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BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

British rugby league competition (1965–1980)

Field	Value
name	BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
founded	1965
folded	1980
country
gov_body	RFL
championtag	Last winners
champion	Hull
season	1979
most_champs	Castleford
count	4
TV	BBC TV

The BBC2 Floodlit Trophy (also known as the BBC2 Television Trophy) was an annual knockout competition for British rugby league clubs. Organised by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the competition was open to all professional clubs with floodlights installed.

First held in 1965–66, games were typically played during the middle of the week, and were broadcast on BBC television. Eight teams competed during the first season, but the tournament was quickly expanded as more teams erected floodlights at their grounds.

The competition's most successful club was Castleford, who won the trophy four times, including the inaugural tournament. The last staging of the competition was in 1979–80, won by Hull, before the competition was cancelled due to financial cutbacks by the BBC.

History

The tournament was not Rugby League's first foray into evening television; the 1955–56 season saw a tournament titled the Independent Television Floodlit Trophy. Eight clubs participated in a series of games played at football grounds in the London area, with Warrington eventually running out 43–18 victors over Leigh.

In 1965, the rugby league management committee agreed to the televising of a mid-week floodlit competition consisting of eight teams, with director of BBC2, broadcaster David Attenborough, being instrumental in its creation. When the competition was first mooted only a few grounds were equipped with floodlights, but the tournament prompted several clubs to apply for loans from the Rugby Football League to install them. The tournament was intended to coincide with the launch of BBC2 in the North of England.

The tournament was played during the early part of the season. Each week, one match would be played under floodlights on a Tuesday evening; the second half of this match that would be broadcast live on BBC2. Non-televised matches were played at various times, depending on clubs' commitments in more prestigious tournaments. Despite the title many matches did not take place under floodlights; clubs such as Barrow and Bramley (for example) did not possess adequate lighting.

The first season, 1965–66, eight clubs - Castleford, Leeds, Leigh, Oldham, St. Helens, Swinton, Warrington and Widnes took part. Seven of the eight teams had floodlights and Leeds installed theirs the following season.

The four-tackles-then-a-scrum rule was first introduced in the competition's second season, in October 1966, before being implemented in all competitions by December.

Castleford won the trophy in the first season, 1965–66 and won the trophy the most times, on three more occasions 1966–67, 1967–68 and 1976–77.

Despite disagreements over shirt sponsorship in the early 1970s, Rugby League remained a mainstay of BBC Television during the 1970s, and 1980s, although the commitment to the Floodlit Trophy decreased before financial cutbacks at the BBC lead to its cancellation after the 1979–80 competition. In the last final, Hull F.C. beat local rivals Hull Kingston Rovers.

List of finals

Year	Season	Winners	Score	Runner-up	Venue	Date
1965	1965–66 season	Castleford	4–0	St. Helens	Knowsley Road, St. Helens	Tuesday, 14 December 1965
1966	1966–67 season	Castleford	7–2	Swinton	Wheldon Road, Castleford	Tuesday, 20 December 1966
1967	1967–68 season	Castleford	8–5	Leigh	Headingley, Leeds	Saturday, 16 January 1968
1968	1968–69 season	Wigan	7–4	St. Helens	Central Park, Wigan	Tuesday, 17 December 1968
1969	1969–70 season	Leigh	11–6	Wigan	Central Park, Wigan	Tuesday, 16 December 1969
1970	1970–71 season	Leeds	9–5	St. Helens	Headingley, Leeds	Tuesday, 15 December 1970
1971	1971–72 season	St. Helens	8–2	Rochdale Hornets	Knowsley Road, St. Helens	Tuesday, 14 December 1971
1972	1972–73 season	Leigh	5–0	Widnes	Central Park, Wigan	Tuesday, 19 December 1972
1973	1973–74 season	Bramley	15–7	Widnes	Naughton Park, Widnes	Tuesday, 18 December 1973
1974	1974–75 season	Salford	0–0	Warrington	The Willows, Salford	Tuesday, 17 December 1974
	(replay)	Salford	10–5	Warrington	Wilderspool, Warrington	Tuesday, 28 January 1975
1975	1975–76 season	St. Helens	22–2	Dewsbury	Knowsley Road, St. Helens	Tuesday, 16 December 1975
1976	1976–77 season	Castleford	12–4	Leigh	Hilton Park, Leigh	Tuesday, 14 December 1976
1977	1977–78 season	Hull Kingston Rovers	26–11	St. Helens	Craven Park, Hull	Tuesday, 13 December 1977
1978	1978–79 season	Widnes	13–7	St. Helens	Knowsley Road, St. Helens	Tuesday, 12 December 1978
1979	1979–80 season	Hull F.C.	13–3	Hull Kingston Rovers	The Boulevard, Hull	Tuesday, 18 December 1979

Wins by club

Club	Wins	Winning years
1	Castleford	4
2=	Leigh	2
	St Helens	2
4=	Bramley	1
	Hull	1
	Hull Kingston Rovers	1
	Leeds	1
	Salford	1
	Widnes	1
	Wigan	1

Records from the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Competition

Record	Holder
In Final
Team
	Most appearances
	Most wins
	Highest Score
	Widest margin
	Biggest Attendance
	Highest receipts
Individual
	Most tries
	Most goals
	Most points
In Competition
	Highest Score
	Greatest winning margin
	Highest Aggregate score
	Other high scores

References

(14 May 1965). "Hicks will miss semifinal". The Guardian.
(22 June 1965). "Two men can now be replaced". Liverpool Daily Post.
(6 August 1965). "Northern viewers will get 'real choice' with BBC-2". The Guardian.
(2006). "Rugby League in Twentieth Century Britain: A Social and Cultural History". Routledge.
Dawson, Neil. "BBC Floodlit Trophy".
Fagan, Sean. (10 February 2011). "Rugby League Helter Skelter".
Robert Gate. (1991). "Guinness Rugby League Fact Book". Guinness Publishing.
Spotter Series. "Spotter book of Rugby League Facts". Dorset Publ.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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