The 1966–67 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the second occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held. Castleford won the trophy by beating Swinton by the score of 7-2. The match was played at Wheldon Road, Castleford, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 8,986. This was the second of Castleford's three successive victories in the first three editions of the Floodlit Trophy.
Background This season the original eight invitees were joined by Barrow, Rochdale Hornets and Salford bringing the total of entrants up to eleven, an increase of three. This involved the introduction of a preliminary knock-out round on a two legged home and away basis, to reduce the numbers to eight, followed by a mini-league and with the semi-finals and final stages again being on a knock out basis.
Competition and results
Preliminary round – first leg Involved 3 matches and 6 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAggAttRecNotesRef1Mon 15 Aug 1966Leigh11-16CastlefordHilton Park2Tue 6 Sep 1966Swinton21-5Rochdale HornetsStation Road13Wed 7 Sep 1966Salford10-19St. HelensThe Willows50002
Preliminary round – second leg Involved 3 matches and 6 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAggAttRecNotesRef1Wed 7 Sep 1966Castleford39-18LeighWheldon Road 55-2932Wed 5 Oct 1966Rochdale Hornets14-14SwintonAthletic Grounds19-3543Mon 26 Sep 1966St. Helens40-5SalfordKnowsley Road59-1585005
Round 1 – first qualifying round Involved 4 matches and 8 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttRecNotesRef1Tue 4 Oct 1966Oldham7-10BarrowWatersheddings62Tue 11 Oct 1966Leeds11-11CastlefordHeadingley3Tue 18 Oct 1966St. Helens11-9SwintonKnowsley Road85004Tue 25 Oct 1966Warrington4-14WidnesWilderspool
Round 2 – second qualifying round Involved 4 matches with the same 8 clubs - but NOT reverse fixtures
Game NoFixture DateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttRecNotesRef1Tue 1 Nov 1966Barrow11-11St. HelensCraven Park665772Tue 8 Nov 1966Castleford31-10WarringtonWheldon Road 3Tue 22 Nov 1966Widnes11-14OldhamNaughton Park4Tue 29 Nov 1966Swinton10-4LeedsStation Road
Qualifying league table
PosClubP WD LPFPAPtsPDNotesRef1Castleford21142212132Widnes2112518723Swinton2111915424Barrow2112118335St. Helens2112220236Oldham2112121027Leeds2111521-618Warrington221445-310 Pos = Finishing position P = Games played W = Wins D = Drqw L = Lose PF = Points scored PA = Points against Pts = League points PD = Points scored difference
To progress to the next stage The rules stated that the four clubs with the greatest total winning margins were to qualify, and proceed, to the semi-final. The four clubs in this case were Castleford, Widnes, Swinton and Barrow.
Round 3 – semi-finals Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttRecNotesRef1Tue 6 Dec 1966Castleford21-5BarrowWheldon Road 2Tue 13 Dec 1966Widnes6-19SwintonNaughton Park
Final Game NoFixture DateHome teamScoreAway teamVenueAttRecNotesRefTuesday 20 December 1966Castleford7-2SwintonWheldon Road 8,9861,6928
Teams and scorers Castleford№Swinton teams Derek Edwards1Ken Gowers (Capt.)Keith Howe2Derek WhiteheadIan Stenton3John GomersallRon Willett4Alan BuckleyJack Austin5Reg WilliamsAlan "Chuck" Hardisty (capt.)6Bob FleetKeith Hepworth7Graham WilliamsDenis Hartley8Ken HalliwellClive Dickinson9Derek ClarkeHarold McCartney10Bernard ScottWiliam "Bill" Bryant11Graham ReesPeter Small12Malcolm CummingsJohn Walker13David RobinsonGlyn Jones (unused)14William DaviesTony Miller (unused)15Barry SimpsonGeorge ClintonCoachCliff Evans 7score27HT2 Scorers TriesJack Austin (1)T GoalsRon Willett (1)GDerek Whitehead (1)Keith Hepworth (1)GRefereeJ Manley (Warrington) Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points
The play-offs
Notes and comments 1 * Rochdale Hornets join the competition and play first game in the competition 2 * Salford join the competition and play first game in the competition, and first at home in the competition 3 * At the time this was the highest score, highest aggregate score and greatest winning margin, but to be broken three weeks later 4 * Rochdale Hornets play their first game at home in the competition 5 * At the time this was the highest score, highest aggregate score and greatest winning margin 6 * Barrow join the competition and play first game in the competition 7 * Barrow play their first game at home in the competition 8 * Wheldon Road is the home ground of Castleford. The first match was played there in 1927 and the current capacity in the region of 13,000 although the record attendance was 25,449 set in 1935 in a Challenge Cup match against Hunslet.
See also 1966–67 Northern Rugby Football League season 1966 Lancashire Cup 1966 Yorkshire Cup BBC2 Floodlit Trophy 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 Huddersfield R L Heritage