1975–76 was the sixty-third occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion had been held.
Widnes won the trophy by beating Salford by the score of 16-7 The match was played at Central Park, Wigan, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 7,566 and receipts were £3,880.00
Background
The total number of teams entering the competition remained at last season’s total of 14 with no junior/amateur clubs taking part. The same fixture format was retained, but due to the decrease in the number of participating clubs, resulted in one “blank” or “dummy” fixture in the first round, and one bye in the second round.
Competition and results
Round 1 Involved 7 matches (with one “blank” fixture) and 14 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 30 Aug 1975Oldham17-19St. HelensWatersheddings30112Sun 31 Aug 1975Barrow9-14SwintonCraven Park3Sun 31 Aug 1975Blackpool Borough3-11LeighBorough Park4Sun 31 Aug 1975Rochdale Hornets10-22Workington TownAthletic Grounds5Sun 31 Aug 1975Salford44-17HuytonThe Willows6Sun 31 Aug 1975Warrington14-39WiganWilderspool7Sun 31 Aug 1975Widnes19-7WhitehavenNaughton Park8blankblank
Round 2 - Quarter-finals Involved 3 matches (with one bye) and 7 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 13 Sep 1975Wigan21-22Workington TownCentral Park2Sun 14 Sep 1975Leigh6-23SalfordHilton Park3Sun 14 Sep 1975Swinton2-17St. HelensStation Road40294Widnesbye
Round 3 – Semi-finals Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Tue 16 Sep 1975Workington Town2-16WidnesDerwent Park2Tue 23 Sep 1975St. Helens8-21SalfordKnowsley Road9000
Final Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef Saturday 4 October 1975Widnes16-7SalfordCentral Park7,5663,8801
Teams and scorers
Widnes№Salford teams Ray Dutton1David WatkinsAlan Prescott2Keith FieldingMick George3ButlerMal Aspey4Chris HeskethDavid Jenkins5Maurice RichardsEric Hughes6Ken GillReg Bowden7Steve NashJim Mills8FiddlerDerek Hammond (but see note 2)9Roy HawksleyNick Nelson10Colin DixonJohn Foran11TurnbullJim Fitzpatrick12KnightonMick Adams13Eric Prescott14Barry Sheridan (for Jim Fitzpatrick)15Mackay (for Dixon) 16score78HT5 Scorers Tries Alan Prescott (1)TMaurice Richards (1)Mick George (1)TMal Aspey (1)T Goals Ray Dutton (3)GDavid Watkins (2) Drop Goals Ray Dutton (1)DGRefereeW H (Billy) Thompson (Huddersfield)Man of the matchMick George - Widnes - sponsored byRugby Leaguer Scoring - Try = three points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = one point
The road to success
Notes and comments 1 * 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 2 * Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992 Names Keith Elwell as number 9 (hooker) - The Widnes official archives name the hooker as Derek Hammond
See also 1975–76 Northern Rugby Football League season Rugby league county cups
References
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