# 1978–79 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

The 1978–79 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the 14th staging of the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition, and was held in 1978.
Previous two times runner-up Widnes won the trophy by beating the previous year's winners and cup holders St. Helens by 13-7. The match was played at Knowsley Road, Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. 10,250 fans attended, and the receipts were £7,017.

## Background

This season Batley dropped out after only one season, but Bramley returned; 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.

## Competition and results
### Preliminary round

Involved 6 matches and 12 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Notes |
| P | Sat 26 Aug 1978 | Leeds | 47–11 | Bramley | Headingley | 10099 | 1 2 |
| P | Sun 27 Aug 1978 | Barrow | 17–11 | Oldham | Craven Park | | |
| P | Sun 27 Aug 1978 | Wigan | 27–10 | Swinton | Central Park | | |
| P | Tue 5 Sep 1978 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 39–2 | New Hunslet | Craven Park (1) | | |
| P | Tue 5 Sep 1978 | Keighley | 10–0 | Dewsbury | Lawkholme Lane | | |
| P | Tue 12 Sep 1978 | St. Helens | 13–9 | Warrington | Knowsley Road | 5,000 | |

### First round

Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Notes |
| 1 | Tue 26 Sep 1978 | Castleford | 20–11 | Wakefield Trinity | Wheldon Road | | 3 |
| 2 | Thu 28 Sep 1978 | Barrow | 17–5 | Leigh | Craven Park | | |
| 3 | Tue 3 Oct 1978 | Halifax | 12–21 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Thrum Hall | | 3 |
| 4 | Tue 3 Oct 1978 | Keighley | 15–25 | Huddersfield | Lawkholme Lane | | |
| 5 | Tue 3 Oct 1978 | Widnes | 17–13 | Whitehaven | Naughton Park | | |
| 6 | Tue 10 Oct 1978 | Leeds | 8–14 | Hull F.C. | Headingley | | |
| 7 | Tue 17 Oct 1978 | Salford | 15–17 | St. Helens | The Willows | 4,632 | 3 |
| 8 | Tue 24 Oct 1978 | Wigan | 13–2 | Rochdale Hornets | Central Park | | 3 |

### Second round

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Notes |
| 1 | Tue 31 Oct 1978 | Barrow | 0–6 | Hull F.C. | Craven Park | | |
| 2 | Tue 7 Nov 1978 | St. Helens | 47–5 | Castleford | Knowsley Road | 4,247 | 5 |
| 3 | Wed 15 Nov 1978 | Rochdale Hornets | 10–9 | Huddersfield | Athletic Grounds | | |
| 4 | Tue 21 Nov 1978 | Hull Kingston Rovers | P | Widnes | Craven Park (1) | | 6 |

### Replay

Involved 1 matches and 2 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| R | Tue 21 Nov 1978 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 10–13 | Widnes | Craven Park (1) | | | | |

### Semi-finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| 1 | Tue 28 Nov 1978 | Hull F.C. | 5–13 | St Helens | Boulevard | 8,428 | | 3 | |
| 2 | Tue 05 Dec 1978 | Rochdale Hornets | P | Widnes | Athletic Grounds | | | 7 | |

### Replay

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| R | Fri 08 Dec 1978 | Rochdale Hornets | 9–26 | Widnes | Athletic Grounds | | | | |

### Final

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| F | Tuesday 12 December 1978 | St Helens | 7–13 | Widnes | Knowsley Road | 10,250 | 7,017 | 3 8 9 | |

#### Teams and scorers

| Widnes | № | St. Helens |
| | teams | |
| David Eckersley | 1 | Geoff Pimblett |
| Stuart Wright | 2 | Les Jones |
| Eric Hughes | 3 | Peter Glynn |
| Mal Aspey | 4 | Eddie Cunningham |
| Peter Shaw | 5 | Roy Mathias |
| Mick Burke | 6 | Bill Francis |
| Reg Bowden | 7 | Neil Holding |
| Brian Hogan | 8 | David "Dave" Chisnall |
| Keith Elwell | 9 | Graham Liptrot |
| Jim Mills | 10 | Mel James |
| Mick Adams | 11 | George Nicholls |
| Alan Dearden | 12 | John Knighton |
| Doug Laughton | 13 | Harry Pinner |
| Doug Laughton | Coach | Eric Ashton |
| 13 | score | 7 |
| 8 | HT | 5 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| Stuart Wright (2) | T | David "Dave" Chisnall (1) |
| Mick Burke (1) | T | |
| | Goals | |
| Mick Burke (2) | G | Geoff Pimblett (2) |
| Referee | | J McDonald (Wigan) |
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 |
| Barrow | Barrow | 17 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 5 | Barrow | Barrow | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 6 | | | | | | | |
| Leeds | Leeds | 8 | Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 6 | | | | | | | |
| Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 14 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 14 | | | | Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 5 | | | | |
| | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 13 | | | | |
| Salford | Salford | 15 | | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 13 | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 17 | | | | | | | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 17 | St. Helens | St. Helens | 47 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Castleford | Castleford | 5 | | | | | | | |
| Castleford | Castleford | 20 | Castleford | Castleford | 5 | | | | | | | |
| Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 11 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 11 | | | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 7 |
| | | | | | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 13 |
| Wigan | Wigan | 13 | | | | | | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 13 |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 2 | Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 10 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 9 | | | | | | | |
| Keighley | Keighley | 15 | Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 9 | | | | | | | |
| Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 25 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 25 | | | | Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 9 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 26 | | | | |
| Halifax | Halifax | 12 | | | | | | | Widnes | Widnes | 26 | | | | |
| Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 21 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 21 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 10 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Widnes | Widnes | 13 | | | | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 17 | Widnes | Widnes | 13 | | | | | | | |
| Whitehaven | Whitehaven | 13 | | | | | | | | | | |