1969–70 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy | |
---|---|
Structure | Floodlit knockout championship |
Teams | 18 |
Winners | Leigh |
Runners-up | Wigan |
1969 was the fifth occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held.
This year was another new name on the trophy after the 1969 runner-up defeated the reigning cup-holders
Leigh won the trophy by beating Wigan by the score of 11-6
The match was played at Central Park, Wigan, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 12,312 and receipts were £2,854
This was to be Wigan's last appearance in the final of the competition.
This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at eighteen.
The format remained the same as last season with the games in the preliminary round being on a two-legged home and away basis.
This preliminary round involved four clubs, to reduce the numbers to sixteen, followed by a straightforward knock out competition.
Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
Involved 2 matches with the same 4 clubs with reverse fixtures
Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs
Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs
Involved 1 match and 2 clubs
Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points
This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures
1 * Huddersfield (who joined the competition in season 1967–68) play their first game at home in the competition
2 * This match was televised
3 * 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
The Rugby League BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was a knock-out competition sposored 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 afternoonns 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)