This was the seventeenth season for the League Cup, known as the John Player Special Trophy for sponsorship purposes. St. Helens won the final, beating

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

by the score of 15-14. The match was played at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

. The attendance was 16,669 and receipts were £62232.

Background

This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at thirty-six
Blackpool Borough moved to Springfield Park in Wigan and renamed as Springfield Borough

Competition and results

Preliminary round

Involved 4 matches and 8 Clubs

Round 1 - First Round

Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs

Round 1 - First Round Replays

Involved 1 match and 2 Clubs

Round 2 - Second Round

Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs

Round 3 -Quarter Finals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs

Round 4 – Semi-Finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs

Final

Teams and scorers

Scoring - Try = four points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = one point

Prize money

As part of the sponsorship deal and funds, the prize money awarded to the competing teams for this season is as follows :- Note - the author is unable to trace the award amounts for this season. Can anyone help ?

The road to success

This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

Notes and comments

1 * Heworth are a Junior (amateur) club from York
2 * Thatto Heath are a Junior (amateur) club from St Helens
3 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject give score as 38-2 but Wigan official archives gives it as 37-2
4 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject give Halifax at home but Wigan official archives gives

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford, n ...

at home but with a reference that the game was played at

Thrum Hall Thrum Hall was a rugby league stadium on Hanson Lane in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Halifax R.L.F.C., Halifax for 112 years. The site on which the ground stood is now occupied by a supermarket. History In 1878, Halifa ...

, the home of Halifax
5 *

was the home ground of

with a final capacity of 18,000, although the record attendance was 47,747 for Wigan v St Helens 27 March 1959

References

External links

Saints Heritage Society1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season at wigan.rlfans.com

Hull&Proud Fixtures & Results 1896/1897Widnes Vikings - One team, one passion Season In Review - 1896-97The Northern Union at warringtonwolves.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:1987-88 John Player Special Trophy 1987 in English rugby league 1988 in English rugby league Regal Trophy