# Regal Trophy

The Regal Trophy was an annual knock-out competition for British rugby league football clubs. Organised by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the competition was open to all professional clubs in the British rugby league system, but amateur teams and French clubs also took part at various points during its existence.
First held in 1971–72, the tournament was initially played over five rounds. A preliminary round was added in 1981–82 to accommodate the increasing number of professional teams in the sport. The fixtures were normally played during the early part of the season, with the final usually taking place at a neutral venue in January. The tournament was regarded as less prestigious than the RFL's primary cup competition, the Challenge Cup, and was discontinued when rugby league became a summer sport in 1996.
During its existence, the competition was always referred to by its sponsorship name. The initial sponsors were the tobacco manufacturer John Player & Sons with Regal taking over in 1989 until the competition's end. Over the years, the competition was known as the Player's No.6 Trophy (1971–77), the John Player Trophy (1977–83) and the John Player Special Trophy (1983–89), before finally becoming the Regal Trophy in 1989.

## History

The competition was introduced in 1971 as the Player's No.6 Trophy, with sponsors John Player & Sons announcing an £11,000 prize fund for the inaugural season. The competition was open to all professional Rugby Football League clubs, with a small number of amateur clubs taking part in most seasons.
In 1977–78, Hull-based Cawoods defeated Halifax 9–8 in the first round of the competition, the first time an amateur team had defeated professional opposition in any competition since 1909.
In 1989, a new sponsorship deal was agreed with Imperial Tobacco, and the competition was rebranded as the Regal Trophy.
In 1992, several French clubs entered the competition. This marked the first time that French teams had participated in a British rugby league competition, and clubs would later also be accepted into the Challenge Cup and domestic leagues.
Following the introduction of the Super League in 1996, the Regal Trophy faced an uncertain future, and was ultimately abandoned. The BBC could no longer fit the competition into its TV schedule due to the switch to playing rugby league in the summer, and Regal were unwilling to continue sponsoring the tournament without television coverage.

## List of finals

| Season | Winners | Score | Runner-up | Venue | Attendance | Date |
| Player's No.6 Trophy |||||||
| 1971–72 | Halifax | 22–11 | Wakefield Trinity | Odsal, Bradford | 7,975 | Saturday 22 January 1972 |
| 1972–73 | Leeds | 12–7 | Salford | Fartown Ground, Huddersfield | 10,102 | Saturday 24 March 1973 |
| 1973–74 | Warrington | 27–16 | Rochdale Hornets | Central Park, Wigan | 9,347 | Saturday 9 February 1974 |
| 1974–75 | Bradford Northern | 3–2 | Widnes | Wilderspool, Warrington | 5,935 | Saturday 25 January 1975 |
| 1975–76 | Widnes | 19–13 | Hull F.C. | Headingley, Leeds | 9,035 | Saturday 24 January 1976 |
| 1976–77 | Castleford | 25–15 | Blackpool Borough | The Willows, Salford | 4,512 | Saturday 22 January 1977 |
| 1977–78 | Warrington | 9–4 | Widnes | Knowsley Road, St Helens | 10,258 | Saturday 28 January 1978 |
| John Player Trophy |||||||
| 1978–79 | Widnes | 16–4 | Warrington | Knowsley Road, St Helens | 10,743 | Saturday 28 April 1979 |
| 1979–80 | Bradford Northern | 6–0 | Widnes | Headingley, Leeds | 9,909 | Saturday 5 January 1980 |
| 1980–81 | Warrington | 12–5 | Barrow | Central Park, Wigan | 12,820 | Saturday 24 January 1981 |
| 1981–82 | Hull F.C. | 12–4 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Headingley, Leeds | 25,165 | Saturday 23 January 1982 |
| 1982–83 | Wigan | 15–4 | Leeds | Elland Road, Leeds | 19,553 | Saturday 22 January 1983 |
| John Player Special Trophy |||||||
| 1983–84 | Leeds | 18–10 | Widnes | Central Park, Wigan | 9,510 | Saturday 14 January 1984 |
| 1984–85 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 12–0 | Hull F.C. | Boothferry Park, Hull | 25,326 | Saturday 26 January 1985 |
| 1985–86 | Wigan | 11–8 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Elland Road, Leeds | 17,573 | Saturday 11 January 1986 |
| 1986–87 | Wigan | 18–4 | Warrington | Burnden Park, Bolton | 21,144 | Saturday 10 January 1987 |
| 1987–88 | St Helens | 15–14 | Leeds | Central Park, Wigan | 16,669 | Saturday 9 January 1988 |
| 1988–89 | Wigan | 12–6 | Widnes | Burnden Park, Bolton | 20,709 | Saturday 7 January 1989 |
| Regal Trophy |||||||
| 1989–90 | Wigan | 24–12 | Halifax | Headingley, Leeds | 17,810 | Saturday 13 January 1990 |
| 1990–91 | Warrington | 12–2 | Bradford Northern | Headingley, Leeds | 11,154 | Saturday 12 January 1991 |
| 1991–92 | Widnes | 24–0 | Leeds | Central Park, Wigan | 15,070 | Saturday 11 January 1992 |
| 1992–93 | Wigan | 15–8 | Bradford Northern | Elland Road, Leeds | 13,221 | Saturday 23 January 1993 |
| 1993–94 | Castleford | 33–2 | Wigan | Headingley, Leeds | 15,626 | Saturday 22 January 1994 |
| 1994–95 | Wigan | 40–10 | Warrington | McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield | 19,636 | Saturday 28 January 1995 |
| 1995–96 | Wigan | 25–16 | St Helens | McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield | 17,590 | Saturday 13 January 1996 |

### Wins by club

| Rank | Club | Wins | Winning seasons |
| 1 | Wigan | 8 | 1982–83, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1992–93, 1994–95, 1995–96 |
| 2 | Warrington | 4 | 1973–74, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1990–91 |
| 3 | Widnes | 3 | 1975–76, 1978–79, 1991–92 |
| 4= | Bradford Northern | 2 | 1974–75, 1979–81 |
| 4= | Castleford | 2 | 1976–77, 1993–94 |
| 4= | Leeds | 2 | 1972–73, 1983–84 |
| 5= | Halifax | 1 | 1971–72 |
| 5= | Hull F.C. | 1 | 1981–82 |
| 5= | Hull Kingston Rovers | 1 | 1984–85 |
| 5= | St. Helens | 1 | 1987–88 |

## Media coverage

The BBC was the exclusive broadcaster of the competition throughout its history. Matches were broadcast on the BBC's Grandstand programme, showing one live match per round. Depending on the TV schedule, only the second-half was shown for some matches in the earlier rounds, but from the semi-final onwards, the entire match was usually covered.