1968 Challenge Cup final

(Redirected from 1968 Challenge Cup Final)

The 1968 Challenge Cup Final also remembered as the Watersplash Final was a rugby league match contested between Leeds and Wakefield Trinity on 11 May 1968 at Wembley Stadium in London. It was the 67th final of English rugby league's primary cup competition, the Challenge Cup. The match was played in virtually unplayable conditions due to the state of the waterlogged pitch caused by heavy downpours both before and during the game.

1968 (1968) Challenge Cup Final  ()
12 Total
LEE 47 11
WAK 73 10
Date11 May 1968
StadiumWembley Stadium
LocationLondon, United Kingdom
Lance Todd Trophy winnerDon Fox, Wakefield Trinity
RefereeJohn Hebblethwaite
Attendance87,100
Broadcast partners
Broadcasters
Commentators

The final is best remembered for Wakefield's Don Fox missing a conversion from in front of the posts in the last minute of the game, handing Leeds an 11–10 victory. It was the club's eighth Challenge Cup win, and the first since 1957. Fox was the winner of the Lance Todd Trophy, as he had already been voted as man of the match before his miss.[1]

Match details edit

11 May 1968
15:00
Leeds 11 – 10 Wakefield Trinity
Try: Atkinson
Goal: Risman (4)
Report
Try: Hirst (2)
Goal: Fox (2)
Wembley, London
Attendance: 87,100
Referee: John Hebblethwaite (York)
Player of the Match: Don Fox
FB 1   Bev Risman
RW 2   Alan Smith
RC 3   Syd Hynes
LC 4   Bernard Watson
LW 5   John Atkinson
SO 6   Mick Shoebottom
SH 7   Barry Seabourne
PR 8   Mick Clark (c)
HK 9   Tony Crosby
PR 10   Ken Eyre
SR 11   Bill Ramsey
SR 12   Albert Eyre
LF 13   Ray Batten
Coach:
Roy Francis
FB 1   Gary Cooper
RW 2   Ken Hirst
RC 3   Ian Brooke
LC 4   Gert Coetzer
LW 5   Kenneth Batty
SO 6   Harold Poynton (c)
SH 7   Ray Owen
PR 8   David Jeanes
HK 9   George Shepherd
PR 10   Don Fox
SR 11   Bob Haigh
SR 12   Matthew McLeod
LF 13   David Hawley
Coach:
Ken Traill

References edit

  1. ^ Hadfield, Dave (26 August 2008). "Don Fox: Rugby league player famed for a missed kick in the Wembley mud". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2014.

External links edit