# 1970–71 Lancashire Cup

The 1970–71 Lancashire Cup was the fifty-eighth staging of the tournament. Leigh won the trophy by beating St. Helens by the score of 7–4 in the final. The match was played at Station Road, Pendlebury, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 10,776 and receipts were £3,136.

## Background

The total number of teams entering the competition remained the same at a total of 16. Once again two junior (or amateur) clubs were invited St Helens Amateurs and this year, Whitehaven Amateurs. The same fixture format was retained, and due to the number of participating clubs, resulted in a full fixture list with no byes or “blank” or “dummy” fixtures.

## Competition and results
### Round 1

Involved 8 matches (with no bye or “blank” fixture) and 16 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Notes |
| 1 | Fri 28-08-1970 | Rochdale Hornets | 14-11 | Whitehaven | Athletic Grounds | | |
| 2 | Fri 28-08-1970 | Warrington | 9-21 | Leigh | Wilderspool | | |
| 3 | Sat 29-08-1970 | Blackpool Borough | 10-10 | Widnes | Borough Park | | |
| 4 | Sat 29-08-1970 | Huyton | 3-30 | St. Helens | Alt Park, Huyton | 2,121 | |
| 5 | Sat 29-08-1970 | Oldham | 12-35 | Salford | Watersheddings | | |
| 6 | Sat 29-08-1970 | Swinton | 51-21 | St Helens Amateurs | Station Road | | 1 |
| 7 | Sat 29-08-1970 | Wigan | 32-2 | Barrow | Central Park | | |
| 8 | Sun 30-08-1970 | Workington Town | 49-7 | Whitehaven Amateurs | Derwent Park | | 2 |

### Round 1 replays

Involved 1 match and 2 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| 1 | Thu 03-09-1970 | Widnes | 41-6 | Blackpool Borough | Naughton Park | | | | |

### Round 2 - Quarter-finals

Involved 4 matches (with no bye) and 8 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att |
| 1 | Mon 07-09-1970 | Widnes | 32-5 | Rochdale Hornets | Naughton Park | |
| 2 | Sun 13-09-1970 | Salford | 12-12 | Wigan | The Willows | |
| 3 | Wed 16-09-1970 | Leigh | 12-8 | Workington Town | Hilton Park | |
| 4 | Thu 17-09-1970 | St. Helens | 20-7 | Swinton | Knowsley Road | 7,500 |

### Round 2 – replays

Involved 1 match and 2 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| 1 | Sun 20-09-1970 | Wigan | 32-6 | Salford | Central 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 | Sun 04-10-1970 | Widnes | 10-13 | Leigh | Naughton Park | | | | |
| 2 | Sat 10-10-1970 | Wigan | 0-23 | St. Helens | Central Park | 23,508 | | | |

### Final

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| | Saturday 28 November 1970 | Leigh | 7-4 | St. Helens | Station Road | 10,776 | £3,136 | HT 0-0 | |

#### Teams and scorers

| Leigh | No. | St. Helens |
| | teams | |
| Stuart Ferguson | 1 | Frank Barrow |
| Rod Tickle | 2 | Les Jones |
| Les Chisnall | 3 | Billy Benyon |
| Mick Collins | 4 | Johnny Walsh |
| Joseph Walsh | 5 | Frank Wilson |
| David Eckersley | 6 | Frank Myler |
| Alex Murphy | 7 | Alan Whittle |
| Dave Chisnall | 8 | Albert Halsall |
| Kevin Ashcroft | 9 | Tony Karalius |
| Derek Watts | 10 | Graham Rees |
| Paul Grimes | 11 | John Mantle |
| Geoffrey Clarkson | 12 | Eric Chisnall |
| Mick Mooney | 13 | Kel Coslett |
| Thomas "Tom" /"Tommy" Canning (for Rod Tickle) | 14 | Jeff Heaton (not used) |
| | 15 | Eric Prescott (for Graham Rees) |
| 7 | score | 4 |
| 0 | HT | 0 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| David Eckersley (1) | T | |
| | Goals | |
| Stuart Ferguson (2) | G | Kel Coslett (2) |
| Referee | | W H (Billy) Thompson (Huddersfield) |
Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points

### 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 |
| Blackpool Borough | Blackpool Borough | 10-6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 10-41 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 10-41 | Widnes | Widnes | 32 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 5 | | | | | | | |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 14 | Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 5 | | | | | | | |
| Whitehaven | Whitehaven | 11 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Whitehaven | Whitehaven | 11 | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 10 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Leigh | Leigh | 13 | | | | |
| Warrington | Warrington | 9 | | | | | | | Leigh | Leigh | 13 | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 21 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 21 | Leigh | Leigh | 12 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Workington Town | Workington Town | 8 | | | | | | | |
| Workington Town | Workington Town | 49 | Workington Town | Workington Town | 8 | | | | | | | |
| Whitehaven Amateurs | Whitehaven Amateurs | 7 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Whitehaven Amateurs | Whitehaven Amateurs | 7 | | | | | | | | Leigh | Leigh | 7 |
| | | | | | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 4 |
| Oldham | Oldham | 12 | | | | | | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 4 |
| Salford | Salford | 35 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Salford | Salford | 35 | Salford | Salford | 12-6 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Wigan | Wigan | 12-32 | | | | | | | |
| Wigan | Wigan | 32 | Wigan | Wigan | 12-32 | | | | | | | |
| Barrow | Barrow | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Barrow | Barrow | 2 | | | | Wigan | Wigan | 0 | | | | |
| | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 23 | | | | |
| Huyton | Huyton | 3 | | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 23 | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 30 | | | | | | | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 30 | St. Helens | St. Helens | 20 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Swinton | Swinton | 7 | | | | | | | |
| Swinton | Swinton | 51 | Swinton | Swinton | 7 | | | | | | | |
| St Helens Amateurs | St Helens Amateurs | 21 | | | | | | | | | | |

## Notes and comments

1 * St Helens Amateurs were a junior (or amateur) club from St Helens
2 * Whitehaven Amateurs are a junior (or amateur) club from Whitehaven
3 * Station Road was the home ground of Swinton from 1929 to 1932 and at its peak was one of the finest rugby league grounds in the country and it boasted a capacity of 60,000. The actual record attendance was for the Challenge Cup semi-final on 7 April 1951 when 44,621 watched Wigan beat Warrington 3-2