# 1968–69 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

The 1968–69 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the fourth occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held. This year was a new name on the trophy after Castleford's three year winning streak came to an end. Wigan won the trophy by beating St. Helens by the score of 7-4 The match was played at Central Park, Wigan, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 13,479 and receipts were £3,291 This was to be Wigan's only success in the competition.

## Background

This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at eighteen. However the format was changed slightly with the games in the preliminary round being on a two-legged home and away basis. This preliminary round now involved four clubs, to reduce the numbers to sixteen, followed by a straightforward knock out competition.

## Competition and results
### Preliminary round – first leg

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | agg | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| P1 | Mon 9 Sep 1968 | Wakefield Trinity | 11-15 | Castleford | Belle Vue | | | | | |
| P1 | Tue 10 Sep 1968 | St. Helens | 21-5 | Barrow | Knowsley Road | | | | | |

### Preliminary round – second leg

Involved 2 matches with the same 4 Clubs with reverse fixtures
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | agg | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| P2 | Mon 23 Sep 1968 | Castleford | 18-0 | Wakefield Trinity | Wheldon Road | 33-11 | | | 1 | |
| P2 | Mon 23 Sep 1968 | Barrow | 18-11 | St. Helens | Craven Park | 23-32 | 2672 | | | |

### Round 1 – first round

Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Notes |
| 1 | Tue 1 Oct 1968 | Leeds | 24-19 | Salford | Headingley | | |
| 2 | Tue 8 Oct 1968 | Wigan | 10-7 | Castleford | Central Park | | 2 |
| 3 | Mon 14 Oct 1968 | Hull F.C. | 22-13 | Widnes | Boulevard | | 3 |
| 4 | Mon 14 Oct 1968 | St. Helens | 12-10 | Swinton | Knowsley Road | 4900 | |
| 5 | Tue 15 Oct 1968 | Leigh | 27-19 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Hilton Park | | |
| 6 | Tue 15 Oct 1968 | Rochdale Hornets | 16-14 | Oldham | Athletic Grounds | | 4 |
| 7 | Tue 22 Oct 1968 | Keighley | 8-11 | Huddersfield | Lawkholme Lane | 2795 | 5 |
| 8 | Tue 29 Oct 1968 | Warrington | 30-12 | Halifax | Wilderspool | | |

### Round 2 – quarter finals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Notes |
| 1 | Tue 5 Nov 1968 | Rochdale Hornets | 7-23 | Wigan | Athletic Grounds | 2 |
| 2 | Tue 12 Nov 1968 | Leigh | 25-11 | Leeds | Hilton Park | |
| 3 | Tue 19 Nov 1968 | Warrington | 18-5 | Huddersfield | Wilderspool | |
| 4 | Tue 26 Nov 1968 | St. Helens | 14-10 | Hull F.C. | Knowsley Road | |

### 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 3 Dec 1968 | Wigan | 9-7 | Leigh | Central Park | | | 2 | |
| 2 | Tue 10 Dec 1968 | St. Helens | 29-6 | Warrington | Knowsley Road | | | | |

### Final

| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| | Tuesday 17 December 1968 | Wigan | 7-4 | St. Helens | Central Park | 13,479 | 3,291 | 2 6 | |

#### Teams and scorers

| Wigan | № | St. Helens |
| | teams | |
| Colin Tyrer | 1 | Cen Williams |
| Bill Francis | 2 | Frank Wilson |
| Eric Ashton | 3 | Billy Benyon |
| Bill Ashurst | 4 | Frank Myler |
| Peter Rowe | 5 | John Wills |
| Cliff Hill | 6 | Alan Whittle |
| Johnny Jackson | 7 | Tommy Bishop |
| John Stephens | 8 | John Warlow |
| Colin Clarke | 9 | Bill Sayer |
| Keith Mills | 10 | Cliff Watson |
| Terry Fogerty | 11 | John Mantle |
| Kevin O'Loughlin | 12 | Brian Hogan |
| Doug Laughton | 13 | Kel Coslett |
| Geoff Lyon | 14 | Eric Prescott |
| A. N. Other | 15 | Eric Chisnall |
| Eric Ashton | Coach | Cliff Evans |
| 7 | score | 4 |
| 2 | HT | 4 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| Cliff Hill (1) | T | |
| | Goals | |
| Colin Tyrer (2) | G | Kel Coslett (2) |
| Referee | | (Sergeant Major) Eric Clay (Leeds) |
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 |
| Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 16 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | 14 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | 14 | Rochdale Hornets | Rochdale Hornets | 7 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Wigan | Wigan | 23 | | | | | | | |
| Wigan | Wigan | 10 | Wigan | Wigan | 23 | | | | | | | |
| Castleford | Castleford | 7 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Castleford | Castleford | 7 | | | | Wigan | Wigan | 9 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Leigh | Leigh | 7 | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 27 | | | | | | | Leigh | Leigh | 7 | | | | |
| Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 19 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 19 | Leigh | Leigh | 25 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Leeds | Leeds | 11 | | | | | | | |
| Leeds | Leeds | 24 | Leeds | Leeds | 11 | | | | | | | |
| Salford | Salford | 19 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Salford | Salford | 19 | | | | | | | | Wigan | Wigan | 7 |
| | | | | | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 4 |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 12 | | | | | | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 4 |
| Leigh | Leigh | 10 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 10 | St. Helens | St. Helens | 14 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 10 | | | | | | | |
| Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 22 | Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 10 | | | | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 13 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Widnes | Widnes | 13 | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 29 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Warrington | Warrington | 6 | | | | |
| Warrington | Warrington | 30 | | | | | | | Warrington | Warrington | 6 | | | | |
| Halifax | Halifax | 12 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Halifax | Halifax | 12 | Warrington | Warrington | 18 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 5 | | | | | | | |
| Keighley | Keighley | 8 | Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 5 | | | | | | | |
| Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 11 | | | | | | | | | | |

## Notes and comments

1 * Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-91 and 1991-1992 and "100 Years of Rugby. The History of Wakefield Trinity 1873-1973" give the score as 18–0 but as obvious error in the wonderfully detailed independent WEB "Wakefield 'till I die" gives the score as 13-0 2 * This match was televised 3 * Hull F.C. (who joined the competition in season 1967-68) play their first game at home in the competition 4 * Rochdale Hornets, who joined the competition in season 1966-67, win their first game in the competition 5 * Keighley (who joined the competition in season 1967-68) play their first game at home in the competition 6 * The attendance was a record at that time 7 * Central Park was the home ground of Wigan with a final capacity of 18,000, although the record attendance was 47,747 for Wigan v St Helens 27 March 1959