# 1977–78 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

The 1977–78 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the thirteenth occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held. This year there was another new name added when Hull Kingston Rovers won the trophy by beating St. Helens in the final by the score of 26-11. The match was played at Craven Park (1), in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. The attendance was 10,099, and the receipts were £6,586.

## Background

The Rugby Football League's BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was a knock-out competition sponsored by the BBC and between rugby league clubs, entrance to which was conditional upon the club having floodlights. Most matches were played on an evening, and those of which the second half was televised, were played on a Tuesday evening. Despite the competition being named as 'Floodlit', many matches took place during the afternoons and not under floodlights, and several of the entrants, including Barrow and Bramley did not have adequate lighting. And, when in 1973, due to the world oil crisis, the government restricted the use of floodlights in sport, all the matches, including the Trophy final, had to be played in the afternoon rather than at night. The Rugby League season always (until the onset of "Summer Rugby" in 1996) 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 taking place in December (The only exception to this was when disruption of the fixture list was caused by inclement weather)

## Competition and results

This season Bramley, winners in 1973, did not enter the competition (they returned next year), but Batley joined the competition; thus the number of entrants remaining the same at twenty-two. The format remained as a knock-out competition from the preliminary round through to the final. The preliminary round involved twelve clubs, to reduce the numbers taking part in the competition proper to just sixteen.

### Preliminary round

Involved 6 matches and 12 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Notes |
| P | Sun 28 Aug 1977 | Halifax | 5-43 | Leigh | Thrum Hall | |
| P | Tue 30 Aug 1977 | Huddersfield | 18-22 | Wigan | Fartown | |
| P | Tue 30 Aug 1977 | Salford | 39-5 | New Hunslet | The Willows | |
| P | Wed 7 Sep 1977 | Keighley | 25-2 | Swinton | Lawkholme Lane | |
| P | Tue 13 Sep 1977 | Bramley | 4-14 | Wakefield Trinity | McLaren Field | 1 |
| P | Tue 27 Sep 1977 | Leeds | 16-13 | Widnes | Headingley | |

### Round 1 – first round

Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Notes |
| 1 | Wed 28 Sep 1977 | Barrow | 6-10 | Leigh | Craven Park | | |
| 2 | Tue 4 Oct 1977 | Whitehaven | 5-6 | Salford | Recreation Ground | | |
| 3 | Wed 5 Oct 1977 | Oldham | 13-11 | Warrington | Watersheddings | | |
| 4 | Wed 5 Oct 1977 | Wakefield Trinity | 15-8 | Keighley | Belle Vue | | |
| 5 | Tue 11 Oct 1977 | St. Helens | 51-0 | Dewsbury | Knowsley Road | 2,754 | 2 |
| 6 | Wed 12 Oct 1977 | Leeds | 19-5 | Rochdale Hornets | Headingley | | |
| 7 | Tue 25 Oct 1977 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 18-7 | Wigan | Craven Park (1) | | 3 |
| 8 | Tue 18 Oct 1977 | Hull F.C. | A | Castleford | Boulevard | | 4 |

### Round 1 – first round – replay

Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| 8 | Wed 26 Oct 1977 | Hull F.C. | 7-10 | Castleford | Boulevard | | | | |

### Round 2 – quarter finals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att |
| 1 | Tue 1 Nov 1977 | Salford | 29-10 | Oldham | The Willows | |
| 2 | Tue 8 Nov 1977 | Wakefield Trinity | 14-22 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Belle Vue | |
| 3 | Tue 15 Nov 1977 | Castleford | 14-10 | Leeds | Wheldon Road | |
| 4 | Tue 22 Nov 1977 | Leigh | 7-14 | St. Helens | Hilton Park | 4,011 |

### 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 29 Nov 1977 | Castleford | 5-23 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Wheldon Road | | | | |
| 2 | Tue 6 Dec 1977 | St. Helens | 7-4 | Salford | Knowsley Road | 3,500 | | | |

### Final

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| 1 | Tuesday 13 December 1977 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 26-11 | St. Helens | Craven Park (1) | 10,099 | 6,586 | 3 5 | |

#### Teams and scorers

| Hull Kingston Rovers | № | St. Helens |
| | teams | |
| Dave Hall | 1 | Geoff Pimblett |
| Gerald "Ged" Dunn | 2 | Les Jones |
| Mike Smith | 3 | Derek Noonan |
| Bernard Watson | 4 | Eddie Cunningham |
| Clive Sullivan | 5 | Peter Glynn |
| Steve Hartley | 6 | Bill Francis |
| Roger Millward | 7 | Ken Gwilliam |
| John Millington | 8 | David "Dave" Chisnall |
| David Watkinson | 9 | Graham Liptrot |
| John Cunningham | 10 | Mel James |
| Phil Lowe | 11 | Mick Hope |
| Paul Rose | 12 | Anthony "Tony" Karalius |
| Len Casey | 13 | Harry Pinner |
| Roger Millward | Coach | Eric Ashton |
| 26 | score | 11 |
| 11 | HT | 3 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| Gerald "Ged" Dunn (2) | T | Eddie Cunningham (1) |
| Mike Smith (1) | T | Peter Glynn (2) |
| Clive Sullivan (1) | T | |
| Steve Hartley (1) | T | |
| Paul Rose (1) | T | |
| | Goals | |
| Dave Hall (4) | G | Peter Glynn (1) |
| Referee | | Michael "Mick" J. Naughton (Widnes) |
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 |
| Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 7 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Castleford | Castleford | 10 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Castleford | Castleford | 10 | Castleford | Castleford | 14 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Leeds | Leeds | 10 | | | | | | | |
| Leeds | Leeds | 19 | Leeds | Leeds | 10 | | | | | | | |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 5 | | | | Castleford | Castleford | 5 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Hull KR | Hull KR | 23 | | | | |
| Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 15 | | | | | | | Hull KR | Hull KR | 23 | | | | |
| Keighley | Keighley | 8 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Keighley | Keighley | 8 | Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 14 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Hull KR | Hull KR | 22 | | | | | | | |
| Hull KR | Hull KR | 18 | Hull KR | Hull KR | 22 | | | | | | | |
| Wigan | Wigan | 7 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Wigan | Wigan | 7 | | | | | | | | Hull KR | Hull KR | 26 |
| | | | | | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 11 |
| Barrow | Barrow | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 11 |
| Leigh | Leigh | 10 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 10 | Leigh | Leigh | 7 | | | | | | | |
| | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 14 | | | | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 51 | St. Helens | St. Helens | 14 | | | | | | | |
| Dewsbury | Dewsbury | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Dewsbury | Dewsbury | 0 | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 7 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Salford | Salford | 4 | | | | |
| Whitehaven | Whitehaven | 5 | | | | | | | Salford | Salford | 4 | | | | |
| Salford | Salford | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Salford | Salford | 6 | Salford | Salford | 29 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Oldham | Oldham | 10 | | | | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | 13 | Oldham | Oldham | 10 | | | | | | | |
| Warrington | Warrington | 11 | | | | | | | | | | |