1974–75 Lancashire Cup

The 1974–75 Lancashire Cup was the sixty-second occasion on which the completion had been held. Widnes won the trophy by beating Salford by the score of 19-9.

1974–75 Lancashire Cup
Structure	Regional knockout championship
Teams	14
Winners	Widnes
Runners-up	Salford

Competition and results

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.[1][2]

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	Ref
1	Fri 30 Aug 1974	Barrow		10-31		Leigh	Craven Park	1,500
2	Fri 30 Aug 1974	St. Helens		11-13		Workington Town	Knowsley Road	3,000			[3]
3	Fri 30 Aug 1974	Salford		25-8		Blackpool Borough	The Willows	4,058
4	Sun 01 Sep 1974	Huyton		22-15		Whitehaven	Alt Park, Huyton	250
5	Sun 01 Sep 1974	Oldham		9-14		Widnes	Watersheddings	3,288			[4]
6	Sun 01 Sep 1974	Rochdale Hornets		20-12		Warrington	Athletic Grounds				[5]
7	Sun 01 Sep 1974	Swinton		17-15		Wigan	Station Road	3,316			[6]
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	Sun 08 Sep 1974	Salford		17-15		Huyton	The Willows	3,076
2	Sun 08 Sep 1974	Workington Town		17-7		Swinton	Derwent Park	1,022
3	Tue 10 Sep 1974	Rochdale Hornets		7-7		Widnes	Athletic Grounds	2,603			[4]
4		Leigh				bye

Round 2 – Replays

Involved 1 match and 2 clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Fri 13 Sep 1974	Widnes		8-7		Rochdale Hornets	Naughton Park	3,800			[4]

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 08 Oct 1974	Leigh		5-8		Widnes	Hilton Park	4,500			[4]
2	Fri 11 Oct 1974	Salford		17-10		Workington Town	The Willows	8,498

Final

The match was played at Central Park, Wigan, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 7,403 and receipts were £2,833.

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
	Saturday 2 November 1974	Widnes		6-2		Salford	Central Park	7,403	£2,833	1 2	[2][4][7][8][9]

Teams and Scorers

[4][7]

Widnes	№	Salford
	teams
Ray Dutton	1	Paul Charlton
Mick George	2	Keith Fielding
Dennis O'Neill	3	Colin Dixon
Mal Aspey	4	Graham
Alan Prescott	5	Maurice Richards
Eric Hughes	6	John Taylor
Reg Bowden	7	Peter Banner
Jim Mills	8	Graham Mackay
Keith Elwell	9	Ellis Devlin
John Stephens	10	Alan Grice
Mick Adams	11	John Knighton
Bob Blackwood	12	Mike Coulman
Doug Laughton	13	Eric Prescott
?	14	?
?	15	?
6	score	2
2	HT	0
	Scorers
	Tries
Mick George (1)	T
	Goals
Ray Dutton (1)	G	Keith Fielding (1)
	Drop Goals
Eric Hughes (1)	DG
	DG
Referee		G F Lindop (Wakefield)
Man of the match		Mike Coulman - Salford - Second-row
sponsored by		Rugby Leaguer

Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = one (1) point

The road to success

	First Round					Second Round					Semi Finals					Final
	Barrow		10
	Leigh		31
						Leigh
						bye
	blank
	blank
											Leigh		5
											Widnes		8
	Rochdale Hornets		20
	Warrington		12
						Rochdale Hornets		7-7
						Widnes		7-8
	Oldham		9
	Widnes		14
																Widnes		6
																Salford		2
	Salford		25
	Blackpool Borough		8
						Salford		17
						Huyton		15
	Huyton		22
	Whitehaven		15
											Salford		17
											Workington Town		10
	St. Helens		11
	Workington Town		13
						Workington Town		17
						Swinton		7
	Swinton		17
	Wigan		15

Notes and comments

1 * The John Player Yearbook 1975–76[2] gives the attendance as 7,403, as does Rothmans Yearbook of 1991-92[7] - The RUGBYLEAGUEproject [1] gives the attendance as 6,703
2 * 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

• 1974–75 Northern Rugby Football League season
• Rugby league county cups

References

1. "Rugby League Project".
2. Jack Winstanley & Malcolm Ryding (1991). John Player Yearbook 1975–76. Queen Anne Press.
3. "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
4. "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
5. "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2014-02-02.
6. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
7. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby Lague Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
8. Frank Butler and Patrick Collins (1974). News of the World Football Annual 1974–75 - 88th year. News of the World Ltd.
9. Frank Butler and Patrick Collins (1975). News of the World Football Annual 1975–76 - 89th year. News of the World Ltd.

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