1986–87 John Player Special Trophy

This was the sixteenth season of the rugby league League Cup, again known as the John Player Special Trophy for sponsorship purposes.

Wigan won the trophy, beating Warrington 18–4 in the final. The match was played at Burnden Park, Bolton, Greater Manchester. The attendance was 22,144 and receipts were £86041.

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

There were no drawn matches in this seasons tournament

Preliminary round
Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs

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 = 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 * Millom are a Junior (amateur) club from Cumbria, current home ground is the Coronation Field ground.

2 * Myson are a Junior (amateur) club from Hull

3 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject gives score as 36-10 but Wigan official archives gives it as 3-10 (which must be incorrect as Barrow progressed to Round 1)

4 * The highest score, highest score by home team, and highest winning margin between professional clubs, to date

5 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject and Wigan official archives gives the venue as Borough Park, the home of Blackpool Borough but Hull F.C. official archives give the venue as Boulevard, home of Hull F.C.

6 * RUGBYLEAGUEproject gives the score as 8-14 but Wigan official archives gives it as 6-14

7 * The Rugby League Authorities were very unhappy with the television coverage of this final offered by the BBC. The broadcaster missed the first six minutes of the second half televising a horse race from Ireland. They also ignored the trophy presentation entirely and disrupted the pre match entertainment to interview Great Britain coach Malcolm Reilly, yet didn't show that interview anyway!

8 * Burnden Park was the home of English football club Bolton Wanderers from 1895 to 1997. It hosted the 1900-01 FA Cup final replay in which Tottenham Hotspur beat Sheffield United 3.1. The record attendance was for a 6th round F A Cup match with Stoke City (Stanley Matthews played for Stoke at the time) at which, although the ground capacity was set at 70,000, an estimated 85,000 fans crowded in, and when two crush barriers broke, the result was 33 fans killed and another 400 injured. The capacity at closure was a mere 25,000