1992–93 League Cup (rugby league)


The 1992–93 League Cup was the twenty-second season for the League Cup, a rugby league competition that was known as the Regal Trophy for sponsorship purposes.
Wigan defeated Bradford Northern by the score of 15-8 in the final to claim the trophy. The match was played at Elland Road, Leeds in front of an attendance of 13,221.

Background

This season saw several changes in the entrants, one club re-formed/renamed, two French clubs were invited instead of the junior clubs, and one club withdrew. This resulted in one less club/entrant reducing the total number to thirty-seven.
The changes, in detail, are:
  1. Trafford Borough re-formed as Blackpool Gladiators and moved back to Blackpool, playing at Jepson Way, Blackpool
  2. Two French clubs, Carcassonne and XIII Catalan were invited to join the competition, instead of the junior clubs, who were no longer invited
  3. Scarborough Pirates went into administration at the end of previous season
The preliminary round involved ten clubs, to reduce the numbers of entrants to the first round proper to thirty-two.

Competition and Results

Preliminary Round

Involved 5 matches and 10 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Tue 13 Oct 1992Warrington32-8Blackpool GladiatorsWilderspool1412
2Tue 27 Oct 1992Chorley Borough 10-38Sheffield EaglesGrundy Hill3681
3Tue 27 Oct 1992St. Helens44-18HuddersfieldKnowsley Road4423
4Tue 27 Oct 1992Wakefield Trinity90-12HighfieldBelle Vue16502
5Wed 28 Oct 1992Swinton12-32Hull Kingston RoversGigg Lane582

Round 1 - First Round

Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sat 2 Nov 1992Wigan52-0CarcassonneCentral Park4306
2Sun 8 Nov 1992Batley6-13HunsletMount Pleasant709
3Sun 8 Nov 1992Bradford Northern70-10BarrowOdsal3049
4Sun 8 Nov 1992Bramley12-16CarlisleMcLaren Field550
5Sun 8 Nov 1992Doncaster4-30Workington TownBentley Road Stadium/Tattersfield893
6Sun 8 Nov 1992Halifax76-6Nottingham CityThrum Hall3547
7Sun 8 Nov 1992Hull F.C.22-16DewsburyBoulevard2984
8Sun 8 Nov 1992Hull Kingston Rovers48-4WhitehavenCraven Park 1627
9Sun 8 Nov 1992Leigh32-24Keighley CougarsHilton Park2113
10Sun 8 Nov 1992London Crusaders30-0Wakefield TrinityCrystal Palace NSC860
11Sun 8 Nov 1992Oldham22-40CastlefordWatersheddings4393
12Sun 8 Nov 1992Rochdale Hornets32-16XIII CatalanSpotland1507
13Sun 8 Nov 1992St. Helens15-14LeedsKnowsley Road11052
14Sun 8 Nov 1992Salford14-18Featherstone RoversThe Willows3088
15Sun 8 Nov 1992Warrington31-16Sheffield EaglesWilderspool3112
16Sun 8 Nov 1992Widnes46-4Ryedale-YorkNaughton Park34753

Round 2 - Second Round

Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sat 5 Dec 1992Warrington12-12Bradford NorthernWilderspool2145
2Sun 6 Dec 1992Castleford54-0CarlisleThe Jungle2539
3Sun 6 Dec 1992Featherstone Rovers8-25St. HelensPost Office Road4473
4Sun 6 Dec 1992Hull F.C.28-14HalifaxBoulevard5494
5Sun 6 Dec 1992Hull Kingston Rovers0-18WiganCraven Park 3779
6Sun 6 Dec 1992Hunslet12-34Workington TownElland Road1225
7Sun 6 Dec 1992Leigh16-6London CrusadersHilton Park2181
8Sun 6 Dec 1992Widnes30-2Rochdale HornetsNaughton Park3591

Round 2 - Second Round Replays

Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Wed 16 Dec 1992Bradford Northern9-6WarringtonOdsal3474

Round 3 -Quarter Finals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
-
1Sat 19 Dec 1992St. Helens8-12CastlefordKnowsley Road4785
2Sun 20 Dec 1992Hull F.C.24-14LeighBoulevard4835
3Sun 20 Dec 1992Workington Town12-24WiganDerwent Park76824, 5
4Tue 29 Dec 1992Bradford Northern21-10WidnesOdsal5346

Round 4 – Semi-Finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
-
1Sat 2 Jan 1993Wigan19-4Hull F.C.Central Park80206
2Sat 2 Jan 1993Bradford Northern19-12CastlefordValley Parade56027

Final

Teams and Scorers

Scoring - Try = four 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?5?
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.