1980–81 Lancashire Cup

The 1980–81 Lancashire Cup (known as the Forshaws Lancashire Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 68th staging of the rugby league knockout competition, the Lancashire Cup.

1980–81 Lancashire Cup
StructureRegional knockout championship
Teams14
WinnersWarrington
Runners-upWigan

Warrington won the trophy with a 26–10 victory over Second Division side Wigan.

Background

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The total number of teams entering the competition remained at last season’s total of 14 with no junior/amateur clubs taking part.

Competition and results

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First Round

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Involved six matches and 12 clubs. Barrow and Whitehaven received byes into the next round. Huyton's match against Warrington was moved to Wilderspool due to vandalism at Huyton's home ground, Alt Park.[1]

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Ref
1 15 August 1980 Swinton 5–11 Oldham Station Road 2026
2 17 August 1980 Blackpool Borough 2–31 Widnes Borough Park 2200 [2]
3 17 August 1980 Huyton 2–31 Warrington Wilderspool 1937 [3]
4 17 August 1980 Salford 23–12 Leigh The Willows 3579
5 17 August 1980 Wigan 25–10 Rochdale Hornets Central Park 3562 [4]
6 17 August 1980 Workington Town 5–15 St. Helens Derwent Park 2957 [5]

Second Round

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Involved four matches and eight clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Ref
1 24 August 1980 Barrow 9–16 Warrington Craven Park 3328 [3]
2 24 August 1980 Oldham 15–13 Salford Watersheddings 3445
3 24 August 1980 Whitehaven 10–13 Wigan Recreation Ground 3910 [4]
4 24 August 1980 Widnes 22–20 St. Helens Naughton Park 8427 [2][5]

Semi-finals

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Involved two matches and four clubs.

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Ref
1 10 September 1980 Oldham 2–11 Warrington Watersheddings 3963 [3]
2 10 September 1980 Widnes 10–14 Wigan Naughton Park 6563 [2][4]

Final

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The final was played at Knowsley Road, St Helens, with an attendance of 6,279 and gate receipts of £8,629.[6] This was Warrington's seventh Lancashire Cup win, and their first since 1965.[7]

4 October 1980
Warrington 26 – 10 Wigan
Tries: Martyn, Bevan, Thackray, Hesford
Goals: Hesford (7)
Tries: Fairbairn, Ramsdale
Goals: Fairbairn (2)
Knowsley Road, St Helens
Attendance: 6,279[8]
Referee: Gerry Kershaw (Easingwold)
Player of the Match: Tony Waller

Teams

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[3][4]

Warrington Wigan
Derek Finnegan 1 George Fairbairn (c)
Richard Thackray 2 Dennis Ramsdale
Ian Duane 3 Dave Willicombe
John Bevan 4 Steve Davies
Steve Hesford 5 Jimmy Hornby
Ken Kelly (c) 6 Martin Foy
Alan Gwilliam 7 Les Bolton
Neil Courtney 8 Steve Breheny
Tony Waller 9 John Pendlebury
Brian Case 10 Steve O'Neill
Tommy Martyn 11 Bill Melling
Bob Eccles 12 John Clough
Edwin Hunter 13 Terry Hollingsworth
Tony Worrall 14 Bernard Coyle (for Les Bolton)
Ian Potter (for Bob Eccles) 15 Malcolm Smith (for John Pendlebury)
Billy Benyon Coach George Fairbairn

The road to success

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First round Second round Semi-finals Final
            
Swinton 5
Oldham 11
Oldham 15
Salford 13
Salford 23
Leigh 12
Oldham 2
Warrington 11
Barrow
bye
Barrow 9
Warrington 16
Huyton 2
Warrington 31
Warrington 26
Wigan 10
Blackpool Borough 2
Widnes 31
Widnes 22
St. Helens 20
Workington Town 5
St. Helens 15
Widnes 10
Wigan 14
Whitehaven
bye
Whitehaven 10
Wigan 13
Wigan 25
Rochdale Hornets 10

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ "Ground Switch". Liverpool Echo. 11 August 1980. p. 14 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. ^ a b c "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  3. ^ a b c d "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results". Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  6. ^ Fletcher, Raymond; Howes, David, eds. (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-92. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-356-17852-3.
  7. ^ Fletcher & Howes (1981), p. 196.
  8. ^ Attendance figure in Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-92 is given as 6,442

References

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  • Fletcher, Raymond; Howes, David, eds. (1981). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1981-82. Rothmans Publications. ISBN 978-0-907574-07-1.
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