BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
| Sport | BBC TV |
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The BBC2 Floodlit Trophy (also known as the BBC2 Television Trophy) was an annual knockout competition for British rugby league clubs. Organised by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the competition was open to all professional clubs with floodlights installed.
First held in 1965–66, games were typically played during the middle of the week, and were broadcast on BBC television. Eight teams competed during the first season, but the tournament was quickly expanded as more teams erected floodlights at their grounds.
The competition's most successful club was Castleford, who won the trophy four times, including the inaugural tournament. The last staging of the competition was in 1979–80, won by Hull, before the competition was cancelled due to financial cutbacks by the BBC.
History
The tournament was not Rugby League's first foray into evening television; the 1955–56 season saw a tournament titled the
In 1965, the rugby league management committee agreed to the televising of a mid-week floodlit competition consisting of eight teams,[1] with director of BBC2, broadcaster David Attenborough, being instrumental in its creation. When the competition was first mooted only a few grounds were equipped with floodlights, but the tournament prompted several clubs to apply for loans from the Rugby Football League to install them.[2] The tournament was intended to coincide with the launch of BBC2 in the North of England.[3]
The tournament was played during the early part of the season. Each week, one match would be played under
The first season, 1965–66, eight clubs -
Seven of the eight teams had floodlights and Leeds installed theirs the following season.The four-tackles-then-a-scrum rule[6] was first introduced in the competition's second season, in October 1966, before being implemented in all competitions by December.
Castleford won the trophy in the first season, 1965–66 and won the trophy the most times, on three more occasions 1966–67, 1967–68 and 1976–77.
Despite disagreements over shirt sponsorship in the early 1970s, Rugby League remained a mainstay of BBC Television during the 1970s, and 1980s, although the commitment to the Floodlit Trophy decreased before financial cutbacks at the BBC lead to its cancellation after the 1979–80 competition.[4] In the last final, Hull F.C. beat local rivals Hull Kingston Rovers.
List of finals
Wins by club
| Club | Wins | Winning years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Castleford | 4 | 1965, 1966, 1967, 1976 |
| 2= | Leigh |
2 | 1969, 1972 |
| St Helens | 2 | 1971, 1975 | |
| 4= | Bramley | 1 | 1973 |
| Hull | 1 | 1979 | |
| Hull Kingston Rovers | 1 | 1977 | |
| Leeds | 1 | 1970 | |
| Salford | 1 | 1974 | |
| Widnes | 1 | 1978 | |
| Wigan | 1 | 1968 |
References
- ProQuest 185064716.
- ^ "Two men can now be replaced". Liverpool Daily Post. 22 June 1965. p. 11 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ProQuest 185085748.
- ^ ISBN 9781134221455.
- ^ Dawson, Neil. "BBC Floodlit Trophy". wire2wolves.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
- ^ Fagan, Sean (10 February 2011). "Rugby League Helter Skelter". Tribe13. Archived from the original on 17 May 2011.