# 1975–76 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

The 1975–76 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy 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 | Notes |
| 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 (the other two matches were on a single leg basis)
| 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 | Notes |
| 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 (1) | | |
| 4 | Tue 14 Oct 1975 | Barrow | 12-7 | Leigh | Craven Park (1) | | |
| 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 | Notes |
| 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

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| F | Tuesday 16 December 1975 | St. Helens | 22-2 | Dewsbury | Knowsley Road | 3,858 | 1747 | 2 3 4 | |

#### 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 | Dave Cox |
| 22 | score | 2 |
| 11 | HT | 0 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| Billy Benyon (1) | T | |
| David Hull (1) | T | |
| Roy Mathias (2) | T | |
| Frank Wilson (1) | T | |
| | Goals | |
| Kel Coslett (1) | G | Nigel Stephenson (1) |
| Geoff Pimblett (2) | G | |
| | Drop Goals | |
| Jeff Heaton (1) | DG | |
| Referee | | W H (Billy) Thompson (Huddersfield) |
Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points

### The road to success

This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures
| First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Final | Final | Final |
| St Helens | St Helens | 38 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Whitehaven | Whitehaven | 10 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Whitehaven | Whitehaven | 10 | St Helens | St Helens | 36 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 13 | | | | | | | |
| Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 18 | Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 13 | | | | | | | |
| Bramley | Bramley | 11 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Bramley | Bramley | 11 | | | | St Helens | St Helens | 11 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Barrow | Barrow | 9 | | | | |
| Barrow | Barrow | 12 | | | | | | | Barrow | Barrow | 9 | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 7 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 7 | Barrow | Barrow | 14 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 0 | | | | | | | |
| Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 11 | Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 0 | | | | | | | |
| Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 12 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 12 | | | | | | | | St Helens | St Helens | 22 |
| | | | | | | | | | | Dewsbury | Dewsbury | 2 |
| Oldham | Oldham | 16 | | | | | | | | | | | Dewsbury | Dewsbury | 2 |
| Widnes | Widnes | 10 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 10 | Oldham | Oldham | 9 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Dewsbury | Dewsbury | 11 | | | | | | | |
| Dewsbury | Dewsbury | 22 | Dewsbury | Dewsbury | 11 | | | | | | | |
| Keighley | Keighley | 10 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Keighley | Keighley | 10 | | | | Dewsbury | Dewsbury | 7 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Leeds | Leeds | 0 | | | | |
| New Hunslet | New Hunslet | 9 | | | | | | | Leeds | Leeds | 0 | | | | |
| Leeds | Leeds | 10 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Leeds | Leeds | 10 | Leeds | Leeds | 17 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Wigan | Wigan | 10 | | | | | | | |
| Warrington | Warrington | 8 | Wigan | Wigan | 10 | | | | | | | |
| Wigan | Wigan | 14 | | | | | | | | | | |

## Notes and comments

1 * Dewsbury, who joined the competition in season 1973–74, win their first game in the competition 2 * This match was televised 3 * The Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991 and 1991-92 and the RUGBYLEAGUEprojects gives the attendance as 3,858 but theofficial St. Helens archives give it as 3,850 4 * Knowsley Road was the home of St Helens R.F.C. from 1890 until its closure in 2010. The final capacity was 17,500 although the record attendance was 35,695 set on 26 December 1949 for a league game between St Helens and Wigan.