1990–91 Regal Trophy

1990-91 Regal Trophy
Structure National knockout championship
Number of teams 38
Winners Warrington
Runners-up Bradford Northern
< 1989-90 Seasons 1991-92 >

1990–91 Regal Trophy

1990-91 was the twentieth season for the John Player Special Trophy competition .
This season saw Warrington make their fifth appearance in a John Player final (with three previous wins) and ( Bradford Northern's third appearance in a final (winning on both previous occasions)
Warrington won the trophy by beating Bradford Northern by the score of 12-2
The match was played at Headingley, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 11154 and receipts were £57662

Background

This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at thirty-eight.

The preliminary round involved twelve clubs, to reduce the numbers to entrants to the first round proper to thirty-two.

Competition and Results[1][2][3]

Preliminary Round[4]

Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Wed 14 Nov 1990Doncaster14-12Ryedale-YorkBentley Road Stadium/Tattersfield1165
2Sat 17 Nov 1990Bradford Dudley Hill18-24Dewsburyvenue unknown9701
3Sat 17 Nov 1990Saddleworth35-18Egremont (Cumbria)Watersheddings9002,3
4Sun 18 Nov 1990Carlisle10-28Wakefield TrinityGifford Park1479[5]
5Sun 18 Nov 1990Leeds58-6HalifaxHeadingley9761
6Sun 18 Nov 1990Sheffield Eagles8-12Bradford NorthernDon Valley Stadium2788

Round 1 - First Round[4]

Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Fri 30 Nov 1990Rochdale Hornets30-10Saddleworth (Oldham)Spotland24342
2Sat 1 Dec 1990Widnes24-16Hull F.C.Naughton Park4940[6][7]
3Sun 2 Dec 1990Barrow16-54Featherstone RoversCraven Park1200
4Sun 2 Dec 1990Bradford Northern12-11Workington TownOdsal2850
5Sun 2 Dec 1990Bramley30-16DewsburyMcLaren Field680
6Sun 2 Dec 1990Fulham8-14CastlefordChiswick Poly *8314
7Sun 2 Dec 1990Huddersfield13-15KeighleyFartown1256[8]
8Sun 2 Dec 1990Leeds26-22Hull KRHeadingley9753
9Sun 2 Dec 1990Leigh66-5Chorley Borough (2)Hilton Park1313
10Sun 2 Dec 1990Nottingham City6-35BatleyHarvey Hadden Stadium3675
11Sun 2 Dec 1990Oldham26-6SalfordWatersheddings4932
12Sun 2 Dec 1990Swinton7-31St HelensStation Road3385[9]
13Sun 2 Dec 1990Trafford Borough10-10DoncasterMoss Lane Altrincham409
14Sun 2 Dec 1990Wakefield Trinity40-8HunsletBelle Vue3531[5]
15Sun 2 Dec 1990Warrington33-7Runcorn HighfieldWilderspool2712[10]
16Sun 2 Dec 1990Whitehaven6-24WiganRecreation Ground3459[2]

Round 1 - First Round Replays

Involved xx matches and xx Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Thu 5 Dec 1990Doncaster19-7Trafford BoroughBentley Road Stadium/Tattersfield1195

Round 2 - Second Round[11]

Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Sat 8 Dec 1990Widnes22-6LeedsNaughton Park3465[6]
2Sun 9 Dec 1990Batley20-16OldhamMount Pleasant2054
3Sun 9 Dec 1990Wakefield Trinity4-20CastlefordBelle Vue7031[5]
4Sun 9 Dec 1990Warrington11-6LeighWilderspool3588[10]
5Sun 9 Dec 1990Wigan36-16KeighleyCentral Park5955[2]
6Tue 11 Dec 1990Bradford Northern28-0BramleyOdsal1815
7Tue 11 Dec 1990Featherstone Rovers16-33St HelensPost Office Road3343[9]
8Wed 12 Dec 1990Doncaster10-14Rochdale HornetsBentley Road Stadium/Tattersfield1341

Round 3 -Quarter Finals[12]

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Sat 15 Dec 1990Wigan6-12Bradford NorthernCentral Park5285[2]
2Sun 16 Dec 1990Castleford14-19Rochdale HornetsWheldon Road 4017
3Sun 16 Dec 1990Warrington18-12St HelensWilderspool7390[9][10]
4Sun 16 Dec 1990Widnes56-6BatleyNaughton Park6656[6]

Round 4 – Semi-Finals[12]

Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1Sat 22 Dec 1990Bradford Northern13-2Rochdale HornetsHeadingley3788
2Sat 29 Dec 1990Warrington8-4WidnesCentral Park7874[6][10]

Final

Game No Fixture Date Home Team Score Away Team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Sat 12 Jan 1991Warrington12-2Bradford NorthernHeadingley11154576626[3][10][12]

Teams and Scorers[3]

Warrington No Bradford Northern
teams
David Lyon1Ian Wilkinson
Des Drummond (c)2Gerald Cordle
Allan Bateman3Darrall Shelford
Tony Thornley4Roger Simpson
Mark Forster5Tony Marchant
Chris O'Sullivan6Neil Summers
Kevin Ellis7Brett Iti
Neil Harmon8David Hobbs
Duane Mann9Brian Noble
Gary Chambers10John Hamer
Gary Mercer11Paul Medley
Billy McGinty12David Croft
Paul Cullen13John Pendlebury (c)
Mark Thomas (for Gary Chambers 41 mins)14Phil Hellewell (for Tony Marchant 41 mins)
Rowland Phillips (for Neil Harmon 79 min)15Craig Richards (not used)
Brian JohnsonCoachDavid Hobbs
12score2
4HT2
Scorers
Tries
Mark Thomas (1)T
Goals
David Lyon (4)GDavid Hobbs (1)
RefereeJim Smith (Halifax)
Man of the matchBilly McGinty - Warrington - second row
Competition SponsorRegal Trophy

Scoring - Try = four (4) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = one (1) 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 Position Cash Prize No. receiving prize Total Cash
Winner30000130000
Runner-up16000116000
semi-finalist8500217000
loser in Rd 35000420000
loser in Rd 23250826000
Loser in Rd 120001632000
Loser in Prelim Round20001224000
Grand Total165000
plus to capital development fund110000
Grand Total275000

The road to success

This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

First Round Second Round Third Round Semi Finals Final
               
Warrington 33
Runcorn Highfield 7
Warrington 11
Leigh 6
Leigh 66
Chorley Borough (2) 5
Warrington 18
St Helens 12
Barrow 16
Featherstone Rovers 64
Featherstone Rovers 16
St Helens 33
Swinton 7
St Helens 31
Warrington 8
Widnes 4
Widnes 24
Hull F.C. 6
Widnes 22
Leeds 6
Leeds 26
Hull KR 22
Widnes 56
Batley 6
Nottingham City 6
Batley 35
Batley 20
Oldham 16
Oldham 26
Salford 6
Warrington 12
Bradford Northern 2
Whitehaven 6
Wigan 24
Wigan 36
Keighley 16
Huddersfield 13
Keighley 15
Wigan 6
Bradford Northern 12
Bradford Northern 12
Workington Town 11
Bradford Northern 28
Bramley 0
Bramley 30
Dewsbury 16
Bradford Northern 13
Rochdale Hornets 2
Wakefield Trinity 40
Hunslet 8
Wakefield Trinity 4
Castleford 12
Fulham 8
Castleford 14
Castleford 14
Rochdale Hornets 19
Trafford Borough 10 (7)
Doncaster 10 (19)
Doncaster 10
Rochdale Hornets 14
Rochdale Hornets 30
Saddleworth (Oldham) 10

Notes and comments

1 * Bradford Dudley Hill are a Junior (amateur) club from Bradford
2 * Saddleworth Rangers are a Junior (amateur) club from Oldham
3 * Egremont are a Junior (amateur) club from Cumbria
4 * At this time Fulham were a bit nomadic, using a collection of grounds as their "home", but the likelihood was that this match was probably played at Chiswick Polytechnic Sports Ground
5 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject[1] and Rothmans yearbook 1991-92[3] give the score as 6-35 but Wigan official archives[4] gives it as 6-5, which must be a misprint as Batley were the team progressing to the next round
6 * Headingley, Leeds, is the home ground of Leeds RLFC with a capacity of 21,000. The record attendance was 40,175 for a league match between Leeds and Bradford Northern on 21 May 1947.

General information for those unfamiliar

The council of the Rugby Football League voted to introduce a new competition, to be similar to The Football Association and Scottish Football Association's "League Cup". It was to be a similar knock-out structure to, and to be secondary to, the Challenge Cup. As this was being formulated, sports sponsorship was becoming more prevalent and as a result John Player and Sons, a division of Imperial Tobacco Company, became sponsors, and the competition never became widely known as the "League Cup"
The competition ran from 1971-72 until 1995-96 and was initially intended for the professional clubs plus the two amateur BARLA National Cup finalists. In later seasons the entries were expanded to take in other amateur and French teams. The competition was dropped due to "fixture congestion" when Rugby League became a summer sport 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 usually taking place in late January
The competition was variably known, by its sponsorship name, as the Player's No.6 Trophy (1971–1977), the John Player Trophy (1977–1983), the John Player Special Trophy (1983–1989), and the Regal Trophy in 1989.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Rugby League Project".
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Rd 1 archived results".
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Wakefield until I die".
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  7. ↑ "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results".
  8. ↑ "Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage".
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897".
  11. ↑ "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Rd 2 archived results".
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Rd 3 archived results".

External links