1976–77 Challenge Cup

1976–77 Challenge Cup

Duration	6 Rounds
Number of teams	34
Highest attendance	80,871
Broadcast partners	BBC
Winners	Leeds
Runners-up	Widnes
Lance Todd Trophy	Steve Pitchford

The 1976–77 Challenge Cup was the 76th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. The final was contested by Leeds and Widnes at Wembley.

Leeds beat Widnes 16-7 at Wembley in front of a crowd of 80,871.^[1]

The winner of the Lance Todd Trophy was the Leeds prop, Steve Pitchford.^[2]

This was Leeds’ tenth Cup final win in fourteen Final appearances.^[3]

First round

Date	Team one	Team two	Score
11 Feb	Beecroft	Swinton	2-10
11 Feb	Salford	Huddersfield	25-2
12 Feb	Leeds	Batley	40-6
12 Feb	Warrington	St Helens	12-13
13 Feb	Blackpool	Bradford Northern	8-38
13 Feb	Bramley	Widnes	6-11
13 Feb	Castleford	New Hunslet	27-6
13 Feb	Hull FC	Doncaster	34-11
13 Feb	Hull Kingston Rovers	Keighley	20-10
13 Feb	Huyton	Workington Town	3-10
13 Feb	Oldham	Dewsbury	8-15
13 Feb	Pilkington Recs	Wigan	4-10
13 Feb	Rochdale Hornets	Leigh	23-8
13 Feb	Wakefield Trinity	Halifax	12-3
13 Feb	Whitehaven	Featherstone Rovers	5-6
26 Feb	York	Barrow	9-15

Second round

Date	Team one	Team two	Score
26 Feb	Hull Kingston Rovers	Hull FC	12-9
26 Feb	Leeds	Barrow	21-11
27 Feb	Bradford Northern	Featherstone Rovers	12-7
27 Feb	Dewsbury	Wakefield Trinity	3-0
27 Feb	Rochdale Hornets	Castleford	2-10
27 Feb	Widnes	Swinton	36-5
27 Feb	Wigan	St Helens	4-9
27 Feb	Workington Town	Salford	13-4

Quarter-finals

Date	Team one	Team two	Score
12 Mar	Castleford	Hull Kingston Rovers	15-25
13 Mar	Dewsbury	St Helens	8-11
13 Mar	Widnes	Bradford Northern	19-5
13 Mar	Workington Town	Leeds	2-8

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Team two	Score
26 Mar	St Helens	Leeds	2-7
02 Apr	Hull Kingston Rovers	Widnes	5-14

Final

7 May 1977

Leeds	16 – 7	Widnes
Try: Atkinson, Dyl, Dick Goal: Dick (3) Drop goal: Dick	Report	Try: Aspey Goal: Dutton (2)

Wembley, London Attendance: 80,871 Referee: J. V. Moss (Manchester)[4] Player of the Match: Steve Pitchford

FB 1 Bryan Murrell RW 2 Alan Smith  77' RC 3 Neil Hague LC 4 Les Dyl LW 5 John Atkinson SO 6 John Holmes SH 7 Kevin Dick PR 8 Mick Harrison HK 9 David Ward (c) PR 10 Steve Pitchford SR 11 Graham Eccles SR 12 Phil Cookson LF 13 Stan Fearnley  71' Substitutions: IC 14 David Smith  77' IC 15 Roy Dickinson  71' Coach: Syd Hynes

FB 1 Ray Dutton RW 2 Stuart Wright RC 3 Mal Aspey LC 4 David Eckersley LW 5 Dennis O'Neill SO 6 Eric Hughes SH 7 Reg Bowden (c) PR 8 Bill Ramsey HK 9 Keith Elwell PR 10 Jim Mills SR 11 Alan Dearden  64' SR 12 Mick Adams LF 13 Doug Laughton Substitutions: IC 14 Mick George IC 15 John Foran  64' Coach: Frank Myler

References

1. "RFL Challenge Cup Roll of Honour". 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. "RFL Challenge Cup Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
4. Mather, Harold (9 May 1977). "Youth holds the key". The Guardian. London. p. 19.

External links

• Challenge Cup official website Archived 2014-01-22 at the Wayback Machine
• Challenge Cup 1976/77 results at Rugby League Project