1977–78 Challenge Cup

The 1977–78 Challenge Cup was the 77th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup.

1977–78 Challenge Cup

Duration	5 Rounds
Number of teams	32
Highest attendance	96,000
Broadcast partners	BBC
Winners	Leeds
Runners-up	St. Helens
Lance Todd Trophy	George Nicholls
← 1976–77 1978–79 →

The final was contested by Leeds and St. Helens at Wembley.

Leeds beat St. Helens on Saturday 13 May 1978 in front of a crowd of 96,000.^[1]

The winner of the Lance Todd Trophy was Saints forward, George Nicholls.^[2]

This was Leeds’ eleventh Cup final win in fifteen appearances and their second in successive years.^[3]

First round

The first round consisted of all 30 professional rugby league clubs, plus two amateur teams, Dewsbury Celtic and Pilkington Recs.

The match between Leeds and Halifax was televised by the BBC, and became infamous for a stray dog which invaded the pitch several times during the match.^[4]

Date	Team one	Team two	Score
11 Feb	Leeds	Halifax	25-5
24 Feb	St Helens	Huyton	36-8
24 Feb	Salford	Bramley	9-7
25 Feb	York	Warrington	10-16
26 Feb	Blackpool	Huddersfield	7-9
26 Feb	Bradford Northern	Barrow	21-13
26 Feb	Dewsbury Celtic	Wigan	5-15
26 Feb	Dewsbury	New Hunslet	13-22
26 Feb	Hull FC	Hull Kingston Rovers	9-7
26 Feb	Leigh	Featherstone Rovers	14-23
26 Feb	Oldham	Doncaster	21-7
26 Feb	Pilkington Recs	Castleford	22-23
26 Feb	Swinton	Batley	13-0
26 Feb	Whitehaven	Wakefield Trinity	13-21
26 Feb	Widnes	Rochdale Hornets	15-8
26 Feb	Workington Town	Keighley	16-5

Second round

Date	Team one	Team two	Score
11 Mar	Wigan	Bradford Northern	10-22
12 Mar	Featherstone Rovers	New Hunslet	23-7
12 Mar	Huddersfield	Salford	13-3
12 Mar	Hull FC	Widnes	8-20
12 Mar	Oldham	St Helens	11-26
12 Mar	Wakefield Trinity	Leeds	6-28
12 Mar	Warrington	Swinton	29-4
12 Mar	Workington Town	Castleford	8-8
14 Mar - replay	Castleford	Workington Town	8-8
16 Mar - 2nd replay	Workington Town	Castleford	13-20

Quarter-finals

Date	Team one	Team two	Score
19 Mar	Featherstone Rovers	Castleford	25-15
19 Mar	Leeds	Bradford Northern	16-8
19 Mar	St Helens	Huddersfield	31-5
19 Mar	Warrington	Widnes	6-0

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Team two	Score
01 Apr	Leeds	Featherstone Rovers	14-9
08 Apr	St Helens	Warrington	12-8

Final

13 May 1978

Leeds	14 – 12	St Helens
Try: Atkinson, Smith, Cookson Goal: Oulton Drop goal: Ward (2), Holmes	Report	Try: Liptrot, Francis Goal: Pimblett (3)

Wembley, London Attendance: 96,000 Referee: W. Thompson (Huddersfield)^[5] Player of the Match: George Nicholls^[6]

FB 1 Willie Oulton RW 2 David Smith RC 3 Neil Hague LC 4 Les Dyl LW 5 John Atkinson SO 6 John Holmes SH 7 John Sanderson   60' PR 8 Mick Harrison   66' HK 9 David Ward (c) PR 10 Steve Pitchford SR 11 Graham Eccles SR 12 Phil Cookson LF 13 Mick Crane Substitutions: IC 14 Kevin Dick   60' IC 15 Roy Dickinson   66' Coach: Syd Hynes

FB 1 Geoff Pimblett (c) RW 2 Les Jones RC 3 Derek Noonan LC 4 Peter Glynn LW 5 Roy Mathias SO 6 Bill Francis SH 7 Ken Gwilliam PR 8 Dave Chisnall HK 9 Graham Liptrot PR 10 Mel James SR 11 George Nicholls SR 12 Eddie Cunningham LF 13 Harry Pinner Substitutions: IC 14 Alan Ashton IC 15 Tony Karalius Coach: Eric Ashton

References

1. . Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
2. Raymond Fletcher; David Howes (1995). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1995-1996. London: Headline Book Publishing. p. 199. ISBN 0-7472-7817-2.
3. . Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
4. "The Joy of Six: animals in sport". The Guardian. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
5. Fitzpatrick, Paul (15 May 1978). "Leeds saved by courage". The Guardian. London. p. 15.
6. Henry, Reg (15 May 1978). "Leeds land knockout in Wembley classic". The Times. London. p. 8.

External links

• Challenge Cup official website 2014-01-22 at the Wayback Machine
• Challenge Cup 1977/78 results at Rugby League Project