1976–77 Lancashire Cup

1976–77 was the sixty-fourth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion had been held.

1976–77 Lancashire Cup
Structure	Regional knockout championship
Teams	14
Winners	Widnes
Runners-up	Workington Town

Widnes won the trophy by beating Workington Town by the score of 16-11

The match was played at Central Park, Wigan, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 9,399 and receipts were £6,414.00

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 number of participating clubs, this resulted in one “blank” or “dummy” fixture in the first round, and one bye in the second round.

Competition and Results

[1][2][3]

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	Sat 21 Aug 1976	Wigan		37-5		St. Helens	Central Park	2370			[4][5]
2	Sun 22 Aug 1976	Barrow		7-40		Warrington	Craven Park				[6]
3	Sun 22 Aug 1976	Blackpool Borough		17-10		Oldham	Borough Park
4	Sun 22 Aug 1976	Leigh		41-13		Whitehaven	Hilton Park
5	Sun 22 Aug 1976	Salford		46-14		Huyton	The Willows
6	Sun 22 Aug 1976	Widnes		25-13		Rochdale Hornets	Naughton Park				[7]
7	Sun 22 Aug 1976	Workington Town		15-11		Swinton	Derwent Park
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 29 Aug 1976	Warrington		14-13		Salford	Wilderspool				[6]
2	Sun 29 Aug 1976	Wigan		14-16		Leigh	Central Park				[4]
3	Sun 29 Aug 1976	Workington Town		30-8		Blackpool Borough	Derwent Park
4		Widnes				bye					[7]

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	Wed 08 Sep 1976	Leigh		16-24		Widnes	Hilton Park				[7]
2	Tue 21 Sep 1976	Warrington		9-9		Workington Town	Wilderspool				[6]

Round 3 – Semi-Finals - Replays

Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Wed 29 Sep 1976	Workington Town		26-15		Warrington	Derwent Park				[6]

Final

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
	Saturday 30 October 1976	Widnes		16-11		Workington Town	Central Park	9,399	6,414	1 2 3	[7][8][3]

Teams and Scorers

[7][8]

Widnes	№	Workington Town
	teams
Ray Dutton	1	Paul Charlton
Stuart Wright	2	David Collister
Mal Aspey	3	Ray Wilkins
Mick George	4	Ian Wright
Alan Prescott	5	Iain McCorquodale
David Eckersley	6	Brian Lauder
Reg Bowden	7	Arnold "Boxer" Walker
Bill Ramsey	8	Jim Mills
Keith Elwell	9	Alan Banks
Nick Nelson	10	Ralph Calvin
Mick Adams	11	Eddie Bowman
Alan Dearden	12	Les Gorley
Doug Laughton	13	Bill Pattinson
?	14	Peter Gorley (for Bill Pattinson)
?	15	?
16	score	11
9	HT	5
	Scorers
	Tries
Stuart Wright (1)	T	Ray Wilkins (1)
Mick George (1)	T
	Goals
Ray Dutton (4)	G	Iain McCorquodale (4)
	Drop Goals
Ray Dutton (1)	DG
Reg Bowden (1)	DG
Referee		W H (Billy) Thompson (Huddersfield)
Man of the match		David Eckersley - Widnes - stand-off
sponsored by		Rugby Leaguer
Competition Sponsor		Forshaws (Burtonwood Brewery Co Ltd)

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
	Wigan		27
	St. Helens		5
						Wigan		14
						Leigh		16
	Leigh		41
	Whitehaven		13
											Leigh		19
											Widnes		24
	Widnes		25
	Rochdale Hornets		13
						Widnes
						bye
	blank
	blank
																Widnes		16
																Workington Town		11
	Barrow		7
	Warrington		40
						Warrington		14
						Salford		13
	Salford		46
	Huyton		14
											Warrington		9-26
											Workington Town		9-15
	Workington Town		15
	Swinton		11
						Workington Town		30
						Blackpool Borough		8
	Blackpool Borough		17
	Oldham		10

Notes and comments

1 * News of the World Football annual of 1976–77[3] has the score as 17-11 - other publications and archived records e.g. Widnes[7] official archives have the score as 16-11

2 * Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-92[8] gives the attendance as 7,566 - RUGBYLEAGUEprojects[1] give the attendance as 9,399

3 * 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

• 1976–77 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. Frank Butler and Patrick Collins (1976). News of the World Football Annual 1976–77 - 90th year. News of the World Ltd.
4. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
5. "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
6. "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2014-02-02.
7. "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
8. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby Lague Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.

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