1982–83 Challenge Cup

The 1982–83 Challenge Cup was the 82nd staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. Known as the State Express Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, the final was contested by Featherstone Rovers and Hull F.C. at Wembley. Featherstone won the match 14–12, and is considered one of the biggest upsets in Challenge Cup final history.[1][2]

1982–83 State Express Challenge Cup

Duration	6 Rounds
Number of teams	33
Winners	Featherstone Rovers
Runners-up	Hull
Lance Todd Trophy	David Hobbs

Preliminary round

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Attendance
1	Wigan	14–4	Cardiff City	5,816

First round

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Attendance
1	Widnes	6–12	Leeds	5,861
2	Barrow	18–6	Whitehaven	4,898
3	Blackpool Borough	11–19	Hull	3,388
4	Huddersfield	5–13	Halifax	2,656
5	Hunslet	12–11	Hull Kingston Rovers	4,441
6	Salford	12–5	Leigh	6,519
7	Swinton	21–13	Doncaster	1,027
8	Wakefield Trinity	27–5	Keighley	3,446
9	Warrington	41–3	Bramley	3,241
10	St. Helens	52–0	Carlisle	2,875
11	Bradford Northern	23–5	York	2,685
12	Featherstone Rovers	21–5	Batley	1,374
13	Oldham	5–8	Workington Town	2,987
14	Rochdale Hornets	4–24	Fulham	701
15	Wigan	7–17	Castleford	10,737
16	Dewsbury	7–13	Huyton	563

Second round

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Attendance
1	Hull	32–15	Wakefield Trinity	11,197
2	Barrow	9–14	Castleford	6,779
3	Fulham	4–11	Bradford Northern	4,976
4	Hunslet	17–8	Halifax	4,130
5	Leeds	13–23	St. Helens	12,483
6	Salford	11–17	Featherstone Rovers	4,169
7	Warrington	34–2	Huyton	2,825
8	Workington Town	14–9	Swinton	1,751

Third round

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Attendance
1	St. Helens	10–11	Featherstone Rovers	6,125
2	Hunslet	8–13	Castleford	14,004
3	Warrington	4–10	Hull	10,280
4	Workington Town	0–17	Bradford Northern	3,894

Semi final

26 March 1983

Bradford Northern	6 – 11	Featherstone Rovers
Try: Hanley, Van Bellen	Report	Try: Gilbert, Hudson, Marsden Goal: Quinn

Headingley, Leeds Attendance: 10,784 Referee: John Holdsworth (Leeds)[3]

2 April 1983

Castleford	7 – 14	Hull
Try: England Goal: Hyde	Report	Try: Day, Evans, O'Hara, Leuluai Goal: Crooks

Elland Road, Leeds Attendance: 26,031 Referee: Billy Thompson (Huddersfield)[4]

Final

Hull F.C. returned to Wembley as defending champions, having won the Challenge Cup for the second time in their history in the previous year. Hull went into the match as strong favourites, but were surprisingly defeated by their opponents Featherstone Rovers.

7 May 1983

Featherstone Rovers	14 – 12	Hull
Try: Hobbs (2) Goal: Quinn (4)	Report	Try: Crooks, Leuluai Goal: Crooks (3)

Wembley, London Attendance: 84,969 Referee: Robin Whitfield (Widnes)[5] Man of the Match: David Hobbs

FB 1 Nigel Barker RW 2 John Marsden RC 3 Steve Quinn LC 4 John Gilbert LW 5 Ken Kellett SO 6 Alan Banks SH 7 Terry Hudson (c) PR 8 Michael Gibbins HK 9 Raymond Handscombe PR 10 Steven Hankins SR 11 David Hobbs SR 12 Tim Slatter LF 13 Peter Smith Substitutions: IC 14 Paul Lyman IC 15 Gary Siddall Coach: Allan Agar

FB 1 Gary Kemble RW 2 Dane O'Hara RC 3 Steve Evans LC 4 James Leuluai LW 5 Paul Prendiville SO 6 David Topliss (c) SH 7 Kevin Harkin PR 8 Trevor Skerrett HK 9 John Keith Bridges PR 10 Richard 'Charlie' Stone SR 11 Paul Rose SR 12 Lee Crooks LF 13 Steve Norton Substitutions: IC 14 Terry Day IC 15 Mick Crane Coach: Arthur Bunting

References

1. Newsum, Matt. "Featherstone's famous final: When Rovers shocked Hull at Wembley". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
2. Viller, Sam (4 September 2013). "Blast from the Past: Featherstone win the 1983 Challenge Cup". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
3. Fitzpatrick, Paul (28 March 1983). "Northern waste Hanley heroics". The Guardian. London. p. 19. ProQuest 186367076.
4. Fitzpatrick, Paul (4 April 1983). "Day's final fling". The Guardian. London. p. 15. ProQuest 186413646.
5. Fitzpatrick, Paul (9 May 1983). "Hobbs is too hot as Hull freeze". The Guardian. London. p. 27. ProQuest 186359587.

External links

• Challenge Cup official website
• Challenge Cup 1982/83 results at Rugby League Project