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Regal Trophy

Knock-out competition for British rugby league football clubs between 1971 and 1996

Knock-out competition for British rugby league football clubs between 1971 and 1996

FieldValue
nameRegal Trophy
formerlyPlayer's No.6 Trophyformerly2 = John Player Trophyformerly3 = John Player Special Trophy
founded1971
folded1996
countrycountry2 =
gov_bodyRFL
championtagLast winners
championWigan
season1996
most_champsWigan
count8

The Regal Trophy was an annual knock-out competition for British rugby league football clubs. Organised by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the competition was open to all professional clubs in the British rugby league system, but amateur teams and French clubs also took part at various points during its existence.

First held in 1971–72, the tournament was initially played over five rounds. A preliminary round was added in 1981–82 to accommodate the increasing number of professional teams in the sport. The fixtures were normally played during the early part of the season, with the final usually taking place at a neutral venue in January. The tournament was regarded as less prestigious than the RFL's primary cup competition, the Challenge Cup, and was discontinued when rugby league became a summer sport in 1996.

During its existence, the competition was always referred to by its sponsorship name. The initial sponsors were the tobacco manufacturer John Player & Sons with Regal taking over in 1989 until the competition's end. Over the years, the competition was known as the Player's No.6 Trophy (1971–77), the John Player Trophy (1977–83) and the John Player Special Trophy (1983–89), before finally becoming the Regal Trophy in 1989.

History

The competition was introduced in 1971 as the Player's No.6 Trophy, with sponsors John Player & Sons announcing an £11,000 prize fund for the inaugural season. The competition was open to all professional Rugby Football League clubs, with a small number of amateur clubs taking part in most seasons.

In 1977–78, Hull-based Cawoods defeated Halifax 9–8 in the first round of the competition, the first time an amateur team had defeated professional opposition in any competition since 1909.

In 1989, a new sponsorship deal was made with Imperial Tobacco, and the competition was rebranded as the Regal Trophy.

In 1992, several French clubs entered the competition. This marked the first time that French teams had participated in a British rugby league competition, and clubs would later also be accepted into the Challenge Cup and domestic leagues.

Following the introduction of the Super League in 1996, the Regal Trophy faced an uncertain future, and was ultimately abandoned. The BBC could no longer fit the competition into its TV schedule due to the switch to playing rugby league in the summer, and Regal were unwilling to continue sponsoring the tournament without television coverage.

List of finals

SeasonWinnersScoreRunner-upVenueAttendanceDate
*Player's No.6 Trophy*
1971–72Halifax22–11Wakefield TrinityOdsal, Bradford7,975Saturday 22 January 1972
1972–73Leeds12–7SalfordFartown Ground, Huddersfield10,102Saturday 24 March 1973
1973–74Warrington27–16Rochdale HornetsCentral Park, Wigan9,347Saturday 9 February 1974
1974–75Bradford Northern3–2WidnesWilderspool, Warrington5,935Saturday 25 January 1975
1975–76Widnes19–13Hull F.C.Headingley, Leeds9,035Saturday 24 January 1976
1976–77Castleford25–15Blackpool BoroughThe Willows, Salford4,512Saturday 22 January 1977
1977–78Warrington9–4WidnesKnowsley Road, St Helens10,258Saturday 28 January 1978
*John Player Trophy*
1978–79Widnes16–4WarringtonKnowsley Road, St Helens10,743Saturday 28 April 1979
1979–80Bradford Northern6–0WidnesHeadingley, Leeds9,909Saturday 5 January 1980
1980–81Warrington12–5BarrowCentral Park, Wigan12,820Saturday 24 January 1981
1981–82Hull F.C.12–4Hull Kingston RoversHeadingley, Leeds25,165Saturday 23 January 1982
1982–83Wigan15–4LeedsElland Road, Leeds19,553Saturday 22 January 1983
*John Player Special Trophy*
1983–84Leeds18–10WidnesCentral Park, Wigan9,510Saturday 14 January 1984
1984–85Hull Kingston Rovers12–0Hull F.C.Boothferry Park, Hull25,326Saturday 26 January 1985
1985–86Wigan11–8Hull Kingston RoversElland Road, Leeds17,573Saturday 11 January 1986
1986–87Wigan18–4WarringtonBurnden Park, Bolton21,144Saturday 10 January 1987
1987–88St Helens15–14LeedsCentral Park, Wigan16,669Saturday 9 January 1988
1988–89Wigan12–6WidnesBurnden Park, Bolton20,709Saturday 7 January 1989
*Regal Trophy*
1989–90Wigan24–12HalifaxHeadingley, Leeds17,810Saturday 13 January 1990
1990–91Warrington12–2Bradford NorthernHeadingley, Leeds11,154Saturday 12 January 1991
1991–92Widnes24–0LeedsCentral Park, Wigan15,070Saturday 11 January 1992
1992–93Wigan15–8Bradford NorthernElland Road, Leeds13,221Saturday 23 January 1993
1993–94Castleford33–2WiganHeadingley, Leeds15,626Saturday 22 January 1994
1994–95Wigan40–10WarringtonMcAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield19,636Saturday 28 January 1995
1995–96Wigan25–16St HelensMcAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield17,590Saturday 13 January 1996

Wins by club

RankClubWinsWinning seasons
1Wigan81982–83, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1992–93, 1994–95, 1995–96
2Warrington41973–74, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1990–91
3Widnes31975–76, 1978–79, 1991–92
4=Bradford Northern21974–75, 1979–80
Castleford21976–77, 1993–94
Leeds21972–73, 1983–84
5=Halifax11971–72
Hull F.C.11981–82
Hull Kingston Rovers11984–85
St. Helens11987–88

Media coverage

The BBC was the exclusive broadcaster of the competition throughout its history. Matches were broadcast on the BBC's Grandstand programme, showing one live match per round. Depending on the TV schedule, only the second-half was shown for some matches in the earlier rounds, but from the semi-final onwards, the entire match was usually covered.

References

References

  1. (19 May 1971). "New prizes for clubs and players". The Guardian.
  2. (24 October 1977). "Cawoods Make History By Enjoying Themselves". Hull Daily Mail.
  3. (3 February 1989). "Cashing in with a Regal deal". The Guardian.
  4. (29 September 1992). "Rugby League: Allez Wigan".
  5. (20 November 2019). "French clubs keen to return to Challenge Cup".
  6. (24 January 1996). "Tries to be given trial by television".
  7. (14 May 1996). "RL chiefs unveil expansion plans". Huddersfield Daily Examiner.
  8. (December 1990). "BBC Programme Index - Grandstand".
  9. (29 December 1990). "BBC Programme Index - Grandstand".
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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