1971 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
| 1971–72 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy | |
|---|---|
| Structure | Floodlit knockout championship |
| Teams | 18 |
| Winners | St. Helens |
| Runners-up | Rochdale Hornets |
1971 was the seventh occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held.
This year was another new name on the trophy
St. Helens won the trophy by beating Rochdale Hornets by the score of 8-2
The match was played at Knowsley Road, Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. The attendance was 9,255 and receipts were £2,493
This was St. Helens first victory after being runner-up in three of the previous six finals
This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at eighteen.
The format was changed back to that favoured in previous seasons when the preliminary round was played on a two-legged home and away basis with the rest of the tournament being played on a knock-out basis.
The preliminary round involved four clubs, to reduce the numbers to sixteen.
Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs
Involved 2 matches and the same 4 Clubs in reverse fixtures
Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs
Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs
Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points
This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures
1 * This match was televised
2 * Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-1991 and 1991-92 and the St. Helens official archives give the attendance as 9,300, but RUGBYLEAGUEprojects gives it as 9,255
3 * Knowsley Road was the home of St Helens R.F.C. from 1890 until its closure in 2010. The final capacity was 17,500 although the record attendance was 35,695 set on 26 December 1949 for a league game between St Helens and Wigan.
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)
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