1977–78 Player's No.6 Trophy

This was the seventh season for the competition, from this season the League Cup was known as the John Player Trophy for sponsorship reasons.

Warrington won the trophy, beating Widnes in the final by the score of 9-4. The match was played at Knowsley Road, St Helens, Merseyside. The attendance was 10,258 and receipts were £8429.

Background
This season saw no changes in the entrants, no new members and no withdrawals, the number remaining at eighteen.

This was the second successive season in which there were no drawn matches. The title of the competition was changed from the previous "Players No 6 Trophy" to the "John Player Trophy"

Round 1 - First Round
Involved 16 matches and 32 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

Teams and scorers
Scoring - Try = three 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 was as follows:

The road to success
This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

Notes and comments
1 * (NDLB) National Dock Labour Board are a Junior (amateur) club from Hull

2 * Wigan official archives gives the score as 3-18 but RugbyleaguePROJECTS, Rothmans Yearbook 1991-92 and the News of the World/Empire News ANNUAL OF 1978–79 give it as 4-18

3 * Wigan official archives gives the score as 24-3 but RugbyleaguePROJECTS, Wakefield until I die and the News of the World/Empire News Annual 1978–79 give it as 24-5

4 * Cawoods were a Junior (amateur) club from Hull

5 * Cawoods became the first amateur team to beat a professional team in a Rugby League cup tie since 1909

6 * Wigan official archives gives the score as 23-6 but RugbyleaguePROJECTS, Widnes official archives and the News of the World/Empire News annual 1978–79 give it as 22-6

7 * Wigan First Team Players continued with their strike over a bonus payment for the JP second round win over New Hunslet. Wigan chairman Ken Broome issued a statement saying "The situation is bordering on ridiculous. It's beyond money now, it's become a question of whether the players are going to run the club or we are." The actual dispute was over just £5 a man, the club having increased the bonus offer from £55 to £70 but the players wanted £75.

8 * Knowsley Road was the home of St Helens R.F.C. from 1890 until its closure in 2010. The final capacity was 17,500 although the record attendance was 35,695 set on 26 December 1949 for a league game between St Helens and Wigan.