1984–85 League Cup (rugby league)


This was the fourteenth season for the League Cup, which was again known as the John Player Special Trophy for sponsorship purposes.
Hull Kingston Rovers claimed the trophy by beating their local rivals Hull F.C. by the score of 12–0 in the final. The match was played at Boothferry Park, Kingston upon Hull and the attendance was 25,326. Gate receipts were £69555.

Background

This season saw several changes in the entrants:
  1. Cardiff City Blue Dragons were renamed Bridgend Blue Dragons and Kent Invicta were renamed Southend Invicta
  2. Mansfield Marksman and Sheffield Eagles joined the league and also the competition
  3. Huyton changed their name to Runcorn Highfield and moved from Alt Park, Huyton to Canal Street, Runcorn
  4. and the re-introduction of the invitation to two junior clubs.
This involved an increase in entrants to thirty-eight, in turn resulting in a six-match, 12-club preliminary round to reduce the number of clubs taking part in the first round proper to thirty-two.

Competition and results

Preliminary round

Involved six matches and 12 clubs
Game No.Fixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttendRecNotesRef
1Fri 2 Nov 1984Myson 2-8DewsburyBoulevard1
2Sun 4 Nov 1984Bramley20-6Southend InvictaMcLaren Field572
3Sun 4 Nov 1984Keighley24-10Bradford Dudley HillLawkholme Lane15702, 3
4Sun 4 Nov 1984Sheffield Eagles17-6Wakefield TrinityOwlerton Stadium12794
5Wed 7 Nov 1984Carlisle8-26Bradford NorthernBrunton Park12155
6Wed 7 Nov 1984Hunslet2-6Workington TownElland Road7195

Round 1 – First round

Involved 16 matches and 32 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sat 17 Nov 1984Hull Kingston Rovers32-5LeighCraven Park 45416
2Sun 18 Nov 1984Bradford Northern22-1SwintonOdsal3712
3Sun 18 Nov 1984Bramley12-10Blackpool BoroughMcLaren Field653
4Sun 18 Nov 1984Bridgend Blue Dragons4-42CastlefordCoychurch Road, Bridgend18037
5Sun 18 Nov 1984Dewsbury14-8SalfordCrown Flatt1176
6Sun 18 Nov 1984Featherstone Rovers17-12BarrowPost Office Road1651
7Sun 18 Nov 1984Fulham14-36Hull F.C.Polytechnic of Central London23248
8Sun 18 Nov 1984Leeds50-2Sheffield EaglesHeadingley4881
9Sun 18 Nov 1984Rochdale Hornets10-8Mansfield MarksmanAthletic Grounds620
10Sun 18 Nov 1984Runcorn Highfield18-5BatleyAlt Park, Huyton760
11Sun 18 Nov 1984St. Helens60-8KeighleyKnowsley Road5145
12Sun 18 Nov 1984Warrington5-17HalifaxWilderspool4171
13Sun 18 Nov 1984Whitehaven64-0DoncasterRecreation Ground17179
14Sun 18 Nov 1984Wigan50-6Huddersfield BarracudasCentral Park7375
15Sun 18 Nov 1984Workington Town12-22WidnesDerwent Park1010
16Sun 18 Nov 1984York6-22OldhamClarence Street2504

Round 2 – Second round

Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sat 1 Dec 1984Leeds10-4WiganHeadingley9261
2Sun 2 Dec 1984Bradford Northern12-12St. HelensOdsal9419
3Sun 2 Dec 1984Bramley33-5WhitehavenMcLaren Field1358
4Sun 2 Dec 1984Dewsbury31-16Runcorn HighfieldCrown Flatt1242
5Sun 2 Dec 1984Halifax20-18CastlefordThrum Hall4784
6Sun 2 Dec 1984Hull F.C.26-14OldhamBoulevard1150010
7Sun 2 Dec 1984Hull Kingston Rovers34-12Rochdale HornetsCraven Park 4835
8Sun 2 Dec 1984Widnes28-10Featherstone RoversNaughton Park3850

Round 2 – Second round replays

Involved one match and two clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttendRecNotesRef
1Wed 5 Dec 1984St. Helens24–10Bradford NorthernKnowsley Road10156

Round 3 – Quarter finals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttRecNotesRef
-
1Sat 22 Dec 1984St. Helens8–14HalifaxKnowsley Road5768
2Sun 23 Dec 1984Dewsbury8–22Hull F.C.Crown Flatt7197
3Sun 23 Dec 1984Hull Kingston Rovers14–6WidnesCraven Park 7710
4Sun 23 Dec 1984Leeds28–14BramleyHeadingley6404

Round 4 – Semi-finals

Involved two matches and four clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttendRecNotesRef
-
1Sat 29 Dec 1984Hull Kingston Rovers14–8HalifaxHeadingley6390
2Sat 5 Jan 1985Hull F.C.18–6LeedsBoothferry Park1336211, 14

Final

Teams and scorers

Hull Kingston Rovers№Hull
teams
George Fairbairn1Gary Kemble
Garry Clark2Steve Evans
Ian Robinson3Fred Ah Kuoi
Gary Prohm4James Leuluai
David Laws5Dane O'Hara
Mike Smith6David Topliss
Paul Harkin7Peter Sterling
Mark Broadhurst8Phil Edmonds
David Watkinson9Shaun Patrick
Asuquo "Zook" Ema10Paul Rose
Christopher Burton11Lee Crooks
Phil Hogan12Wayne Proctor
Gavin Miller13Gary Divorty
? Not used14Garry Schofield
? Not used15Andy Dannatt
Coach-
-
12score0
?HT?
Scorers
Tries
Garry Clark T
Gary Prohm T
Phil Hogan T
RefereeStanley Wall
Man of the matchPaul Harkin - Hull KR -
Competition sponsorJohn Player Special

Scoring - Try = four points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = one point

Prize money

As part of the sponsorship deal and funds, the prize money awarded to the competing teams for this season is as follows :-
Finish positionCash prizeNo. receiving prizeTotal cash
Winner?1?
Runner-up?1?
semi-finalist?2?
loser in Rd 3?4?
loser in Rd 2?8?
Loser in Rd 1?16?
Loser in prelim round???
Grand total

The road to success

This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

General information

The council of the Rugby Football League voted to introduce a new competition, to be similar to The Football Association and Scottish Football Association's "League Cup". It was to be a similar knock-out structure to, and to be secondary to, the Challenge Cup. As this was being formulated, sports sponsorship was becoming more prevalent and as a result John Player and Sons, a division of Imperial Tobacco Company, became sponsors, and the competition never became widely known as the "League Cup".
The competition ran from 1971–72 until 1995–96 and was initially intended for the professional clubs plus the two amateur BARLA National Cup finalists. In later seasons the entries were expanded to take in other amateur and French teams. The competition was dropped due to "fixture congestion" when Rugby League became a summer sport.
The Rugby League season always ran from around August-time through to around May-time and this competition always took place early in the season, in the autumn, with the final usually taking place in late January.
The competition was variably known, by its sponsorship name, as the Player's No.6 Trophy, the John Player Trophy, the John Player Special Trophy, and the Regal Trophy in 1989.