1981–82 John Player Trophy
This was the eleventh season for the rugby league League Cup, which was once again known as the John Player Trophy for sponsorship reasons.
Hull F.C. won the trophy, beating derby rivals Hull Kingston Rovers by the score of 12-4 in the final, which was played at Headingley, Leeds, West Yorkshire. The attendance was 25,245 and receipts were £42987.
Background
This season saw two changes in the entrants. With the entry of Cardiff City and Carlisle into the league and also this competition, no junior team was invited, and the number of entrants increased to thirty-three.To cater for the odd number, a preliminary round consisting of just one single match was introduced.
Competition and results
Preliminary round
Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| 1 | Wed 30 Sep 1981 | Leigh | 41-4 | Blackpool Borough | Hilton Park | 4235 |
First round
Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs| Game no | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| 1 | Fri 16 Oct 1981 | Workington Town | 22-9 | Bramley | Derwent Park | 2299 | |||||
| 2 | Sat 17 Oct 1981 | Hunslet | 8-44 | Widnes | Elland Road | 1062 | |||||
| 3 | Sat 17 Oct 1981 | Warrington | 24-15 | Fulham | Wilderspool | 2639 | |||||
| 4 | Sun 18 Oct 1981 | Batley | 7-16 | Featherstone Rovers | Mount Pleasant | 1363 | |||||
| 5 | Sun 18 Oct 1981 | Carlisle | 14-7 | Cardiff City | Brunton Park | 3224 | |||||
| 6 | Sun 18 Oct 1981 | Castleford | 21-7 | Leigh | Wheldon Road | 5060 | |||||
| 7 | Sun 18 Oct 1981 | Dewsbury | 2-34 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Crown Flatt | 3861 | |||||
| 8 | Sun 18 Oct 1981 | Halifax | 7-26 | Hull F.C. | Thrum Hall | 9871 | |||||
| 9 | Sun 18 Oct 1981 | Huddersfield | 19-17 | Huyton | Fartown | 931 | 1 | ||||
| 10 | Sun 18 Oct 1981 | Keighley | 27-22 | Wakefield Trinity | Lawkholme Lane | 2454 | |||||
| 11 | Sun 18 Oct 1981 | Leeds | 19-10 | Wigan | Headingley | 4976 | |||||
| 12 | Sun 18 Oct 1981 | Oldham | 21-7 | Doncaster | Watersheddings | 1894 | |||||
| 13 | Sun 18 Oct 1981 | Rochdale Hornets | 3-19 | Bradford Northern | Athletic Grounds | 2235 | |||||
| 14 | Sun 18 Oct 1981 | St. Helens | 16-16 | Barrow | Knowsley Road | 5349 | |||||
| 15 | Sun 18 Oct 1981 | Swinton | 32-5 | York | Station Road | 1862 | |||||
| 16 | Sun 18 Oct 1981 | Whitehaven | 11-19 | Salford | Recreation Ground | 3351 |
First-round replays
Involved 1 match and 2 clubs| Game no | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| 1 | Thu 22 Oct 1981 | Barrow | 17-0 | St. Helens | Craven Park | 5182 |
Second round
Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs| Game no | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| 1 | Sat 31 Oct 1981 | Widnes | 16-10 | Carlisle | Naughton Park | 3818 | |||||
| 2 | Sun 1 Nov 1981 | Barrow | 8-0 | Bradford Northern | Craven Park | 5512 | |||||
| 3 | Sun 1 Nov 1981 | Castleford | 5-23 | Hull F.C. | Wheldon Road | 13464 | |||||
| 4 | Sun 1 Nov 1981 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 18-6 | Featherstone Rovers | Craven Park (1) | 10017 | |||||
| 5 | Sun 1 Nov 1981 | Keighley | 10-11 | Salford | Odsal | 2730 | |||||
| 6 | Sun 1 Nov 1981 | Leeds | 13-8 | Warrington | Headingley | 5540 | |||||
| 7 | Sun 1 Nov 1981 | Oldham | 13-0 | Huddersfield | Watersheddings | 2284 | |||||
| 8 | Sun 1 Nov 1981 | Swinton | 19-9 | Workington Town | Station Road | 2433 |
Quarter finals
Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs| Game no | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| - | |||||||||||
| 1 | Sat 14 Nov 1981 | Barrow | 12-14 | Hull F.C. | Craven Park | 9019 | 2 | ||||
| 2 | Sun 15 Nov 1981 | Oldham | 14-5 | Leeds | Watersheddings | 3864 | |||||
| 3 | Sun 15 Nov 1981 | Salford | 0-6 | Swinton | The Willows | 6728 | 3 | ||||
| 4 | Sun 15 Nov 1981 | Widnes | 8-9 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Naughton Park | 11019 |
Semi-finals
Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs| Game no | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref | ||
| - | |||||||||||
| 1 | Sat 28 Nov 1981 | Hull F.C. | 22-6 | Oldham | Headingley | 11080 | |||||
| 2 | Sat 12 Dec 1981 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 23-14 | Swinton | Headingley | 8193 |
Final
Teams and scorers
| Hull | № | Hull Kingston Rovers |
| teams | ||
| Barry Banks | 1 | George Fairbairn |
| Dane O'Hara | 2 | Steve Hubbard |
| Mick Harrison | 3 | Mike Smith |
| James Leuluai | 4 | Phil Hogan |
| Paul Prendiville | 5 | Peter Muscroft |
| Terry Day | 6 | Steve Hartley |
| Tony Dean | 7 | Paul Harkin |
| Trevor Skerrett | 8 | Roy Holdstock |
| Ron Wileman | 9 | David Watkinson |
| Richard 'Charlie' Stone | 10 | Steve Crooks |
| Mick Crane | 11 | Phil Lowe |
| Lee Crooks | 12 | Len Casey |
| Steve 'Knocker' Norton | 13 | Dave Hall |
| Kevin Harkin | 14 | Chris Burton |
| ? Not used | 15 | John Millington |
| Arthur Bunting | Coach | |
| 12 | score | 4 |
| ? | HT | ? |
| Scorers | ||
| Tries | ||
| Ron Wileman | T | |
| Goals | ||
| Lee Crooks | G | George Fairbairn |
| Drop Goals | ||
| Tony Dean | DG | |
| Referee | G. Frederick "Fred" Lindop | |
| Man of the match | Trevor Skerrett - Hull - | |
| Competition Sponsor | John Player |
Scoring - Try = three 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 :-| Finish position | Cash prize | No. receiving prize | Total cash |
| Winner | ? | 1 | ? |
| Runner-up | ? | 1 | ? |
| semi-finalist | ? | 2 | ? |
| loser in round 3 | ? | 4 | ? |
| loser in round 2 | ? | 8 | ? |
| Loser in round 1 | ? | 16 | ? |
| Loser in preliminary round | ? | 1 | ? |
| Grand Total |