# 1970–71 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

The 1970–71 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the sixth occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held. This year was another new name on the trophy - and ALSO St. Helens' third time in six years as runner-up Leeds won the trophy by beating St. Helens by the score of 9-5 The match was played at Headingley, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 7,612 and receipts were £2,189

## Background

This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at eighteen. The format was changed slightly removing the two-legged home and away ties from the preliminary round and playing the whole competition on a knock-out basis. The preliminary round involved four clubs, to reduce the numbers to sixteen.

## Competition and results
### Preliminary round

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| P | Tue 29 Sep 1970 | Huddersfield | 16-14 | Wakefield Trinity | Fartown | | | | |
| P | Thu 8 Oct 1970 | Leigh | 17-0 | Swinton | Hilton Park | | | | |

### Round 1 – first round

Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att |
| 1 | Tue 15 Sep 1970 | Wigan | 28-0 | Keighley | Central Park | |
| 2 | Fri 19 Sep 1970 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 25-13 | Warrington | Craven Park (1) | |
| 3 | Tue 29 Sep 1970 | St. Helens | 14-7 | Castleford | Knowsley Road | 7000 |
| 4 | Tue 6 Oct 1970 | Barrow | 6-15 | Leeds | Craven Park | |
| 5 | Tue 13 Oct 1970 | Halifax | 14-15 | Hull F.C. | Thrum Hall | |
| 6 | Tue 20 Oct 1970 | Salford | 2-7 | Widnes | The Willows | |
| 7 | Fri 23 Oct 1970 | Huddersfield | 14-5 | Oldham | Fartown | |
| 8 | Tue 27 Oct 1970 | Leigh | 14-5 | Rochdale Hornets | Hilton Park | |

### Round 2 – quarter finals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Notes |
| 1 | Tue 3 Nov 1970 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 18-8 | Hull F.C. | Craven Park (1) | | |
| 2 | Tue 10 Nov 1970 | Widnes | 6-16 | Leeds | Naughton Park | | |
| 3 | Tue 24 Nov 1970 | Wigan | 25-9 | Huddersfield | Central Park | | 1 |
| 4 | Mon 30 Nov 1970 | Leigh | 4-10 | St. Helens | Hilton Park | 10372 | |

### 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 1 Dec 1970 | Leeds | 24-2 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Headingley | | | | |
| 2 | Tue 8 Dec 1970 | Wigan | 7-7 | St. Helens | Central Park | 10372 | | 1 | |

### Round 3 – Semi-finals – replays

Involved 1 match and 2 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| R | Sun 13 Dec 1970 | St. Helens | 16-15 | Wigan | Knowsley Road | 10285 | | | |

### Final

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| F | Tuesday 15 December 1970 | Leeds | 9-5 | St. Helens | Headingley | 7,612 | 2,189 | 1 2 | |

#### Teams and scorers

| Leeds | № | St. Helens |
| | teams | |
| John Holmes | 1 | Frank Barrow |
| Alan Smith | 2 | Les Jones |
| Syd Hynes | 3 | Billy Benyon |
| Ronnie Cowan | 4 | Johnny Walsh |
| John Atkinson | 5 | Frank Wilson |
| Anthony "Tony" Wainwright | 6 | Alan Whittle |
| Mick Shoebottom | 7 | Jeff Heaton |
| John Burke | 8 | Graham Rees |
| Tony Fisher | 9 | Anthony "Tony" Karalius |
| Edward/Edwin "Ted" Barnard | 10 | Eric Chisnall |
| Bob Haigh | 11 | John Mantle |
| Bill Ramsey | 12 | Eric Prescott |
| Ray Batten | 13 | Kel Coslett |
| probably Derek Turner | Coach | Jim Challinor |
| 9 | score | 5 |
| 7 | HT | 3 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| Syd Hynes (1) | T | Les Jones (1) |
| | Goals | |
| John Holmes (2) | G | Kel Coslett (1) |
| Syd Hynes (1) | G | |
| Referee | | E. Lawrinson (Warrington) |
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 |
| Salford | Salford | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 7 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 7 | Widnes | Widnes | 6 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Leeds | Leeds | 16 | | | | | | | |
| Barrow | Barrow | 6 | Leeds | Leeds | 16 | | | | | | | |
| Leeds | Leeds | 15 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Leeds | Leeds | 15 | | | | Leeds | Leeds | 24 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 2 | | | | |
| Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 25 | | | | | | | Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 2 | | | | |
| Warrington | Warrington | 13 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Warrington | Warrington | 13 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 18 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 8 | | | | | | | |
| Halifax | Halifax | 14 | Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 8 | | | | | | | |
| Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 15 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 15 | | | | | | | | Leeds | Leeds | 9 |
| | | | | | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 5 |
| Wigan | Wigan | 28 | | | | | | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 5 |
| Keighley | Keighley | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Keighley | Keighley | 0 | Wigan | Wigan | 25 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 9 | | | | | | | |
| Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 14 | Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 9 | | | | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | 5 | | | | Wigan | Wigan | 7 (15) | | | | |
| | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 7 (16) | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 14 | | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 7 (16) | | | | |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 5 | Leigh | Leigh | 4 | | | | | | | |
| | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 10 | | | | | | | |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 14 | St. Helens | St. Helens | 10 | | | | | | | |
| Castleford | Castleford | 7 | | | | | | | | | | |

## Notes and comments

1 * This match was televised 2 * Headingley, Leeds, is the home ground of Leeds RLFC with a capacity of 21,000. The record attendance was 40,175 for a league match between Leeds and Bradford Northern on 21 May 1947.