1974–75 Player's No.6 Trophy

This was the fourth season for the League Cup, which was again known as the Players No.6 Trophy for sponsorship reasons.

1974–75 Player's No.6 Trophy
Structure	National knockout championship
Teams	32
Winners	Bradford Northern
Runners-up	Widnes
← 1973–74 1975–76 →

Bradford Northern won the trophy by beating Widnes by the score of 3–2. The final was played at Wilderspool, Warrington. The attendance was 5,935 and receipts were £3305.

Background

This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at eighteen.
For the first time in the competition, there were no drawn matches.

Competition and results

^[1][2][3]

First round

The first round consisted of the 30 Rugby Football League professional clubs, plus two amateur teams from the Castleford area, Lock Lane and Kippax White Swan.

Game No	Fixture date	Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Attendance	Notes
1	27 September 1974	Salford	36–5	Castleford	The Willows	4,755
2	28 September 1974	Barrow	5–14	York	Craven Park	1,000
3	28 September 1974	Bramley	15–6	Hull F.C.	McLaren Field	750	[4]
4	28 September 1974	Leeds	49–10	New Hunslet	Headingley	4,068
5	28 September 1974	Wakefield Trinity	44–10	Leigh	Belle Vue	1,984	[5]
6	28 September 1974	Whitehaven	32–6	Lock Lane	Recreation Ground	537	[6]
7	29 September 1974	Blackpool Borough	17–20	Wigan	Borough Park	1,595	[7]
8	29 September 1974	Bradford Northern	12–8	Dewsbury	Odsal	5,287
9	29 September 1974	Doncaster	15–6	Kippax White Swan	Bentley Road Stadium/Tattersfield	453	[8]
10	29 September 1974	Halifax	11–13	Keighley	Thrum Hall	1,990
11	29 September 1974	Huyton	14–12	Huddersfield	Alt Park, Huyton		[9]
12	29 September 1974	Oldham	21–14	Workington Town	Watersheddings	1,494
13	29 September 1974	Rochdale Hornets	12–16	Hull Kingston Rovers	Athletic Grounds	3,160
14	29 September 1974	Swinton	7–6	St. Helens	Station Road		[10]
15	29 September 1974	Warrington	36–3	Batley	Wilderspool	5,000	[11]
16	29 September 1974	Widnes	10–5	Featherstone Rovers	Naughton Park	4,000	[12]

Second round

^[13] Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs

Game No	Fixture date	Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Attendance	Notes
1	8 November 1974	Salford	14–9	Bramley	The Willows	4,295
2	9 November 1974	Oldham	3–12	Bradford Northern	Watersheddings	2,113
3	10 November 1974	Keighley	4–39	Leeds	Lawkholme Lane	2,837	[4]
4	10 November 1974	Swinton	18–2	Wigan	Station Road	4,420	[14]
5	10 November 1974	Warrington	33–6	Huyton	Wilderspool	4,756	[11]
6	10 November 1974	Whitehaven	14–4	Doncaster	Recreation Ground	800
7	10 November 1974	Widnes	35–13	Wakefield Trinity	Naughton Park	4,000	[5][12]
8	10 November 1974	York	12–26	Hull Kingston Rovers	Clarence Street	3,299

Quarter finals

^[13] Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Game No	Fixture date	Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Attendance	Notes
1	6 December 1974	Whitehaven	5–0	Warrington	Recreation Ground	2,000	[11]
2	7 December 1974	Hull Kingston Rovers	25–17	Salford	Craven Park (1)	3,927
3	8 December 1974	Bradford Northern	17–7	Leeds	Odsal	6,726
4	8 December 1974	Widnes	15–5	Swinton	Naughton Park	5,500	[12]

Semi finals

^[13] Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No	Fixture date	Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Attendance	Notes
1	4 January 1975	Widnes	16-14	Hull Kingston Rovers	Naughton Park	4,000	[12]
2	11 January 1975	Whitehaven	6-18	Bradford Northern	Recreation Ground	3,500

Final

The final took place on Saturday 25 January 1975, at Wilderspool, Warrington. The attendance was 5,935,^[15] with gate receipts of £3,305.^[16]

Widnes	2 – 3	Bradford Northern
Goals: Dutton	[17]	Tries: Carlton

25 January 1975

Wilderspool, Warrington Attendance: 5,935 Referee: Fred Lindop (Wakefield) Player of the Match: Barry Seabourne

Teams and scorers

^[18]

Bradford Northern	No.	Widnes
	Teams
Stuart Carlton	1	Ray Dutton
Richard Francis	2	Alan Prescott
Phil Ward	3	Dennis O'Neill
Les Gant	4	Mal Aspey
David Redfearn	5	Chris Anderson
Mick Blacker	6	Eric Hughes
Barry Seabourne	7	Reg Bowden
Kelvin Earl	8	Jim Mills
Francis Jarvis	9	Keith Elwell
Phil Jackson	10	Barry Sheridan
Graham Joyce	11	Mick Adams
Dennis Trotter	12	Bob Blackwood
Stan Fearnley	13	Doug Laughton
Ken Kelly	14	Terry Karalius
Pattinson	15	John Peek
	Coach

Prize money

As part of the sponsorship deal and funds, the prize money awarded to the competing teams for this season was as follows:^[19]

Finish Position	Cash Prize	No. receiving prize	Total Cash
Winner	£5,000	1	£5,000
Runner-up	£2,500	1	£2,500
Semi-finalist	£1,000	2	£2,000
Loser in Rd 3	£450	4	£1,800
Loser in Rd 2	£300	8	£2,400
Loser in Rd 1	£150	16	£2,400
Grand Total			£16,100

See also

• 1974–75 Northern Rugby Football League season
• 1974 Lancashire Cup
• 1974 Yorkshire Cup
• Player's No.6 Trophy
• Rugby league county cups