The 1970–71 Challenge Cup was the 70th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup.
The final was contested by Leeds and Leigh at Wembley.
First round Date Team one Team two Score23 Jan Barrow Widnes 11-1523 Jan Batley Wigan 4-1323 Jan Blackpool Huddersfield 7-823 Jan Leeds Oldham 49-223 Jan Swinton Huyton 13-223 Jan Thames Board Mills Hunslet 5-4923 Jan Warrington Rochdale Hornets 13-723 Jan Whitehaven Castleford 0-1523 Jan Workington Town St Helens 6-824 Jan Hull BOCM Dewsbury 3-2524 Jan Bramley Doncaster 6-524 Jan Halifax Featherstone Rovers 13-1824 Jan Keighley Hull Kingston Rovers 9-924 Jan Leigh Bradford Northern 9-224 Jan Salford Wakefield Trinity 6-624 Jan York Hull FC 0-227 Jan -replay Hull Kingston Rovers Keighley 11-1827 Jan - replayWakefield Trinity Salford 8-15
Second round Date Team one Team two Score19 Feb Castleford Keighley 9-620 Feb Leeds St Helens 4-021 Feb Dewsbury Bramley 13-1721 Feb Featherstone Rovers Hull FC 7-721 Feb Hunslet Huddersfield 0-1621 Feb Salford Warrington 20-921 Feb Swinton Wigan 8-221 Feb Widnes Leigh 11-1424 Feb -replayHull FC Featherstone Rovers 12-8
Quarter-finals Date Team one Team two Score06 Mar Bramley Leeds 0-1406 Mar Castleford Salford 9-807 Mar Huddersfield Swinton 11-807 Mar Leigh Hull FC 8-4
Semi-finals Date Team one Team two Score27 Mar Leeds Castleford 19-803 Apr Leigh Huddersfield 10-4
Final The final was played on Saturday 15 May 1971, where Leigh beat Leeds 24-7 at Wembley in front of a crowd of 85,514.
The winner of the Lance Todd Trophy was Leigh's captain-coach, Alex Murphy who was stretchered off after a clash with Leeds player, Syd Hynes. For his part in the "clash", Hynes was sent off, and became the first player to be sent-off in a Challenge Cup final after the headbutt on Leigh's Murphy.
This was Leigh's second Cup final win in two final appearances. It was their last appearance in a Challenge Cup final until 2023.
1 David Eckersley 2 Stuart Ferguson 3 Stan Dorrington 4 Mick Collins 5 Joseph Walsh 6 Tony Barrow 7 Alex Murphy (c) 8 Derek Watts 9 Kevin Ashcroft 10 Jimmy Fiddler 11 Paul Grimes 12 Geoffrey Clarkson 13 Peter SmethurstSubstitutes: 14 Les Chisnall 15 Roy Lester (unused)Coach: Alex Murphy 1 John Holmes 2 John Langley 3 Syd Hynes (c) 4 Ronnie Cowan 5 John Atkinson 6 Tony Wainwright 7 Barry Seabourne 8 John Burke 9 Tony Fisher 10 Ted Barnard 11David Hick 12 Bob Haigh 13 Bill RamseySubstitutes: 14 Les Dyl 15 Phil Cookson (unused)Coach: Derek Turner
References
External links Challenge Cup official website Challenge Cup 1970/71 results at Rugby League Project