1972–73 Lancashire Cup

The 1972–73 Lancashire Cup was the sixtieth occasion on which the competition was held. Salford won the trophy by beating Swinton by the score of 25-11 in the final. The match was played at Wilderspool, Warrington, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 6,865 and receipts were £3,321.00

1972–73 Lancashire Cup
Structure	Regional knockout championship
Teams	14
Winners	Salford
Runners-up	Swinton

Background

The total number of teams entering the competition remained at last season’s total of 14 with no junior/amateur clubs taking part.
The same fixture format was retained, but due to the decrease in the number of participating clubs, resulted in one "blank" or "dummy" fixtures in the first round, and one bye in the second round.

Competition and results

[1]

Round 1

Involved 7 matches (with one "blank" fixture) and 14 clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Fixture Date	Home Team	Ref
1	Fri 1 September 1972	Salford		41-17		Oldham	The Willows
2	Fri 1 September 1972	Wigan		15-7		Workington Town	Central Park				[2]
3	Sun 3 September 1972	Huyton		12-18		Barrow	Alt Park, Huyton
4	Sun 3 September 1972	Leigh		6-20		Widnes	Hilton Park				[3]
5	Sun 3 September 1972	Swinton		28-25		Blackpool Borough	Station Road
6	Sun 3 September 1972	Warrington		16-18		St. Helens	Wilderspool	8,500			[4][5]
7	Sun 3 September 1972	Whitehaven		19-24		Rochdale Hornets	Recreation Ground
8		blank				blank

Round 2 - Quarter Finals

Involved 3 matches (with one bye) and 7 Clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Wed 13 September 1972	Widnes		11-2		St. Helens	Naughton Park	9,000		1	[3][5]
2	Fri 15 September 1972	Barrow		4-7		Swinton	Craven Park
3	Fri 15 September 1972	Salford		46-13		Rochdale Hornets	The Willows
4		Wigan				bye					[2]

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	Thu 5 October 1972	Widnes		4-13		Swinton	Naughton Park				[3][6]
2	Thu 6 October 1972	Wigan		2-14		Salford	Central Park				[2]

Final

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
	Saturday 21 October 1972	Salford		25-11		Swinton	Wilderspool	6,865	3,321	2	[7]

Teams and Scorers

[7][8]

Salford	№	Swinton
	teams
Paul Charlton	1	Paul Jackson
Eastham	2	Bob Fleay
David Watkins	3	John Cooke
Chris Hesketh	4	Alan Buckley
Maurice Richards	5	John Gomersall
Ken Gill	6	Peter Kenny
Peter Banner	7	Ken Gowers
Mackay	8	Albert Halsall
Walker	9	Graham Evans
Johnny Ward	10	Harold Bate
Whitehead	11	Rod Smith
Colin Dixon	12	Granville Hoyle
Eric Prescott	13	Bill Pattinson
?	14	Mick Philbin (for Peter Kenny)
?	15	Bill Holliday (for Rod Smith)
Cliff Evans	Coach
25	score	11
10	HT	4
	Scorers
	Tries
Peter Banner (1)	T	Bob Fleay (1)
Eastham (1)	T
David Watkins (1)	T
Maurice Richards (1)	T
Paul Charlton (1)	T
	Goals
David Watkins (5)	G	Ken Gowers (3)
	Drop Goals
	DG	Peter Kenny (1)
Referee		W. "Billy" H. Thompson (Huddersfield)

Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points

The road to success

	First Round					Second Round					Semi Finals					Final
	Wigan		15
	Workington Town		7
						Wigan
						bye
	blank
	blank
											Wigan		2
											Salford		14
	Salford		41
	Oldham		17
						Salford		46
						Rochdale Hornets		13
	Whitehaven		19
	Rochdale Hornets		24
																Salford		25
																Swinton		11
	Leigh		6
	Widnes		20
						Widnes		11
						St. Helens		2
	Warrington		16
	St. Helens		18
											Widnes		4
											Swinton		13
	Huyton		12
	Barrow		18
						Barrow		4
						Swinton		7
	Swinton		28
	Blackpool Borough		25

Notes and comments

1 * The score of 13-2 is shows in the official St. Helens[5] archives and also in the official Widnes[3] archives . RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] shows the score as being 11-2
2 * Wilderspool was the home ground of Warrington from 1883 to the end of the 2003 Summer season when they moved into the new purpose built Halliwell Jones Stadium. Wilderspool remained as a sports/Ruugby League ground and is/was used by Woolston Rovers/Warrington Wizards junior club.
The ground had a final capacity of 9,000 although the record attendance was set in a Challenge cup third round match on 13 March 1948 when 34,304 spectators saw Warrington lose to Wigan 10-13.

See also

• British rugby league system
• 1972–73 Northern Rugby Football League season
• Rugby league county cups
• List of defunct rugby league clubs

References

1. "Rugby League Project".
2. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
3. "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
4. "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014.
5. "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
6. Club Programme dept. Match Programme. Widnes RLFC.
7. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
8. "Swinton Lions Tales".

External links

• Saints Heritage Society
• 1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season at wigan.rlfans.com
• Hull&Proud Fixtures & Results 1896/1897
• Widnes Vikings - One team, one passion Season In Review - 1896-97
• The Northern Union at warringtonwolves.org