The 1977–78 Challenge Cup was the 77th 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

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 ...

and St. Helens at

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 ...

beat St. Helens on Saturday 13 May 1978 in front of a crowd of 96,000. The winner of the Lance Todd Trophy was Saints forward,

George Nicholls George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd President ...

. This was Leeds’ eleventh Cup final win in fifteen appearances and their second in successive years.

First round

The first round consisted of all 30 professional rugby league clubs, plus two amateur teams, Dewsbury Celtic and Pilkington Recs. The match between Leeds and Halifax was televised by the BBC, and became infamous for a stray dog which invaded the pitch several times during the match.

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

References

External links

Challenge Cup official website

at Rugby League Project {{DEFAULTSORT:1977-78 Challenge Cup Challenge Cup