1987–88 John Player Special Trophy

This was the seventeenth season for the League Cup, known as the John Player Special Trophy for sponsorship purposes.

St. Helens won the final, beating Leeds by the score of 15-14. The match was played at Central Park, Wigan. The attendance was 16,669 and receipts were £62232.

Background This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at thirty-six Blackpool Borough moved to Springfield Park in Wigan and renamed as Springfield Borough

Competition and results

Preliminary round

Involved 4 matches and 8 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 31 Oct 1987Heworth5-32SwintonClarence Street106312Sun 1 Nov 1987Featherstone Rovers34-16Thatto HeathPost Office Road104523Sun 1 Nov 1987York38-2BramleyClarence Street117434Sun 8 Nov 1987Oldham36-8FulhamWatersheddings3197

Round 1 - First Round

Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Fri 13 Nov 1987Springfield Borough14-2BarrowSpringfield Park6292Sat 14 Nov 1987Oldham22-6Bradford NorthernWatersheddings48583Sat 14 Nov 1987St. Helens12-10WidnesKnowsley Road73224Sun 15 Nov 1987Batley18-16HunsletMount Pleasant11175Sun 15 Nov 1987Carlisle16-22WarringtonBrunton Park10556Sun 15 Nov 1987Dewsbury14-12DoncasterCrown Flatt10817Sun 15 Nov 1987Featherstone Rovers12-34CastlefordPost Office Road33768Sun 15 Nov 1987Keighley6-32HalifaxThrum Hall523649Sun 15 Nov 1987Hull F.C.42-6Workington TownBoulevard244710Sun 15 Nov 1987Hull Kingston Rovers30-12Rochdale HornetsCraven Park (1)230811Sun 15 Nov 1987Leigh28-12Huddersfield BarracudasHilton Park208212Sun 15 Nov 1987Runcorn Highfield4-6Mansfield MarksmanCanal Street51413Sun 15 Nov 1987Swinton12-18SalfordStation Road345914Sun 15 Nov 1987Wakefield Trinity22-22YorkBelle Vue186415Sun 15 Nov 1987Whitehaven14-18LeedsRecreation Ground366316Sun 15 Nov 1987Wigan34-8Sheffield EaglesCentral Park7484

Round 1 - First Round Replays Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Wed 18 Nov 1987York6-30Wakefield TrinityClarence Street1467

Round 2 - Second Round

Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 21 Nov 1987Wigan26-16CastlefordCentral Park96132Sun 22 Nov 1987Batley0-44OldhamMount Pleasant28083Sun 22 Nov 1987Hull F.C.19-7LeighBoulevard39824Sun 22 Nov 1987Leeds20-10HalifaxHeadingley134985Sun 22 Nov 1987St. Helens40-0Mansfield MarksmanKnowsley Road49666Sun 22 Nov 1987Salford14-5DewsburyThe Willows21297Sun 22 Nov 1987Springfield Borough14-8Wakefield TrinitySpringfield Park12658Sun 22 Nov 1987Warrington12-8Hull Kingston RoversWilderspool4550

Round 3 -Quarter Finals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 28 Nov 1987Warrington10-14OldhamWilderspool51522Sun 29 Nov 1987St. Helens20-16Hull F.C.Knowsley Road74003Sun 29 Nov 1987Salford12-16WiganThe Willows79864Sun 29 Nov 1987Springfield Borough12-22LeedsSpringfield Park3894

Round 4 – Semi-Finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 12 Dec 1987Leeds19-6WiganBurnden Park135382Sat 19 Dec 1987St. Helens18-8OldhamKnowsley Road8136

Final Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef Saturday 9 January 1988St. Helens15-14LeedsCentral Park16669622325

Teams and scorers

St. Helens№Leeds teams Phil Veivers1Marty GurrDave Tanner2Steve MorrisPaul Loughlin3Garry SchofieldMark Elia4Peter JacksonLes Quirk5John BasnettShane Cooper6David CreasserNeil Holding7Ray AshtonTony Burke8Peter TunksPaul Groves9Colin MaskillPeter Souto10Kevin RaynePaul Forber11Roy PowellRoy Haggerty12Paul MedleyAndy Platt13David HeronDavid Large (for ?)14Carl Gibson (for John Basnett)Stuart Evans (for Peter Souto)15xJohn Fairbank (for Kevin Rayne)Alex MurphyCoachMaurice Bamford 15score149HT14 Scorers Tries Paul Loughlin (2)TPeter Jackson (1)TDavid Creasser (1) Goals Paul Loughlin (3)GDavid Creasser (3) Drop Goals Neil Holding (1)DG RefereeG. Frederick "Fred" Lindop (Wakefield)Man of the matchPaul Loughlin - St Helens - Competition SponsorJohn Player Special

Scoring - Try = four 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 is as follows :- Finish PositionCash prizeNo. receiving prizeTotal cash Winner?1?Runner-up?1?semi-finalist?2?loser in Rd 3?4?loser in Rd 2?8?Loser in Rd 1?16?Loser in Prelim Round???Grand Total

Note - the author is unable to trace the award amounts for this season. Can anyone help ?

The road to success This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

Notes and comments 1 * Heworth are a Junior (amateur) club from York 2 * Thatto Heath are a Junior (amateur) club from St Helens 3 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject give score as 38-2 but Wigan official archives gives it as 37-2 4 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject give Halifax at home but Wigan official archives gives Keighley at home but with a reference that the game was played at Thrum Hall, the home of Halifax 5 * 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

See also 1987-88 Rugby Football League season 1987 Lancashire Cup 1987 Yorkshire Cup John Player Special 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