# 1979–80 Lancashire Cup

1979–80 was the sixty-seventh occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion had been held.
Widnes won the trophy by beating Workington Town by the score of 11-0
The match was played at The Willows, Salford, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 6887 and receipts were £7100.00
After relatively little success in the competition, Workington Town had reached the semi-final stage in 1973–74, 1974–75 and 1975–76, had been runner-up in 1976–77, winner in 1977–78, and runners-up in 1978–79 and now again in 1979–80; not a bad eight year record.

## 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 | Sun 19 Aug 1979 | Barrow | 44-11 | Huyton | Craven Park | |
| 2 | Sun 19 Aug 1979 | Blackpool Borough | 20-9 | Whitehaven | Borough Park | |
| 3 | Sun 19 Aug 1979 | Leigh | 20-3 | Rochdale Hornets | Hilton Park | |
| 4 | Sun 19 Aug 1979 | St. Helens | 16-28 | Widnes | Knowsley Road | 8350 |
| 5 | Sun 19 Aug 1979 | Swinton | 15-22 | Oldham | Station Road | |
| 6 | Sun 19 Aug 1979 | Warrington | 17-14 | Wigan | Wilderspool | 5038 |
| 7 | Sun 19 Aug 1979 | Workington Town | 14-8 | Salford | 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 26 Aug 1979 | Barrow | 50-8 | Blackpool Borough | Craven Park |
| 2 | Sun 26 Aug 1979 | Oldham | 6-34 | Warrington | Watersheddings |
| 3 | Sun 26 Aug 1979 | Widnes | 33-3 | Leigh | Naughton Park |
| 4 | | Workington Town | | 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 26 Sep 1979 | Barrow | 4-6 | Workington Town | Craven Park | | | | |
| 2 | Wed 24 Oct 1979 | Warrington | 2-13 | Widnes | Wilderspool | | | | |

### Final

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| | Saturday 8 December 1979 | Widnes | 11-0 | Workington Town | The Willows | 6,887 | 7,100 | 1 | |

#### Teams and scorers

| Widnes | № | Workington Town |
| | teams | |
| David Eckersley | 1 | Paul Charlton |
| Stuart Wright | 2 | Iain McCorquodale |
| Mal Aspey | 3 | Kevin Maughan |
| Eric Hughes | 4 | Ian Thompson |
| Mick Burke | 5 | David Beck |
| David Moran | 6 | Ian Rudd |
| Reg Bowden | 7 | Arnold "Boxer" Walker |
| Brian Hogan | 8 | Harry Beverley |
| Keith Elwell | 9 | Alan Banks |
| Glyn Shaw | 10 | Gary Wallbanks |
| Les Gorley | 11 | Bill Pattinson |
| Alan Dearden | 12 | Ray Lewis |
| Mick Adams | 13 | John Dobie |
| Mick George (for Eric Hughes) | 14 | Tony Roper (for Arnold Walker) |
| David Hull (unused) | 15 | Alan Varty (for Gary Wallbanks) |
| 11 | score | 0 |
| 10 | HT | 0 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| David Moran (1) | T | |
| Mick Adams (1) | T | |
| | Goals | |
| Mick Burke (2) | G | |
| | Drop Goals | |
| Keith Elwell (1) | DG | |
| Referee | | W H (Billy) Thompson (Huddersfield) |
| Man of the match | | Mick Adams - Widnes - loose forward |
| sponsored by | | Burtonwood Brewery |
| 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 |
| Swinton | Swinton | 15 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | 22 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | 22 | Oldham | Oldham | 6 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Warrington | Warrington | 34 | | | | | | | |
| Warrington | Warrington | 17 | Warrington | Warrington | 34 | | | | | | | |
| Wigan | Wigan | 14 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Wigan | Wigan | 14 | | | | Warrington | Warrington | 2 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 13 | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 16 | | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 13 | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 28 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 28 | Widnes | Widnes | 33 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Leigh | Leigh | 3 | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 20 | Leigh | Leigh | 3 | | | | | | | |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 3 | | | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 11 |
| | | | | | | | | | | Workington Town | Workington Town | 0 |
| Barrow | Barrow | 44 | | | | | | | | | | | Workington Town | Workington Town | 0 |
| Huyton | Huyton | 11 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Huyton | Huyton | 11 | Barrow | Barrow | 50 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Blackpool Borough | Blackpool Borough | 8 | | | | | | | |
| Blackpool Borough | Blackpool Borough | 20 | Blackpool Borough | Blackpool Borough | 8 | | | | | | | |
| Whitehaven | Whitehaven | 9 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Whitehaven | Whitehaven | 9 | | | | Barrow | Barrow | 4 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Workington Town | Workington Town | 6 | | | | |
| Workington Town | Workington Town | 14 | | | | | | | Workington Town | Workington Town | 6 | | | | |
| Salford | Salford | 8 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Salford | Salford | 8 | Workington Town | Workington Town | | | | | | | | |
| | | | bye | bye | | | | | | | | |
| blank | blank | | bye | bye | | | | | | | | |
| blank | blank | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Notes and comments

1 * The Willows was the home ground of Salford with a final capacity of 11,363 which included 2,500 seats. The record attendance was 26,470 on the 13 February 1937 in the Challenge Cup first round match vs Warrington. The final match played on 11 September 2011 at The Willows attracted 10,146 spectators to a Super League match which saw Salford lose 18-44 to Catalans Dragons, a record for a Salford home match in Super League.