# 1976–77 Lancashire Cup

1976–77 was the sixty-fourth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion had been held.
Widnes won the trophy by beating Workington Town by the score of 16-11
The match was played at Central Park, Wigan, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 9,399 and receipts were £6,414.00

## Background

The total number of teams entering the competition remained at last season’s total of 14 with no junior/amateur clubs taking part.
The same fixture format was retained, but due to the number of participating clubs, this resulted in one “blank” or “dummy” fixture in the first round, and one bye in the second round.

## Competition and results
### Round 1

Involved 7 matches (with one “blank” fixture) and 14 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att |
| 1 | Sat 21 Aug 1976 | Wigan | 37-5 | St. Helens | Central Park | 2370 |
| 2 | Sun 22 Aug 1976 | Barrow | 7-40 | Warrington | Craven Park | |
| 3 | Sun 22 Aug 1976 | Blackpool Borough | 17-10 | Oldham | Borough Park | |
| 4 | Sun 22 Aug 1976 | Leigh | 41-13 | Whitehaven | Hilton Park | |
| 5 | Sun 22 Aug 1976 | Salford | 46-14 | Huyton | The Willows | |
| 6 | Sun 22 Aug 1976 | Widnes | 25-13 | Rochdale Hornets | Naughton Park | |
| 7 | Sun 22 Aug 1976 | Workington Town | 15-11 | Swinton | Derwent Park | |
| 8 | | blank | | blank | | |

### Round 2 - Quarter-finals

Involved 3 matches (with one bye) and 7 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue |
| 1 | Sun 29 Aug 1976 | Warrington | 14-13 | Salford | Wilderspool |
| 2 | Sun 29 Aug 1976 | Wigan | 14-16 | Leigh | Central Park |
| 3 | Sun 29 Aug 1976 | Workington Town | 30-8 | Blackpool Borough | Derwent Park |
| 4 | | Widnes | | bye | |

### 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 | Wed 08 Sep 1976 | Leigh | 16-24 | Widnes | Hilton Park | | | | |
| 2 | Tue 21 Sep 1976 | Warrington | 9-9 | Workington Town | Wilderspool | | | | |

### Round 3 – Semi-finals - replays

Involved 1 match and 2 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| 1 | Wed 29 Sep 1976 | Workington Town | 26-15 | Warrington | Derwent Park | | | | |

### Final

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| | Saturday 30 October 1976 | Widnes | 16-11 | Workington Town | Central Park | 9,399 | 6,414 | 1 2 3 | |

#### Teams and scorers

| Widnes | № | Workington Town |
| | teams | |
| Ray Dutton | 1 | Paul Charlton |
| Stuart Wright | 2 | David Collister |
| Mal Aspey | 3 | Ray Wilkins |
| Mick George | 4 | Ian Wright |
| Alan Prescott | 5 | Iain McCorquodale |
| David Eckersley | 6 | Brian Lauder |
| Reg Bowden | 7 | Arnold "Boxer" Walker |
| Bill Ramsey | 8 | Jim Mills |
| Keith Elwell | 9 | Alan Banks |
| Nick Nelson | 10 | Ralph Calvin |
| Mick Adams | 11 | Eddie Bowman |
| Alan Dearden | 12 | Les Gorley |
| Doug Laughton | 13 | Bill Pattinson |
| Paul Woods | 14 | Harry Marland |
| Barry Sheridan | 15 | Peter Gorley (for Bill Pattinson |
| 16 | score | 11 |
| 9 | HT | 5 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| Stuart Wright (1) | T | Ray Wilkins (1) |
| Mick George (1) | T | |
| | Goals | |
| Ray Dutton (4) | G | Iain McCorquodale (4) |
| | Drop Goals | |
| Ray Dutton (1) | DG | |
| Reg Bowden (1) | DG | |
| Referee | | W H (Billy) Thompson (Huddersfield) |
| Man of the match | | David Eckersley - Widnes - stand-off |
| sponsored by | | Rugby Leaguer |
| Competition Sponsor | | Forshaws (Burtonwood Brewery Co Ltd) |
Scoring - Try = three points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = one point

### The road to success

| First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Final | Final | Final |
| Wigan | Wigan | 27 | | | | | | | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 5 | Wigan | Wigan | 14 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Leigh | Leigh | 16 | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 41 | Leigh | Leigh | 16 | | | | | | | |
| Whitehaven | Whitehaven | 13 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Whitehaven | Whitehaven | 13 | | | | Leigh | Leigh | 19 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 24 | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 25 | | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 24 | | | | |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 13 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 13 | Widnes | Widnes | | | | | | | | |
| | | | bye | bye | | | | | | | | |
| blank | blank | | bye | bye | | | | | | | | |
| blank | blank | | | | | | | | | | | |
| blank | blank | | | | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 16 |
| | | | | | | | | | | Workington Town | Workington Town | 11 |
| Barrow | Barrow | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | Workington Town | Workington Town | 11 |
| Warrington | Warrington | 40 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Warrington | Warrington | 40 | Warrington | Warrington | 14 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Salford | Salford | 13 | | | | | | | |
| Salford | Salford | 46 | Salford | Salford | 13 | | | | | | | |
| Huyton | Huyton | 14 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Huyton | Huyton | 14 | | | | Warrington | Warrington | 9-26 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Workington Town | Workington Town | 9-15 | | | | |
| Workington Town | Workington Town | 15 | | | | | | | Workington Town | Workington Town | 9-15 | | | | |
| Swinton | Swinton | 11 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Swinton | Swinton | 11 | Workington Town | Workington Town | 30 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Blackpool Borough | Blackpool Borough | 8 | | | | | | | |
| Blackpool Borough | Blackpool Borough | 17 | Blackpool Borough | Blackpool Borough | 8 | | | | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | 10 | | | | | | | | | | |

## Notes and comments

1 * News of the World Football annual of 1976–77 has the score as 17-11 - other publications and archived records e.g. Widnes official archives have the score as 16-11
2 * Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-92 gives the attendance as 7,566 - RUGBYLEAGUEprojects give the attendance as 9,399
3 * 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