The 1971–72 Challenge Cup was the 71st staging of

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

's oldest knockout competition, the

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

. The final was contested by St. Helens and

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

First round

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

The final was played on Saturday 13 May 1972, in front of a crowd of 89,495. After leading 12-6 at half time, St Helens beat Leeds 16-13. The winner of the

Lance Todd Trophy The Lance Todd Trophy is a trophy in rugby league, awarded to the annual Challenge Cup Final's man of the match. Introduced in 1945–46, the trophy was named in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was killed in ...

was Saints’

Kel Coslett Thomas Kelvin Coslett (born 14 January 1942) is a Welsh former dual-code international rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s, and coached rugby league in the 1970s and 1980s. He played represent ...

. St Helens scorers were Les Jones (1 try),

Graham Rees Graham Rees (18 April 1936 – July 1987) was a Welsh rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for Maesteg RFC, and representative level rugby league (RL) for ...

(1 try), and

(5 goals). This was St Helens’ fourth Cup final win in eight Final appearances.

References

External links

Challenge Cup official website

at Rugby League Project {{DEFAULTSORT:1971-72 Challenge Cup Challenge Cup