The 1993–94 Regal Trophy was a British rugby league knockout tournament. It was the 23rd season that the competition was held, and was the fifth staging of the competition since it was re-named the Regal Trophy.
Castleford won the final, beating the pre-match favourites Wigan by the score of 33-2. The match was played at Headingley, Leeds in front of an attendance of 15,626.
Background This season saw virtually a complete re-vamping of the competition for instance; The Preliminary round was renamed "First Round", with every other succeeding round being renamed. The (newly named) First Round now consisted of 16 matches involving 32 clubs, with a further 16 clubs being given byes into the Second Round. The number of entrants was further increased by inviting eleven of the top junior clubs. The inclusion of two French clubs continued with the inclusion of AS Saint Estève. The sixteen First Round winners added to the sixteen clubs given byes, gave a total of entrants into the second round as thirty-two. There were no drawn matches in the competition this season.
Competition and results
Round 1 - First Round
Involved 16 matches and 32 clubs, with 16 byes Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Fri 29 Oct 1993Dewsbury56-10West BowlingMount Pleasant61612Sun 31 Oct 1993Barrow54-12Leigh Miners' WelfareCraven Park114023Sun 31 Oct 1993Batley64-1QueensMount Pleasant60834Sun 31 Oct 1993Bramley17-8Woolston RoversMcLaren Field51045Sun 31 Oct 1993Carlisle36-24CarcassonneGifford Park59356Sun 31 Oct 1993Doncaster62-4MysonBentley Road Stadium/Tattersfield85867Sun 31 Oct 1993Highfield30-22EllenboroughHoghton Road Stadium22778Sun 31 Oct 1993Huddersfield36-8Irlam HornetsLeeds Road170589Sun 31 Oct 1993Hunslet30-19Chorley Borough (2)Elland Road29910Sun 31 Oct 1993Keighley Cougars72-12Nottingham CityCougar Park2283911Sun 31 Oct 1993London Crusaders48-16AS Saint EstèveBarnet Copthall7461012Sun 31 Oct 1993Rochdale Hornets80-10Blackpool GladiatorsSpotland86313Sun 31 Oct 1993Ryedale-York66-14Hemel StagsRyedale Stadium8351114Sun 31 Oct 1993Swinton24-13Saddleworth RangersGigg Lane4681215Sun 31 Oct 1993Whitehaven46-0EgremontRecreation Ground14801316Sun 31 Oct 1993Workington Town74-6Wigan St PatricksDerwent Park146414
Round 2 Second Round
Involved 16 matches and 32 clubs. The 16 winners of the first round were joined by the 16 First Division clubs in the second round. Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Fri 12 Nov 1993Dewsbury6-20St. HelensMount Pleasant22722Sat 13 Nov 1993Salford21-12LeedsThe Willows17993Sun 14 Nov 1993Barrow8-28Bradford NorthernCraven Park27964Sun 14 Nov 1993Batley8-6Sheffield EaglesMount Pleasant12785Sun 14 Nov 1993Carlisle28-12Wakefield TrinityGifford Park7466Sun 14 Nov 1993Halifax19-10Keighley CougarsThrum Hall73217Sun 14 Nov 1993Highfield8-26OldhamHoghton Road Stadium8808Sun 14 Nov 1993Leigh20-12HuddersfieldHilton Park34079Sun 14 Nov 1993London Crusaders26-12Featherstone RoversBarnet Copthall98110Sun 14 Nov 1993Rochdale Hornets10-11BramleySpotland73011Sun 14 Nov 1993Ryedale-York12-11Workington TownRyedale Stadium145612Sun 14 Nov 1993Swinton14-36Hull F.C.Gigg Lane8511513Sun 14 Nov 1993Warrington58-16HunsletWilderspool303714Sun 14 Nov 1993Whitehaven8-22WiganRecreation Ground51851615Sun 14 Nov 1993Widnes24-4DoncasterNaughton Park30751716Mon 15 Nov 1993Hull Kingston Rovers12-16CastlefordCraven Park (2)2724
Round 3 - Third Round
Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sat 11 Dec 1993St. Helens8-16WarringtonKnowsley Road53662Sun 12 Dec 1993Carlisle34-4BramleyGifford Park5163Sun 12 Dec 1993Hull F.C.10-6WidnesBoulevard3412184Sun 12 Dec 1993Oldham8-16WiganWatersheddings6342195Sun 12 Dec 1993Ryedale-York10-42London CrusadersRyedale Stadium7416Mon 13 Dec 1993Castleford54-14LeighWheldon Road 21167Tue 14 Dec 1993Batley8-12SalfordMount Pleasant8098Thu 16 Dec 1993Bradford Northern16-8HalifaxOdsal5057
Round 4 -Quarter Finals
Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef Sat 18 Dec 1993Warrington10-27WiganWilderspool732120, 21Sun 19 Dec 1993Castleford44-4CarlisleWheldon Road 262420Sun 19 Dec 1993London Crusaders10-22Bradford NorthernBarnet Copthall187820Sun 19 Dec 1993Salford26-6Hull F.C.The Willows320720, 22
Round 5 – Semi-Finals
Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs Game NoFixture DateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef Sat 1 Jan 1994Bradford Northern10-23CastlefordOdsal8351Sat 8 Jan 1994Salford12-18WiganThe Willows7483
Final
Teams and scorers
Castleford№Wigan Teams Graham Steadman1Joe LydonSt. John Ellis2Jason RobinsonRichie Blackmore3Barrie-Jon MatherGrant Anderson4Gary ConnollySimon Middleton5Martin OffiahTony Kemp6Frano BoticaMike Ford7Shaun EdwardsLee Crooks8Kelvin SkerrettRichard Russell9Martin DermottMartin Ketteridge10Andy PlattTony Morrison11Neil CowieIan Smales12Andy FarrellTawera Nikau13Phil ClarkeAndy Hay (for Grant Anderson 63-mins)14Sam Panapa (for Neil Cowie 30-mins)Dean Sampson (for Martin Ketteridge 74-mins)15Mick CassidyJohn JoynerCoachJohn Dorahy
Prize money As part of the sponsorship deal and funds, the prize money awarded to the competing teams for this season is as follows: Finish PositionCash prizeNo. receiving prizeTotal cashWinner£35,0001£35,000Runner-up£18,5001£18,500semi-finalist£9,7502£19,500quarter-finalist£6,2254£24,900loser in Rd 3£4,0008£32,000loser in Rd 2£2,65016£42,400Professional Clubs in Rd 1£2,65018£47,700Amateur Clubs in Rd 1£1,00014£14,000Total prize money£234,000Development fund£126,000Grand Total£360,000
The road to success This tree excludes the First Round fixtures
Notes and comments 1 * West Bowling are a junior (or amateur) club from Bradford 2 * Leigh Miners' Welfare are a Junior (amateur) club from Leigh (formed by merger of Astley & Tyldesley and Hope Rangers - and now Leigh Miners Rangers) 3 * Queens are a Junior (amateur) club from Leeds 4 * Woolston Rovers are a Junior (amateur) club from Warrington, becoming Warrington Woolston Rovers in 2003 and Warrington Wizards in 2002. the ground is the old Warrington Home Ground of Wilderspool 5 * Carcassonne played in the French League at Stade Albert Domec 6 * Myson are a Junior (amateur) club from Hull 7 * Ellenborough Rangers are a Junior (amateur) club from the Ellenborough suburb of Maryport, Cumbria 8 * Irlam Hornets ARLFC are a junior club from Irlam, Salford, playing at Cutnook Lane 9 * Wigan official archives gives the club name as Nottingham Borough. There appear to be no other references anywhere to this name and assume it is an misprint 10 * AS Saint Estève was a French rugby league team from Perpignan, which in 2000 it merged with nearby neighbours XIII Catalan to form Union Treiziste Catalaneto compete in the Super Leagueas the Catalans Dragons. 11 * Hemel Stags are a semi professional club based in Hemel Hempstead and playing at the Pennine Way stadium (capacity 2000) 12 * Saddleworth Rangers are a Junior (amateur) club from Oldham 13 * Egremont are a Junior (amateur) club from Cumbria 14 * Wigan St Patricks are a Junior (amateur) club from Wigan 15 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject gives the attendance as 851 but Hull official archives gives it as 819 16 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject gives the attendance as 5,185 but Wigan official archives gives it as 5,128 17 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject gives the attendance as 3,075 but Widnes official archives gives it as 3,074 18 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject and Widnes official archives gives the attendance as 3,412 but Hull official archives gives it as 3,421 19 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject gives the attendance as 6,342 but Wigan official archives gives it as 6,500 20 * Wigan official archives - special details give this as the third round, obviously a mis-print 21 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject gives the attendance as 7,321 but Wigan official archives gives it as 7,231 22 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject and Wigan official archives gives the score as 26-6 but Hull official archives gives it as 24-6 23 * Headingley, Leeds, is the home ground of Leeds RLFC with a capacity of 21,000. The record attendance was 40,175 for a league match between Leeds and Bradford Northern on 21 May 1947.
See also 1993-94 Rugby Football League season Regal Trophy Rugby league county cups
References
Sources
External links