of one of the junior teams-

The preliminary round involved twelve clubs, to reduce the numbers to entrants to the first round proper to thirty-two.

Competition and Results

Preliminary Round

Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Tue 29 Oct 1991Rochdale Hornets14-24WidnesSpotland2278
2Tue 29 Oct 1991Wigan34-14DewsburyCentral Park5020
3Thu 31 Oct 1991Hull F.C.22-7LeighBoulevard2219
4Sun 3 Nov 1991Saddleworth0-30Workington TownWatersheddings16501, 2
5Sun 3 Nov 1991Sheffield Eagles36-8Scarborough PiratesDon Valley Stadium1226
6Mon 4 Nov 1991Leigh East20-10Chorley Borough Hilton Park13933, 4

Round 1 - First Round

Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sat 16 Nov 1991Warrington8-17LeedsWilderspool4353
2Sun 17 Nov 1991Bradford Northern76-0Leigh EastOdsal16133
3Sun 17 Nov 1991Doncaster21-20WhitehavenBentley Road Stadium/Tattersfield693
4Sun 17 Nov 1991Halifax46-4BarrowThrum Hall4791
5Sun 17 Nov 1991Highfield10-28CarlisleHoghton Road Stadium180
6Sun 17 Nov 1991Huddersfield10-32St. HelensFartown4239
7Sun 17 Nov 1991Hull Kingston Rovers10-22CastlefordCraven Park 3406
8Sun 17 Nov 1991Keighley Cougars25-10HunsletCougar Park1155
9Sun 17 Nov 1991Nottingham City11-42Wakefield TrinityHarvey Hadden Stadium916
10Sun 17 Nov 1991Oldham16-10London CrusadersWatersheddings2182
11Sun 17 Nov 1991Ryedale-York6-13Sheffield EaglesRyedale Stadium1138
12Sun 17 Nov 1991Salford74-10Trafford BoroughThe Willows1783
13Sun 17 Nov 1991Swinton8-34WiganStation Road4676
14Sun 17 Nov 1991Widnes26-8Workington TownNaughton Park4917
15Mon 18 Nov 1991Hull F.C.12-8BatleyBoulevard2149
16Tue 19 Nov 1991Bramley18-18Featherstone RoversMcLaren Field1643

Round 1 - First Round Replays

Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Thu 21 Nov 1991Featherstone Rovers44-8BramleyPost Office Road1617

Round 2 - Second Round

Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sat 23 Nov 1991Hull F.C.4-12LeedsBoulevard4359
2Sun 24 Nov 1991Bradford Northern44-10Sheffield EaglesOdsal3118
3Sun 24 Nov 1991Carlisle16-30WidnesGifford Park18745
4Sun 24 Nov 1991Featherstone Rovers64-18HalifaxPost Office Road5462
5Sun 24 Nov 1991Oldham18-24St. HelensWatersheddings5814
6Sun 24 Nov 1991Wakefield Trinity10-30SalfordBelle Vue4577
7Sun 24 Nov 1991Wigan32-8Keighley CougarsCentral Park6052
8Mon 25 Nov 1991Castleford38-6DoncasterWheldon Road4145

Round 3 -Quarter Finals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
-
1Sat 30 Nov 1991Salford24-14WiganThe Willows4608
2Sun 1 Dec 1991Leeds24-4CastlefordHeadingley15409
3Sun 1 Dec 1991St. Helens30-12Bradford NorthernKnowsley Road8641
4Sun 1 Dec 1991Widnes34-22Featherstone RoversNaughton Park6551

Round 4 – Semi-Finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
-
1Sat 7 Dec 1991Leeds22-15SalfordValley Parade72756
2Sat 21 Dec 1991Widnes18-10St. HelensCentral Park6376

Final

Teams and Scorers

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

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.