The League Cup was a knock-out competition for British

rugby league football Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playing field, field measur ...

clubs between 1971 and 1996. It was initially for professional clubs with the exception of two amateur teams who were finalists of the

BARLA National Cup The BARLA National Cup is a knock-out competition for amateur rugby league clubs in Great Britain. It is administered by the British Amateur Rugby League Association The British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) is an association for soci ...

. However, in the latter seasons the cup was expanded to include leading amateur and French teams, the latter as a precursor to their inclusion in 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 rounds were played during the early part of the season, with the final taking place usually in January. The tournament was regarded as much less prestigious than the

, and it was abandoned when Rugby League moved to be a summer sport. Although officially called the League Cup, the name of the competition was always referred to by its sponsorship name. The initial sponsors were the tobacco manufacturer

John Player & Sons John Player & Sons, most often known simply as Player's, was a tobacco and cigarette manufacturer based in Nottingham, England. In 1901, the company merged with other companies to form The Imperial Tobacco Company to face competition from US ma ...

with Regal taking over in 1989 until the competition's end. Over the years, the competition was known as the Player's No.6 Trophy (1971–77), the John Player Trophy (1977–83) and the John Player Special Trophy (1983–89), before finally becoming the Regal Trophy in 1989.

List of finals

References

External links

{{League Cup (rugby league) Rugby league competitions in the United Kingdom 1971 establishments in the United Kingdom 1996 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Recurring sporting events established in 1971 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1996

List of finals

See also

References

External links