The 1977–78 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the thirteenth occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held. This year there was another new name added when Hull Kingston Rovers won the trophy by beating St. Helens in the final by the score of 26-11. The match was played at Craven Park (1), in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. The attendance was 10,099, and the receipts were £6,586.

Background The Rugby Football League's BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was a knock-out competition sponsored by the BBC and between rugby league clubs, entrance to which was conditional upon the club having floodlights. Most matches were played on an evening, and those of which the second half was televised, were played on a Tuesday evening. Despite the competition being named as 'Floodlit', many matches took place during the afternoons and not under floodlights, and several of the entrants, including Barrow and Bramley did not have adequate lighting. And, when in 1973, due to the world oil crisis, the government restricted the use of floodlights in sport, all the matches, including the Trophy final, had to be played in the afternoon rather than at night. The Rugby League season always (until the onset of "Summer Rugby" in 1996) 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 taking place in December (The only exception to this was when disruption of the fixture list was caused by inclement weather)

Competition and results This season Bramley, winners in 1973, did not enter the competition (they returned next year), but Batley joined the competition; thus the number of entrants remaining the same at twenty-two. The format remained as a knock-out competition from the preliminary round through to the final. The preliminary round involved twelve clubs, to reduce the numbers taking part in the competition proper to just sixteen.

Preliminary round Involved 6 matches and 12 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef PSun 28 Aug 1977Halifax5-43LeighThrum HallPTue 30 Aug 1977Huddersfield18-22WiganFartownPTue 30 Aug 1977Salford39-5New HunsletThe WillowsPWed 7 Sep 1977Keighley25-2SwintonLawkholme LanePTue 13 Sep 1977Bramley4-14Wakefield TrinityMcLaren Field1PTue 27 Sep 1977Leeds16-13WidnesHeadingley

Round 1 – first round Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Wed 28 Sep 1977Barrow6-10LeighCraven Park2Tue 4 Oct 1977Whitehaven5-6SalfordRecreation Ground3Wed 5 Oct 1977Oldham13-11WarringtonWatersheddings4Wed 5 Oct 1977Wakefield Trinity15-8KeighleyBelle Vue5Tue 11 Oct 1977St. Helens51-0DewsburyKnowsley Road2,75426Wed 12 Oct 1977Leeds19-5Rochdale HornetsHeadingley7Tue 25 Oct 1977Hull Kingston Rovers18-7WiganCraven Park (1)38Tue 18 Oct 1977Hull F.C.ACastlefordBoulevard4

Round 1 – first round – replay Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 8Wed 26 Oct 1977Hull F.C.7-10CastlefordBoulevard

Round 2 – quarter finals Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Tue 1 Nov 1977Salford29-10OldhamThe Willows2Tue 8 Nov 1977Wakefield Trinity14-22Hull Kingston RoversBelle Vue3Tue 15 Nov 1977Castleford14-10LeedsWheldon Road 4Tue 22 Nov 1977Leigh7-14St. HelensHilton Park4,011

Round 3 – semi-finals Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Tue 29 Nov 1977Castleford5-23Hull Kingston RoversWheldon Road 2Tue 6 Dec 1977St. Helens7-4SalfordKnowsley Road3,500

Final Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Tuesday 13 December 1977Hull Kingston Rovers26-11St. HelensCraven Park (1)10,0996,5863 5

Teams and scorers Hull Kingston Rovers№St. Helens teams Dave Hall1Geoff PimblettGed Dunn2Les JonesMike Smith3Derek NoonanBernard Watson4Eddie CunninghamClive Sullivan5Peter GlynnSteve Hartley6Bill FrancisRoger Millward7Ken GwilliamJohn Millington8Dave ChisnallDavid Watkinson9Graham LiptrotJohn Cunningham10Mel JamesPhil Lowe11Mick HopePaul Rose12Tony KaraliusLen Casey13Harry PinnerRoger MillwardCoachEric Ashton 26score1111HT3 Scorers Tries Gerald "Ged" Dunn (2)TEddie Cunningham (1)Mike Smith (1)TPeter Glynn (2)Clive Sullivan (1)TSteve Hartley (1)TPaul Rose (1)T Goals Dave Hall (4)GPeter Glynn (1)RefereeMichael "Mick" J. Naughton (Widnes) Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points

The road to success This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

Notes 1 * Batley join the competition and play first game in the competition, and first at home in the competition. It was also their one and only game as they did not enter the competition again 2 * At the time this highest score and greatest winning margin, never to be beaten 3 * This match was televised 4 * Abandoned after 25 Minutes due to Fog - Second Half was due to be Live on BBC 2 5 * Craven Park (1) was the home ground of Hull Kingston Rovers from 2 September 1922 to 9 April 1989. The final capacity was estimated to be under 10,000 although the record attendance was 22,282 set on 7 October 1922 in a match against local rivals Hull FC. The stadium was demolished in 1989 and a new supermarket constructed for the Co-op, and now occupied by Morrisons.

See also 1977–78 Northern Rugby Football League season 1977 Lancashire Cup 1977 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