1993–94 League Cup (rugby league)

The 1993–94 League Cup was the twenty-third season of the rugby league League Cup, known as the Regal Trophy due to sponsorship by Regal.

1993–94 League Cup
Structure	National knockout championship
Teams	48
Winners	Castleford
Runners-up	Wigan
← 1992–93 1994–95 →

Castleford won the final, beating the pre-match favourites Wigan by the score of 33-2. The match was played at Headingley, Leeds in front of an attendance of 15,626.

Background

This season saw virtually a complete re-vamping of the competition for instance; The Preliminary round was renamed "First Round", with every other succeeding round being renamed. The (newly named) First Round now consisted of 16 matches involving 32 clubs, with a further 16 clubs being given byes into the Second Round. The number of entrants was further increased by inviting eleven of the top junior clubs. The inclusion of two French clubs continued with the inclusion of AS Saint Estève. The sixteen First Round winners added to the sixteen clubs given byes, gave a total of entrants into the second round as thirty-two. There were no drawn matches in the competition this season.

Competition and results

^[1][2]

Round 1 - First Round - (a Preliminary Round)

^[3] Involved 16 matches and 32 clubs, with 16 byes

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Fri 29 Oct 1993	Dewsbury		56-10		West Bowling	Mount Pleasant	616		1
2	Sun 31 Oct 1993	Barrow		54-12		Leigh Miners' Welfare	Craven Park	1140		2
3	Sun 31 Oct 1993	Batley		64-1		Queens	Mount Pleasant	608		3
4	Sun 31 Oct 1993	Bramley		17-8		Woolston Rovers	McLaren Field	510		4
5	Sun 31 Oct 1993	Carlisle		36-24		Carcassonne	Gifford Park	593		5
6	Sun 31 Oct 1993	Doncaster		62-4		Myson	Bentley Road Stadium/Tattersfield	858		6
7	Sun 31 Oct 1993	Highfield		30-22		Ellenborough	Hoghton Road Stadium	227		7
8	Sun 31 Oct 1993	Huddersfield		36-8		Irlam Hornets	Leeds Road	1705		8	^[4]
9	Sun 31 Oct 1993	Hunslet		30-19		Chorley Borough (2)	Elland Road	299
10	Sun 31 Oct 1993	Keighley Cougars		72-12		Nottingham City	Cougar Park	2283		9
11	Sun 31 Oct 1993	London Crusaders		48-16		AS Saint Estève	Barnet Copthall	746		10
12	Sun 31 Oct 1993	Rochdale Hornets		80-10		Blackpool Gladiators	Spotland	863
13	Sun 31 Oct 1993	Ryedale-York		66-14		Hemel Stags	Ryedale Stadium	835		11
14	Sun 31 Oct 1993	Swinton		24-13		Saddleworth Rangers	Gigg Lane	468		12
15	Sun 31 Oct 1993	Whitehaven		46-0		Egremont	Recreation Ground	1480		13
16	Sun 31 Oct 1993	Workington Town		74-6		Wigan St Patricks	Derwent Park	1464		14
1		Bradford Northern				bye
2		Castleford				bye
3		Featherstone Rovers				bye
4		Halifax				bye
5		Hull F.C.				bye
6		Hull Kingston Rovers				bye
7		Leeds				bye
8		Leigh				bye
9		Oldham				bye
10		Salford				bye
11		St. Helens				bye
12		Sheffield Eagles				bye
13		Wakefield Trinity				bye
14		Warrington				bye
15		Widnes				bye
16		Wigan				bye

Round 2 Second Round

^[3] Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Fri 12 Nov 1993	Dewsbury		6-20		St. Helens	Mount Pleasant	2272			^[5]
2	Sat 13 Nov 1993	Salford		21-12		Leeds	The Willows	1799
3	Sun 14 Nov 1993	Barrow		8-28		Bradford Northern	Craven Park	2796
4	Sun 14 Nov 1993	Batley		8-6		Sheffield Eagles	Mount Pleasant	1278
5	Sun 14 Nov 1993	Carlisle		28-12		Wakefield Trinity	Gifford Park	746			^[6]
6	Sun 14 Nov 1993	Halifax		19-10		Keighley Cougars	Thrum Hall	7321
7	Sun 14 Nov 1993	Highfield		8-26		Oldham	Hoghton Road Stadium	880
8	Sun 14 Nov 1993	Leigh		20-12		Huddersfield	Hilton Park	3407			^[4]
9	Sun 14 Nov 1993	London Crusaders		26-12		Featherstone Rovers	Barnet Copthall	981
10	Sun 14 Nov 1993	Rochdale Hornets		10-11		Bramley	Spotland	730
11	Sun 14 Nov 1993	Ryedale-York		12-11		Workington Town	Ryedale Stadium	1456
12	Sun 14 Nov 1993	Swinton		14-36		Hull F.C.	Gigg Lane	851		15	^[7]
13	Sun 14 Nov 1993	Warrington		58-16		Hunslet	Wilderspool	3037			^[8]
14	Sun 14 Nov 1993	Whitehaven		8-22		Wigan	Recreation Ground	5185		16	^[2]
15	Sun 14 Nov 1993	Widnes		24-4		Doncaster	Naughton Park	3075		17	^[9]
16	Mon 15 Nov 1993	Hull Kingston Rovers		12-16		Castleford	Craven Park (2)	2724

Round 3 - Third Round

^[10] Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
1	Sat 11 Dec 1993	St. Helens		8-16		Warrington	Knowsley Road	5366			^[5]^[8]
2	Sun 12 Dec 1993	Carlisle		34-4		Bramley	Gifford Park	516
3	Sun 12 Dec 1993	Hull F.C.		10-6		Widnes	Boulevard	3412		18	^[7]^[9]
4	Sun 12 Dec 1993	Oldham		8-16		Wigan	Watersheddings	6342		19	^[2]
5	Sun 12 Dec 1993	Ryedale-York		10-42		London Crusaders	Ryedale Stadium	741
6	Mon 13 Dec 1993	Castleford		54-14		Leigh	Wheldon Road	2116
7	Tue 14 Dec 1993	Batley		8-12		Salford	Mount Pleasant	809
8	Thu 16 Dec 1993	Bradford Northern		16-8		Halifax	Odsal	5057

Round 4 -Quarter Finals

^[11] Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
	Sat 18 Dec 1993	Warrington		10-27		Wigan	Wilderspool	7321		20, 21	^[2]^[8]
	Sun 19 Dec 1993	Castleford		44-4		Carlisle	Wheldon Road	2624		20
	Sun 19 Dec 1993	London Crusaders		10-22		Bradford Northern	Barnet Copthall	1878		20
	Sun 19 Dec 1993	Salford		26-6		Hull F.C.	The Willows	3207		20, 22	^[7]

Round 5 – Semi-Finals

^[12] Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
	Sat 1 Jan 1994	Bradford Northern		10-23		Castleford	Odsal	8351
	Sat 8 Jan 1994	Salford		12-18		Wigan	The Willows	7483			^[2]

Final

Game No	Fixture Date	Home Team		Score		Away Team	Venue	Att	Rec	Notes	Ref
	Saturday 22 January 1994	Castleford Tigers		33-2		Wigan	Headingley	15626		23	^[13]

Teams and scorers

^[14]

Castleford Tigers	№	Wigan
	teams
Graham Steadman	1	Joe Lydon
St. John Ellis	2	Jason Robinson
Richie Blackmore	3	Barrie-Jon Mather
Grant Anderson	4	Gary Connolly
Simon Middleton	5	Martin Offiah
Tony Kemp	6	Frano Botica
Mike Ford	7	Shaun Edwards
Lee Crooks	8	Kelvin Skerrett
Richard Russell	9	Martin Dermott
Martin Ketteridge	10	Andy Platt
Tony Morrison	11	Neil Cowie
Ian Smales	12	Andy Farrell
Tawera Nikau	13	Phil Clarke
Andy Hay (for Grant Anderson 63-mins)	14	Sam Panapa (for Neil Cowie 30-mins)
Dean Sampson (for Martin Ketteridge 74-mins)	15	Mick Cassidy
John Joyner	Coach	John Dorahy
33	score	2
20	HT	2
	Scorers
	Tries
Martin Ketteridge (2)	T
Tawera Nikau (1)	T
Grant Anderson (1)	T
Lee Crooks (1)	T
	Goals
Lee Crooks (6)	G	Frano Botica (1)
	Drop Goals
Tony Kemp (1)	DG
Referee		Dave Campbell (Widnes)
Man of the match		Martin Ketteridge Rugby league positions
Competition Sponsor		Regal

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:^[15]-

Finish Position	Cash Prize	No. receiving prize	Total Cash
Winner	35000	1	35000
Runner-up	18500	1	18500
semi-finalist	9750	2	19500
quarter-finalist	6225	4	24900
loser in Rd 3	4000	8	32000
loser in Rd 2	2650	16	42400
Professional Clubs in Rd 1	2650	18	47700
Amateur Clubs in Rd 1	1000	14	14000
Development Fund	126000	1	126000
Total Prize Fund	234000		234000
Grand Total	360000		360000

The road to success

This tree excludes the First Round fixtures

	Second round					Third round					Fourth round					Semifinals					Final
	Ryedale-York		12
	Workington Town		11
						Ryedale-York		10
						London Crusaders		42
	London Crusaders		26
	Featherstone Rovers		12
											London Crusaders		10
											Bradford Northern		22
	Barrow		8
	Bradford Northern		28
						Bradford Northern		16
						Halifax		8
	Halifax		19
	Keighley Cougars		10
																Bradford Northern		10
																Castleford		23
	Hull Kingston Rovers		12
	Castleford		16
						Castleford		54
						Leigh		14
	Leigh		20
	Huddersfield		12
											Castleford		44
											Carlisle		4
	Carlisle		28
	Wakefield Trinity		12
						Carlisle		34
						Bramley		4
	Rochdale Hornets		10
	Bramley		11
																					Castleford		33
																					Wigan		2
	Batley		8
	Sheffield Eagles		6
						Batley		8
						Salford		12
	Salford		21
	Leeds		12
											Salford		26
											Hull F.C.		6
	Swinton		14
	Hull F.C.		36
						Hull F.C.		10
						Widnes		6
	Widnes		24
	Doncaster		4
																Salford		12
																Wigan		18
	Dewsbury		6
	St. Helens		20
						St. Helens		8
						Warrington		16
	Warrington		58
	Hunslet		16
											Warrington		10
											Wigan		27
	Highfield		8
	Oldham		26
						Oldham		8
						Wigan		16
	Whitehaven		8
	Wigan		22

Notes and comments

1 * West Bowling are a junior (or amateur) club from Bradford
2 * Leigh Miners' Welfare are a Junior (amateur) club from Leigh (formed by merger of Astley & Tyldesley and Hope Rangers - and now Leigh Miners Rangers)^[16]
3 * Queens are a Junior (amateur) club from Leeds
4 * Woolston Rovers are a Junior (amateur) club from Warrington, becoming Warrington Woolston Rovers in 2003 and Warrington Wizards in 2002. the ground is the old Warrington Home Ground of Wilderspool ^[17][18]
5 * Carcassonne played in the French League at Stade Albert Domec
6 * Myson are a Junior (amateur) club from Hull
7 * Ellenborough Rangers are a Junior (amateur) club from the Ellenborough suburb of Maryport, Cumbria^[19]
8 * Irlam Hornets ARLFC are a junior club from Irlam, Salford, playing at Cutnook Lane^[20]
9 * Wigan official archives^[2] gives the club name as Nottingham Borough. There appear to be no other references anywhere to this name and assume it is an misprint
10 * AS Saint Estève was a French rugby league team from Perpignan, which in 2000 it merged with nearby neighbours XIII Catalan to form Union Treiziste Catalaneto compete in the Super Leagueas the Catalans Dragons.
11 * Hemel Stags are a semi professional club based in Hemel Hempstead and playing at the Pennine Way stadium (capacity 2000)^[21]
12 * Saddleworth Rangers are a Junior (amateur) club from Oldham
13 * Egremont are a Junior (amateur) club from Cumbria^[22]
14 * Wigan St Patricks are a Junior (amateur) club from Wigan^[23]
15 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject^[1] gives the attendance as 851 but Hull official archives^[7] gives it as 819
16 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject^[1] gives the attendance as 5,185 but Wigan official archives^[2] gives it as 5,128
17 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject^[1] gives the attendance as 3,075 but Widnes official archives^[9] gives it as 3,074
18 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject^[1] and Widnes official archives^[9] gives the attendance as 3,412 but Hull official archives^[7] gives it as 3,421
19 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject^[1] gives the attendance as 6,342 but Wigan official archives^[2] gives it as 6,500
20 * Wigan official archives - special details^[11] give this as the third round, obviously a mis-print
21 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject^[1] gives the attendance as 7,321 but Wigan official archives^[2] gives it as 7,231
22 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject^[1] and Wigan official archives^[2] gives the score as 26-6 but Hull official archives^[7] gives it as 24-6
23 * 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

• 1993-94 Rugby Football League season
• Regal Trophy
• Rugby league county cups

References

1. "Rugby League Project".
2. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
3. "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Rd 1 & 2 archived results".
4. "Huddersfield Rugby League Heritage" (PDF).
5. "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
6. "Wakefield until I die".
7. "HULL&PROUD - Stats - Fixtures & Results 1896/1897".
8. . Archived from the original on 2010-07-06.
9. "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
10. "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Rd 3 archived results".
11. "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Rd 4 archived results".
12. "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player S-F archived results".
13. "Wigan "Cherry and White" J Player Final archived results".
14. "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results".
15. Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1994-94 p.210
16. . Archived from the original on 2014-01-01. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
17. . Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
18. . Archived from the original on 2013-12-31. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
19. . Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
20. . Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
21. . Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
22. "Egremont Rangers ARLFC".
23. "Wigan St Patricks".

External links

• Saints Heritage Society
• 1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season at wigan.rlfans.com 2014-02-02 at the Wayback Machine
• Widnes Vikings - One team, one passion Season In Review - 1896-97
• Huddersfield R L Heritage
• Wakefield until I die