1974–75 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
The 1974–75 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the tenth occasion on which the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition had been held. A new name was put on the trophy when Salford won by beating Warrington by the score of 10-5 in a replay. The final was played at The Willows, Salford,. The attendance was 4,473, receipts were £1913 and the score 0-0. The replay was at Wilderspool. The attendance was 5,778, receipts were £2434 and the score 10-5. This was the first floodlit final to require a replay after a drawn first match.
Background
This season saw New Hunslet join the competition, which increased the number of entrants by one, to a new high total of twenty-two. The format remained the same as the last season with the preliminary round played on a two-legged home and away basis and the rest of the tournament being played on a knock-out basis. The exceptions to the two-legged preliminary rounds were the two matches where the four clubs had agreed to play a sudden-death match to avoid fixture congestion. The preliminary round now involved twelve clubs, to reduce the numbers taking part in the competition proper to just sixteen.Competition and results
Preliminary round
Involved six matches and 12 clubs. Huddersfield, Castleford, Hull and Keighley agreed to play one leg only; the four other ties were played over two legs.Second leg
Involved 4 matches and the same 8 Clubs in reverse fixtures| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | agg | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| P2 | Tue 17 Sep 1974 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 19-11 | Oldham | Craven Park (1) | 26-19 | 2,252 | |||||
| P2 | Tue 24 Sep 1974 | Wakefield Trinity | 18-15 | St. Helens | Belle Vue | 30-36 | 2,583 | |||||
| P2 | Tue 1 Oct 1974 | Barrow | 3-8 | Widnes | Craven Park | 16-23 | 870 | |||||
| P2 | Wed 2 Oct 1974 | Bramley | 15-9 | Leigh | McLaren Field | 20-28 | 1.100 |
First round
Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| 1 | Tue 1 Oct 1974 | Warrington | 10-5 | Swinton | Wilderspool | 3,552 | |||||
| 2 | Tue 8 Oct 1974 | Halifax | 15-4 | Whitehaven | Thrum Hall | 750 | |||||
| 3 | Tue 15 Oct 1974 | St. Helens | 30-2 | Leeds | Knowsley Road | 3,576 | 4 | ||||
| 4 | Tue 22 Oct 1974 | Dewsbury | 8-14 | Leigh | Crown Flatt | 1,400 | 5 | ||||
| 5 | Wed 23 Oct 1974 | New Hunslet | 12-5 | Widnes | Elland Road Greyhound Stadium | 1,250 | 6 | ||||
| 6 | Tue 29 Oct 1974 | Salford | 16-2 | Huddersfield | The Willows | 2,926 | |||||
| 7 | Wed 30 Oct 1974 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 20-10 | Wigan | Craven Park (1) | 2,009 | |||||
| 8 | Wed 30 Oct 1974 | Rochdale Hornets | 14-4 | Hull F.C. | Athletic Grounds | 780 |
Second Round
Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| 1 | Tue 5 Nov 1974 | Warrington | 36-17 | New Hunslet | Wilderspool | 2,144 | |||||
| 2 | Tue 12 Nov 1974 | St. Helens | 7-11 | Salford | Knowsley Road | 4,474 | 7 | ||||
| 3 | Tue 19 Nov 1974 | Leigh | 8-0 | Rochdale Hornets | Hilton Park | 2,000 | |||||
| 4 | Tue 26 Nov 1974 | Halifax | 24-28 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Thrum Hall | 752 |
Semi-finals
Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| 1 | Tue 3 Dec 1974 | Salford | 27-10 | Hull Kingston Rovers | The Willows | 3,727 | 3 | ||||
| 2 | Tue 10 Dec 1974 | Warrington | 32-0 | Leigh | Wilderspool | 2,495 | 3 |
Final
| Salford | No | Warrington |
| Teams | ||
| Paul Charlton | 1 | Derek Whitehead |
| Keith Fielding | 2 | Dave Sutton |
| Chris Hesketh | 3 | Dave Cunliffe |
| Gordon Graham | 4 | Alan Whittle |
| Maurice Richards | 5 | John Bevan |
| Tom Brophy | 6 | Wilf Briggs |
| Peter Banner | 7 | Parry Gordon |
| Mike Coulman | 8 | Dave Chisnall |
| Ellis Devlin | 9 | Kevin Ashcroft |
| Alan Grice | 10 | Gilly Wright |
| John Knighton | 11 | Wayne Gaskell |
| Colin Dixon | 12 | Tommy Conroy |
| Eric Prescott | 13 | Barry Philbin |
| Subs | ||
| John Taylor | 14 | John Lowe |
| Graham MacKay | 15 | Peter Jewitt |
| Les Bettinson | Coach | Alex Murphy |
Replay
An unusual occurrence, a "seven point try", was scored by Salford in the replay. Following the try scored by winger Keith Fielding, successfully converted by David Watkins, a further penalty was awarded because Fielding had been fouled after scoring. Watkins kicked the penalty goal to give Salford a 7–0 lead.| Warrington | No | Salford |
| Teams | ||
| Dave Cunliffe | 1 | Frank Stead |
| Derek Whitehead | 2 | Keith Fielding |
| Billy Pickup | 3 | David Watkins |
| Alan Whittle | 4 | Chris Hesketh |
| John Bevan | 5 | Maurice Richards |
| Derek Noonan | 6 | Ken Gill |
| Parry Gordon | 7 | Peter Banner |
| David "Dave" Chisnall | 8 | Alan Grice |
| Kevin Ashcroft | 9 | Peter Walker |
| Robert "Bobby" Wanbon | 10 | Graham MacKay |
| Tommy Conroy | 11 | Colin Dixon |
| Mike Nicholas | 12 | John Knighton |
| Barry Philbin | 13 | Eric Prescott |
| Subs | ||
| Wilf Briggs | 14 | |
| Brian Brady | 15 | |
| Alex Murphy | Coach | Les Bettinson |