1995–96 League Cup (rugby league)


The ?1995–96 League Cup was the twenty-fifth and final season of the rugby league League Cup, known for sponsorship purposes as the Regal Trophy.
The last ever final was won by Wigan, who beat local rivals St. Helens 25-16 at the McAlpine Stadium in Huddersfield. The attendance was 17,590.

Background

This season saw a reduction in the number of entrants, the number decreasing to forty-two.
The inclusion of two French clubs continued, but the number of invitations to the top junior clubs was reduced by six from eleven last season, to just five this season.
The ten first round winners added to the twenty-two clubs given byes, gave a total of entrants into the second round of thirty-two.
There were no drawn matches during this season's competition

Competition and results

Round 1 (a preliminary round)

Involved 10 matches and 20 clubs with 22 byes
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sat 30 Sep 1995Leigh16-19AS Saint EstèveHilton Park15431
2Sat 30 Sep 1995Ryedale-York24-22PiaRyedale Stadium5312
3Sun 1 Oct 1995Barrow29-11Park AmateursCraven Park5203
4Sun 1 Oct 1995Bramley20-17Woolston RoversClarence Field, Kirkstall see note3504, 5
5Sun 1 Oct 1995Carlisle38-10Doncaster DragonsGifford Park4356
6Sun 1 Oct 1995Chorley Borough 92-0Nottingham CityVictory Park425
7Sun 1 Oct 1995Highfield48-18Hemel StagsValerie Park, Prescott2207
8Sun 1 Oct 1995Hull Kingston Rovers72-6Blackpool GladiatorsCraven Park 1087
9Sun 1 Oct 1995Hunslet Hawks34-24Ellenborough RangersElland Road2478
10Sun 1 Oct 1995Swinton44-20West HullGigg Lane5009
Batleybye
Bradford Northernbye
Castlefordbye
Dewsburybye
Featherstone Roversbye
Halifaxbye
Huddersfieldbye
Hull F.C.bye
Keighley Cougarsbye
Leedsbye
London Crusadersbye
Oldham Bearsbye
Rochdale Hornetsbye
St. Helensbye
Salfordbye
Sheffield Eaglesbye
Wakefield Trinitybye
Warringtonbye
Whitehavenbye
Widnesbye
Wiganbye
Workington Townbye

Round 2

Involved 16 matches and 32 clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sat 11 Nov 1995Keighley Cougars14-42St. HelensCougar Park3737
2Sat 11 Nov 1995Workington Town30-14AS Saint EstèveDerwent Park13761
3Sun 12 Nov 1995Batley21-14Wakefield TrinityMount Pleasant1522
4Sun 12 Nov 1995Bradford Northern22-0Sheffield EaglesOdsal3353
5Sun 12 Nov 1995Bramley4-22Hunslet HawksClarence Field, Kirkstall see note65010
6Sun 12 Nov 1995Carlisle19-18CastlefordGifford Park850
7Sun 12 Nov 1995Chorley Borough 10-68WarringtonVictory Park1236
8Sun 12 Nov 1995Dewsbury17-6BarrowCrown Flatt662
9Sun 12 Nov 1995Halifax20-18SwintonThrum Hall2994
10Sun 12 Nov 1995Huddersfield22-21Featherstone RoversAlfred McAlpine Stadium2337
11Sun 12 Nov 1995Hull F.C.56-18Ryedale-YorkBoulevard2411
12Sun 12 Nov 1995Hull Kingston Rovers10-14Rochdale HornetsCraven Park 1548
13Sun 12 Nov 1995Leeds46-22SalfordHeadingley7589
14Sun 12 Nov 1995London Crusaders82-0HighfieldBarnet Copthall512
15Sun 12 Nov 1995Widnes32-8Oldham BearsNaughton Park3472
16Sun 12 Nov 1995Wigan68-26WhitehavenCentral Park6133

Round 3

Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sat 25 Nov 1995London Crusaders18-22HalifaxBarnet Copthall800
2Sun 26 Nov 1995Batley22-35WarringtonMount Pleasant1754
3Sun 26 Nov 1995Dewsbury14-26Rochdale HornetsCrown Flatt927
4Sun 26 Nov 1995Huddersfield0-32WiganAlfred McAlpine Stadium6026
5Sun 26 Nov 1995Hull F.C.26-38St. HelensBoulevard418011
6Sun 26 Nov 1995Hunslet Hawks17-22CarlisleSouth Leeds Stadium1355
7Sun 26 Nov 1995Leeds42-28Bradford NorthernHeadingley10093
8Sun 26 Nov 1995Workington Town8-32WidnesDerwent Park2500

Round 4 - Quarterfinals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sat 9 Dec 1995Widnes23-28WiganNaughton Park377112
2Sun 10 Dec 1995Leeds44-22CarlisleHeadingley5130
3Sun 10 Dec 1995St. Helens46-18HalifaxKnowsley Road7419
4Sun 10 Dec 1995Warrington38-20Rochdale HornetsWilderspool2731

Round 5 – Semifinals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sat 30 Dec 1995St. HelensPWarringtonKnowsley Road13"
2Sat 6 Jan 1996Wigan38-18LeedsCentral Park10075

Round 5 – Semifinal replays

Involved 1 match and 2 clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Thu 4 Jan 1996St. Helens80-0WarringtonKnowsley Road1064714

Final

Teams and scorers

Wigan№St. Helens
Gary Connolly1Steve Prescott
Jason Robinson2Joey Hayes
Va'aiga Tuigamala3Scott Gibbs
Kris Radlinski4Paul Newlove
Martin Offiah5Anthony Sullivan
Henry Paul6Karle Hammond
Shaun Edwards7Bobbie Goulding
Neil Cowie8Apollo Perelini
Martin Hall9Keiron Cunningham
Terry O'Connor10Ian Pickavance
Scott Quinnell11Chris Joynt
Mick Cassidy12Simon Booth
Simon Haughton13Dean Busby
?? Not used14Vila Matautia - Ian Pickavance
Barrie McDermott 15Andy Northey
Graeme WestCoachEric Hughes
25score16
Scorers
Tries
Henry Paul TJoey Hayes
Va'aiga Tuigamala TPaul Newlove
Kris Radlinski TKeiron Cunningham
Goals
Henry Paul GBobbie Goulding
Drop Goals
Shaun Edwards DG
RefereeRussell Smith
Man of the match? - ? - ?
Competition SponsorRegal

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

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?10?
Grand Total

The road to success

This tree excludes any First Round fixtures

General information for those unfamiliar

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.

Postscript

To date, this was the last season for the John Player sponsored trophy competitions, which had taken place annually since its inauguration in the 1971-72 for a period of 25 seasons.

It was unfortunately such a short period for what was intended to be the "League Cup" and that very few of the professional clubs managed to have their name inscribed on the trophy, or even reach the semi-final stage

The reasons given by the ruling body, the Rugby Football League for the competition's demise, were that it was deemed the trophy was adding to fixture congestion for more successful sides and a clean sweep was needed to herald the "Summer Rugby" image of the game.

Records from the John Player trophy competition

RecordNo.No.cup winnerrunner-up
In FinalRecord
Most appearances9Wigan-
8Widnes
7Warrington
Most wins8Wigan-
4Warrington
Most consecutive wins2Wigan 85-86, 86-87, 88-89, 89-90, 94-95, 95-96-
Most consecutive appearances4Wigan92-93, 93-94, 94-95, 95-96-
Highest Score40-10Wiganv Warrington 1994-95-
Highest Agg score40-10as last-
Lowest Agg score3-2Bradford Northernv Widnes 1974-75-
Widest margin33-2Castlefordv Wigan 1993-94-
Biggest Attendance25,326 - Boothferry ParkHull Kingston Rovers v Hull F.C. 1981-82-
Smallest Attendance4,512 - The WillowsCastleford v Blackpool Borough 1976-77-
Highest Receiptsunknown - but possibly£94,874 - Widnes v Wigan 1988-89-
Individual in a final
Most tries3Ellery HanleyWigan v Halifax 1989-90-
Most goals8Frano BoticaWigan v Warrington 1994-95-
6Derek WhiteheadWarrington v Rochdale Hornets 1973-74
Most points16 Frano BoticaWigan v Warrington 1994-95-
15 Derek WhiteheadWarrington v Rochdale Hornets 1973-74
In competition
Highest Score142-4Huddersfieldv Blackpool Gladiators -
Other record scores at the time138-0Barrowv Nottingham City -
2-92Runcorn Highfieldv Wigan
90-12Wakefield Trinityv Highfield
82-0Widnesv Dewsbury
2-70Batleyv Leigh
64-0Whitehavenv Doncaster
17-68Carlislev Leigh
67-11Hull Kingston Roversv Oldham
9-51Blackpool Boroughv Leeds
Highest score v junior club88-5Castlefordv Millom -
Highest winning margin138see above-
Highest aggregate score146see above-
Players Records
Most tries9Greg AustinHuddersfield v Blackpool Gladiators 1994-95-
6Steve RowanBarrow v Nottingham City 1994-95
6Vincent GribbinWhitehaven v Doncaster 1984-85
Most goals17Darren CarterBarrow v Nottingham City 1994-95-
17Geoffrey "Sammy" LloydCastleford v Millom 1973-74
Most points43 Geoffrey "Sammy" LloydCastleford v Millom 1973-74-
42 Darren CarterBarrow v Nottingham City 1994-95

Entrants and number of cup wins

This table list all the semi-professional clubs which have entered the competition and reached at least the semi-final stage, the number of their cup final wins, cup final runner-up spots, and losing semi-Final appearances.
No.cup winnerNo,runner-upNolosing Semi-Final appearances
-
Barrow11980-81
Blackpool Borough11976-77
Bradford Northern21974-75, 79-8121990-91, 92-9341977-78, 78-79, 88-89, 93-94
Bramley11973-74
Castleford21976-77, 93-9451975-76, 80-81, 89-90,92-93, 94-95
Halifax11971-7211989-9011984-85
Hull F.C.11981-8221975-76, 84-8531980-81, 86-87, 92-93
Hull Kingston Rovers11984-8521981-82, 85-8631972-73, 74-75, 78-79
Leeds21972-73, 83-8431982-83, 87-88, 91-9231971-72, 84-85, 95-96
Leigh31976-77, 83-84, 85-86
Oldham Bears21981-82, 87-88
Rochdale Hornets11973-7411990-91
Salford11972-7341975-76, 79-80, 93-94, 91-92
St. Helens11987-8811995-9681971-72, 72-73, 73-74, 83-84, 85-86, 88-89,89-90, 91-92
Swinton11981-82
Wakefield Trinity11971-7221977-78, m79-80
Warrington41973-74, 77-78, 80-81, 90-9131978-79, 86-87, 94-9521982-83, 95-96
Whitehaven11974-75
Widnes31975-76, 78-79, 91-9251974-75, 77-78, 79-80, 83-84, 88-8951976-77, 82-83, 86-87, 90-91, 94-95
Wigan81982-83, 85-86, 86-87, 88-89, 89-90, 92-93, 94-95, 95-9611993-9411987-88

Note - several stats taken from records of the now defunct "The Rugby League Record Keepers Club" documents