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1980–81 John Player Trophy

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This was the tenth season for rugby league's League Cup competition. It was again known as the John Player Trophy for sponsorship purposes.

1980–81 John Player Trophy
StructureNational knockout championship
Teams32
WinnersWarrington
Runners-upBarrow

Warrington won the final, beating Barrow by the score of 12-5 at Central Park, Wigan in front of a crowd of 12,802. The gate receipts were £21020.

Background

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This season saw only one change in the entrants, with the admittance of Fulham to the league and to this competition, resulted in only one junior club being invited, the total number remaining at thirty-two.

Competition and results

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[1]

Round 1 - First Round

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[2] Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 22 Nov 1980 Hull F.C. 12-0 Bradford Northern Boulevard 10854 [3]
2 Sat 22 Nov 1980 Hunslet 15-5 Workington Town Mount Pleasant 700
3 Sun 23 Nov 1980 Batley 4-20 Huddersfield Mount Pleasant 1781 [4]
4 Sun 23 Nov 1980 Blackpool Borough 21-7 Huyton Borough Park 450
5 Sun 23 Nov 1980 Bramley 10-11 Halifax McLaren Field 2338
6 Sun 23 Nov 1980 Castleford 30-17 St Helens Recs Wheldon Road 2823 1
7 Sun 23 Nov 1980 Dewsbury 12-37 Featherstone Rovers Crown Flatt 2700
8 Sun 23 Nov 1980 Doncaster 10-18 Whitehaven Bentley Road Stadium/Tattersfield 432
9 Sun 23 Nov 1980 Fulham 9-3 Leeds Craven Cottage 12583
10 Sun 23 Nov 1980 Keighley 16-34 Hull Kingston Rovers Lawkholme Lane 3895 2
11 Sun 23 Nov 1980 Leigh 38-5 Rochdale Hornets Hilton Park 3167
12 Sun 23 Nov 1980 St. Helens 12-14 Warrington Knowsley Road 7946 [5][6]
13 Sun 23 Nov 1980 Salford 17-9 Wigan The Willows 3715 [7]
14 Sun 23 Nov 1980 Swinton 10-12 Barrow Station Road 2470
15 Sun 23 Nov 1980 Widnes 20-17 Wakefield Trinity Naughton Park 5956 [8][9]
16 Sun 23 Nov 1980 York 11-9 Oldham Clarence Street 5154

Round 2 - Second Round

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[2] Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 6 Dec 1980 Warrington 11-7 Hull Kingston Rovers Wilderspool 4325 [5]
2 Sun 7 Dec 1980 Barrow 26-13 Hunslet Craven Park 4185
3 Sun 7 Dec 1980 Blackpool Borough 5-11 Halifax Borough Park 1724
4 Sun 7 Dec 1980 Hull F.C. 11-10 York Boulevard 11129 [3]
5 Sun 7 Dec 1980 Leigh 17-9 Fulham Hilton Park 7606
6 Sun 7 Dec 1980 Salford 8-15 Castleford The Willows 3452
7 Sun 7 Dec 1980 Whitehaven 22-3 Featherstone Rovers Recreation Ground 3922
8 Tue 9 Dec 1980 Widnes 25-9 Huddersfield Naughton Park 3571 [4][9]

Round 3 -Quarter Finals

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[2] Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Notes Ref
1 Sat 13 Dec 1980 Castleford 18–10 Widnes Wheldon Road 3571 3 [9]
2 Sun 14 Dec 1980 Hull F.C. 13–0 Whitehaven Boulevard 11228 [3]
3 Sun 14 Dec 1980 Leigh 13–15 Barrow Hilton Park 5521 4
4 Sun 14 Dec 1980 Warrington 16–10 Halifax Wilderspool 5532 [5]

Round 4 – Semi-Finals

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[2] Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sat 20 Dec 1980 Warrington 5-5 Castleford Central Park 3877 [5]
2 Sat 10 Jan 1981 Barrow 13-10 Hull F.C. Headingley 11202 [3]

Round 3 – Semi-Finals - Replays

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Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sun 28 Dec 1980 Warrington 22-10 Castleford Headingley 9279 [5]

Final

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24 January 1981
Warrington 12 – 5 Barrow
Tries: Bevan (2)
Goals: Hesford (2)
Drop goals: Hesford (2)
 [10]
 Tries: Mason
Goals: Ball
Central Park, Wigan
Attendance: 12,820
Referee: Billy Thompson (Huddersfield)
Player of the Match: Tommy Martyn

Teams

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Warrington № Barrow
Steve Hesford 1 Dave Elliott
Rick Thackray 2 Ralph McConnell
Ian Duane 3 Nigel French
John Bevan 4 Ian Ball (c)
Mike Kelly 5 Tony Wainwright
Ken Kelly (c) 6 Mel Mason
Alan Gwilliam 7 David Cairns
Neil Courtney 8 David Chisnall
Tony Waller 9 Howard Allen
Brian Case 10 Malcolm Flynn
Tommy Martyn 11 Kevin James
Ian Potter 12 Steve Kirkby
Eddie Hunter 13 Derek Hadley
? not used 14 ? not used
Bob Eccles (for Eddie Hunter) 15 Eddie Szymala (for Howard Allen)
Billy Benyon Coach Frank Foster

Prize money

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As part of the sponsorship deal and funds, the prize money awarded to the competing teams for this season is as follows:[11]

Finish Position Cash Prize No. receiving prize Total Cash
Winner £8,500 1 £8,500
Runner-up £4,000 1 £4,000
Semi-finalists £2,000 2 £4,000
Losers in Rd 3 £1,000 4 £4,000
Losers in Rd 2 £800 8 £6,400
Losers in Rd 1 £600 16 £9,600
Grand Total £36,500


The road to success

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This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

First round Second round Third round Semifinals Final
               
St. Helens 12
Warrington 14
Warrington 11
Hull Kingston Rovers 7
Keighley 16
Hull Kingston Rovers 34
Warrington 16
Halifax 10
Blackpool Borough 21
Huyton 7
Blackpool Borough 5
Halifax 11
Bramley 10
Halifax 11
Warrington 5 (22)
Castleford 5 (10)
Salford 17
Wigan 9
Salford 8
Castleford 15
Castleford 30
St Helens Recs 17
Castleford 18
Widnes 10
Widnes 20
Wakefield Trinity 17
Widnes 25
Huddersfield 9
Batley 4
Huddersfield 20
Warrington 12
Barrow 5
Leigh 38
Rochdale Hornets 5
Leigh 17
Fulham 9
Fulham 9
Leeds 3
Leigh 13
Barrow 15
Swinton 10
Barrow 12
Barrow 26
Hunslet 13
Hunslet 15
Workington Town 5
Barrow 13
Hull F.C. 10
Hull F.C. 12
Bradford Northern 0
Hull F.C. 11
York 10
York 11
Oldham 9
Hull F.C. 13
Whitehaven 0
Doncaster 10
Whitehaven 18
Whitehaven 22
Featherstone Rovers 3
Dewsbury 12
Featherstone Rovers 37

Notes and comments

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1 * Pilkington Recs are a Junior (amateur) club from St Helens, home ground was City Road until they moved to Ruskin Drive from 2011-12
2 * Wigan official archives[2] gives the score as 15-34 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] gives it as 16-34
3 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] gives the attendance as 3,571, the same as the previously listed match (which was Widnes v Huddersfield in round 2), but the Widnes official website[9] omits to give the attendance for this match, one of only a few matches for that season without an attendance noted
4 * Wigan official archives[2] give the score as 13-10 but RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] gives it as 13-15. As Barrow progressed into the semi-final, the score given in the Wigan archives was obviously in error
5 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] gives the attendance as 12,820 but Rothman's Yearbooks 1990-91 and 1992-93 give it as 12,802
6 * The attendance was a record for the final of this tournament (but would be broken next season)
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

See also

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References

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General

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

Specific

  1. ^ a b c d e "Rugby League Project".
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Round 1 onwards archived results".
  3. ^ a b c d "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
  4. ^ a b "Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage" (PDF).
  5. ^ a b c d e "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2014-02-02.
  6. ^ "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  7. ^ "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results". Archived from the original on 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
  8. ^ "Wakefield until I die".
  9. ^ a b c d "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  10. ^ Fletcher & Howes (1981), p. 182.
  11. ^ Fletcher & Howes (1981), p. 187.
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