This was the seventh season for the competition, from this season the League Cup was known as the John Player Trophy for sponsorship reasons.
Warrington won the trophy, beating Widnes in the final by the score of 9-4. The match was played at Knowsley Road, St Helens, Merseyside. The attendance was 10,258 and receipts were £8429.
Background This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at eighteen. This was the second successive season in which there were no drawn matches. The title of the competition was changed from the previous "Players No 6 Trophy" to the "John Player Trophy".
Competition and results
Round 1 - First Round
Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Fri 21 Oct 1977(NDLB) National Dock Labour Board4-18New Hunslet???38451, 22Fri 21 Oct 1977Salford27-8Rochdale HornetsThe Willows3Sat 22 Oct 1977Leeds22-25WiganHeadingley4Sun 23 Oct 1977Featherstone Rovers25-24Hull Kingston RoversPost Office Road5Sun 23 Oct 1977Keighley18-16Hull F.C.Lawkholme Lane6Sun 23 Oct 1977Leigh31-15DoncasterHilton Park7Sun 23 Oct 1977Wakefield Trinity24-5BatleyBelle Vue38Sun 23 Oct 1977Blackpool Borough10-31WarringtonBorough Park9Sun 23 Oct 1977Bradford Northern19-12BramleyOdsal10Sun 23 Oct 1977Dewsbury0-13CastlefordCrown Flatt11Sun 23 Oct 1977Halifax8-9CawoodsThrum Hall11684, 512Sun 23 Oct 1977Huddersfield33-13WhitehavenFartown13Sun 23 Oct 1977Oldham16-8BarrowWatersheddings14Sun 23 Oct 1977Swinton11-28St. HelensStation Road300015Sun 23 Oct 1977Widnes22-6HuytonNaughton Park616Sun 23 Oct 1977York12-20Workington TownClarence Street
Round 2 - Second Round
Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 5 Nov 1977Widnes26-19CastlefordNaughton Park2Sun 6 Nov 1977Bradford Northern22-18Workington TownOdsal3Sun 6 Nov 1977Featherstone Rovers17-10St. HelensPost Office Road54814Sun 6 Nov 1977Huddersfield21-11OldhamFartown5Sun 6 Nov 1977Keighley5-14LeighLawkholme Lane6Sun 6 Nov 1977Wakefield Trinity31-7CawoodsBelle Vue47Sun 6 Nov 1977Warrington19-10SalfordWilderspool8Sun 6 Nov 1977Wigan9-7New HunsletCentral Park5447
Round 3 -Quarter Finals
Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 19 Nov 1977Huddersfield0-11Bradford NorthernFartown2Sun 20 Nov 1977Featherstone Rovers11-14WarringtonPost Office Road3Sun 20 Nov 1977Wakefield Trinity12-9LeighBelle Vue4Sun 20 Nov 1977Widnes25-0WiganNaughton Park
Round 4 – Semi-Finals
Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 26 Nov 1977Wakefield Trinity5-15WarringtonBelle Vue72Sat 3 Dec 1977Widnes14-10Bradford NorthernNaughton Park
Final Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef Saturday 28 January 1978Warrington9-4WidnesKnowsley Road1025884298
Teams and scorers
Warrington№Widnes teams Derek Finnegan/Derek Finnigan1David EckersleySteve Hesford2Stuart WrightBilly Benyon3Mal AspeyFrank Wilson4Mick GeorgeJohn Bevan5Paul WoodsKen Kelly6Eric HughesParry Gordon7Reg BowdenRoy Lester8Bill RamseyJohn Dalgreen9Keith ElwellMike Nicholas10Glyndwr "Glyn" ShawTommy Martyn11Mick AdamsBarry Philbin12David HullIan Potter13Doug Laughton? Not used14? Not used? Not used15Alan Dearden (for Glyndwr "Glyn" Shaw)Coach 9score44HT0 Scorers Tries John Bevan (1)T Goals Steve Hesford (3)G Drop Goals DGPaul Woods (2) RefereeWilliam "Billy" H. Thompson (Huddersfield)Man of the matchSteve Hesford - Warrington - Competition SponsorPlayer's №6 Scoring - Try = three points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = one point
Prize money As part of the sponsorship deal and funds, the prize money awarded to the competing teams for this season was as follows: Finish PositionCash prizeNo. receiving prizeTotal cashWinner£8,0001£8,000Runner-up£3,5001£3,500Semi-finalist£1,7502£3,500Loser in Rd 3£7504£3,000Loser in Rd 2£6008£4,800Loser in Rd 1£45016£7,200Grand Total£30,000
The road to success This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures:
Notes and comments 1 * (NDLB) National Dock Labour Board are a Junior (amateur) club from Hull 2 * Wigan official archives gives the score as 3-18 but RugbyleaguePROJECTS, Rothmans Yearbook 1991-92 and the News of the World/Empire News ANNUAL OF 1978–79 give it as 4-18 3 * Wigan official archives gives the score as 24-3 but RugbyleaguePROJECTS, Wakefield until I die and the News of the World/Empire News Annual 1978–79 give it as 24-5 4 * Cawoods were a Junior (amateur) club from Hull 5 * Cawoods became the first amateur team to beat a professional team in a Rugby League cup tie since 1909 6 * Wigan official archives gives the score as 23-6 but RugbyleaguePROJECTS, Widnes official archives and the News of the World/Empire News annual 1978–79 give it as 22-6 7 * Wigan First Team Players continued with their strike over a bonus payment for the JP second round win over New Hunslet. Wigan chairman Ken Broome issued a statement saying "The situation is bordering on ridiculous. It's beyond money now, it's become a question of whether the players are going to run the club or we are." The actual dispute was over just £5 a man, the club having increased the bonus offer from £55 to £70 but the players wanted £75. 8 * 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.
See also 1977–78 Northern Rugby Football League season 1977 Lancashire Cup 1977 Yorkshire Cup John Player 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 Wakefield until I die