1981–82 Lancashire Cup

1981–82 was the sixty-ninth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion had been held.

1981–82 Lancashire Cup
Structure	Regional knockout championship
Teams	16
Winners	Leigh
Runners-up	Widnes

Leigh won the trophy by beating Widnes by the score of 8-3
The match was played at Central Park, Wigan, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 9,011 and receipts were £14,029.00

Background

This season saw the introduction of two new clubs, Carlisle and Fulham, neither in Lancashire, but classed as “Western”. Thus the total number of teams entering the competition increased from 14 to a full complement of 16.
With this full sixteen members there was no need for “blank” or “dummy” fixtures or any byes.

Competition and Results

[1][2]

Round 1

Involved 8 matches (with no byes) and 16 Clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Fri 14 Aug 1981	Oldham		7-17		Salford	Watersheddings	2915
2	Sun 16 Aug 1981	Barrow		15-7		Warrington	Craven Park	3197			[3]
3	Sun 16 Aug 1981	Blackpool Borough		0-28		St. Helens	Borough Park	2239			[4]
4	Sun 16 Aug 1981	Carlisle		6-9		Wigan	Brunton Park	2779		1	[5]
5	Sun 16 Aug 1981	Fulham		32-15		Swinton	Craven Cottage	3207		2
6	Sun 16 Aug 1981	Leigh		37-2		Whitehaven	Hilton Park	3915
7	Sun 16 Aug 1981	Rochdale Hornets		8-14		Widnes	Athletic Grounds	1054			[6]
8	Sun 16 Aug 1981	Workington Town		35-2		Huyton	Derwent Park	1417

Round 2 - Quarter Finals

Involved 4 matches and 8 Clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sun 23 Aug 1981	Leigh		32-17		Workington Town	Hilton Park	4283
2	Sun 23 Aug 1981	St. Helens		40-17		Barrow	Knowsley Road	4303			[4]
3	Sun 23 Aug 1981	Salford		19-3		Fulham	The Willows	3462
4	Sun 23 Aug 1981	Wigan		11-26		Widnes	Central Park	6711			[5][6]

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 02 Sep 1981	Leigh		20-6		St. Helens	Hilton Park	8196			[4]
2	Wed 02 Sep 1981	Widnes		33-2		Salford	Naughton Park	5849			[6]

Final

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
	Saturday 26 September 1981	Leigh		8-3		Widnes	Central Park	9011	14029	3	[6][7]

Teams and Scorers

[6][7]

Leigh	№	Widnes
	teams
Mick Hogan	1	Mick Burke
Des Drummond	2	Mick George
Terry Bilsbury	3	Eric Hughes
Steve Donlan	4	Eddie Cunningham
Graham Worgan	5	Keith Bentley
John Woods	6	Dave Moran
Ken Green	7	Andy Gregory
Alf Wilkinson	8	Steve O'Neill
Ray Tabern	9	Keith Elwell
Tony Cooke	10	Brian Lockwood
Thomas Martyn	11	Les Gorley
Geoffrey Clarkson	12	Eric Prescott
Mick McTigue	13	Mick Adams
??	14
x Billy Platt (for Thomas Martyn)	15
8	score	3
5	HT	0
	Scorers
	Tries
Terry Bilsbury (1)	T	Keith Bentley (1)
	Goals
John Woods (2)	G
	Drop Goals
Steve Donlan (1)	DG
Referee		W H (Billy) Thompson (Huddersfield)
Man of the match		Ray Tabern - Leigh - Hooker
sponsored by		Burtonwood Brewery
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
	Leigh		37
	Whitehaven		2
						Leigh		32
						Workington Town		17
	Workington Town		35
	Huyton		2
											Leigh		20
											St. Helens		6
	Blackpool Borough		0
	St. Helens		28
						St. Helens		40
						Barrow		17
	Barrow		15
	Warrington		7
																Leigh		8
																Widnes		3
	Carlisle		6
	Wigan		9
						Wigan		11
						Widnes		26
	Rochdale Hornets		8
	Widnes		14
											Widnes		33
											Salford		2
	Oldham		7
	Salford		17
						Salford		19
						Fulham		3
	Fulham		32
	Swinton		15

Notes and comments

1 * The first Lancashire Cup match played by the newly elected Carlisle team and also at this stadium, Carlisle United's Brunton Park
2 * The first Lancashire Cup match played by the newly elected Fulham team and also at this stadium, Fulham's Craven Cottage
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

• 1981–82 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. "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2014-02-02.
4. "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
5. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
6. "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
7. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League 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