# 1972–73 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

The 1972–73 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the eighth occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held. This year was another new name on the trophy Leigh won the trophy by beating Widnes by the score of 5-0 The match was played at Central Park, Wigan, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 4,691 and receipts were £1,391 This was Leigh's first victory after being runner-up in two of the previous finals

## Background

This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at eighteen. The format remained the same as the last season with the preliminary round played on a two-legged home and away basis and the rest of the tournament being played on a knock-out basis. The preliminary round involved four clubs, to reduce the numbers to sixteen.

## Competition and results
### Preliminary round – first leg

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | agg | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| P1 | Tue 5 Sep 1972 | Wakefield Trinity | 7-7 | Hull F.C. | Belle Vue | | | | | |
| P1 | Tue 12 Sep 1972 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 15-6 | Rochdale Hornets | Craven Park (1) | | | | | |

## Competition and results
### Preliminary round – second leg

Involved 2 matches and the same 4 Clubs in reverse fixtures
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | agg | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| P2 | Tue 19 Sep 1972 | Hull F.C. | 3-11 | Wakefield Trinity | Boulevard | 10-18 | | | 1 | |
| P2 | Tue 26 Sep 1972 | Rochdale Hornets | 9-23 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Athletic Grounds | 15-38 | | | | |

### Round 1 – first round

Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Notes |
| 1 | Tue 3 Oct 1972 | Barrow | 9-12 | Keighley | Craven Park | 2 |
| 2 | Tue 3 Oct 1972 | Oldham | 12-8 | Salford | Watersheddings | |
| 3 | Wed 4 Oct 1972 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 10-12 | Leigh | Craven Park (1) | |
| 4 | Tue 10 Oct 1972 | St. Helens | 6-14 | Leeds | Knowsley Road | |
| 5 | Tue 17 Oct 1972 | Huddersfield | 9-15 | Castleford | Fartown | |
| 6 | Tue 24 Oct 1972 | Wigan | 26-6 | Halifax | Central Park | 3 |
| 7 | Wed 25 Oct 1972 | Swinton | 6-18 | Wakefield Trinity | Station Road | |
| 8 | Tue 31 Oct 1972 | Warrington | 18-18 | Widnes | Wilderspool | |

### Round 1 – first round – replays

Involved 1 match and 2 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| R | Tue 14 Nov 1972 | Widnes | 14-11 | Warrington | Naughton Park | | | | |

### Round 2 – quarter finals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Notes |
| 1 | Tue 7 Nov 1972 | Oldham | 9-7 | Castleford | Watersheddings | |
| 2 | Tue 14 Nov 1972 | Wakefield Trinity | 19-2 | Keighley | Belle Vue | |
| 3 | Tue 21 Nov 1972 | Widnes | 9-4 | Leeds | Naughton Park | |
| 4 | Tue 28 Nov 1972 | Wigan | 14-16 | Leigh | Central Park | 3 |

### 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 5 Dec 1972 | Leigh | 10-8 | Oldham | Hilton Park | | | | |
| 2 | Tue 12 Dec 1972 | Widnes | 16-9 | Wakefield Trinity | Naughton Park | | | | |

### Final

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| F | Tuesday 19 December 1972 | Leigh | 5-0 | Widnes | Central Park | 4,691 | 1,391 | 3 4 5 6 | |

#### Teams and scorers

| Leigh | No. | Widnes |
| | teams | |
| Mick Hogan | 1 | Ray Dutton |
| Graeme Lawson | 2 | Alan Prescott |
| John Atkin | 3 | Bob Blackwood (NOTE 6) |
| Mick Collins | 4 | Mal Aspey (NOTE 7) |
| Mick Stacey | 5 | Paul McDonnell |
| Tony Barrow | 6 | Eric Hughes (NOTE 8) |
| Cliff Sayer | 7 | Alan Ashton |
| Paul Grimes | 8 | Jim Mills |
| Derek Clarke | 9 | Keith Elwell |
| Geoff Fletcher | 10 | John Warlow |
| Jim Fiddler | 11 | John Foran |
| Frank Barrow | 12 | Barry Sheridan |
| Thomas Martyn | 13 | George Nicholls |
| Les Pearce | Coach | Vince Karalius |
| 5 | score | 0 |
| 0 | HT | 0 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| G. Lawson (1) | T | |
| | Goals | |
| Jim Fiddler (1) | G | |
| Referee | | G. Frederick "Fred" Lindop (Wakefield) |
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 |
| Wigan | Wigan | 26 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Halifax | Halifax | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Halifax | Halifax | 6 | Wigan | Wigan | 14 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Leigh | Leigh | 16 | | | | | | | |
| Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 10 | Leigh | Leigh | 16 | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 12 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 12 | | | | Leigh | Leigh | 10 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Oldham | Oldham | 8 | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | 12 | | | | | | | Oldham | Oldham | 8 | | | | |
| Salford | Salford | 8 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Salford | Salford | 8 | Oldham | Oldham | 9 | | | | | | | |
| | | | St Helens | St Helens | 7 | | | | | | | |
| Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 9 | St Helens | St Helens | 7 | | | | | | | |
| Castleford | Castleford | 15 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Castleford | Castleford | 15 | | | | | | | | Leigh | Leigh | 5 |
| | | | | | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 0 |
| Warrington | Warrington | 18 (11) | | | | | | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 0 |
| Widnes | Widnes | 18 (14) | | | | | | | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 18 (14) | Widnes | Widnes | 9 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Leeds | Leeds | 4 | | | | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 6 | Leeds | Leeds | 4 | | | | | | | |
| Leeds | Leeds | 14 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Leeds | Leeds | 14 | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 16 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 9 | | | | |
| Swinton | Swinton | 6 | | | | | | | Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 9 | | | | |
| Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 18 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 18 | Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 19 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Keighley | Keighley | 2 | | | | | | | |
| Barrow | Barrow | 9 | Keighley | Keighley | 2 | | | | | | | |
| Keighley | Keighley | 12 | | | | | | | | | | |

## Notes and comments

1 * Wakefield Trinity, who joined the competition in season 1967–68, win their first game in the competition 2 * Keighley (who joined the competition in season 1967–68) win their first match in the competition 3 * This match was televised 4 * This was the second of only two occasions when the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy final was played on a neutral ground 5 * Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991 and 1991-92 give the attendance as 4,691, but RUGBYLEAGUEprojects gives it as 4,841 6 * The Widnes official archives give this player, Bob Blackwood as number 3 but Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-91 and 1991-92 give the position as 4 7 * The Widnes official archives give this player, Mal Aspey as number 4 but Rothmans Tearbook 1990-91 and 1991-92 give the position as 3 8 * The Widnes official archives give the stand off (No 6) as Eric Hughes but Rothmans Tearbook 1990-91 and 1991-92 give the player as Ged Lowe 9 * Central Park was the home ground of Wigan with a final capacity of 18,000, although the record attendance was 47,747 for Wigan v St Helens 27 March 1959