1980–81 Challenge Cup

1980–81 Three Fives Challenge Cup
Duration	5 Rounds
Number of teams	32
Winners	Widnes
Runners-up	Hull Kingston Rovers
Lance Todd Trophy	Mick Burke
	← 1979–80; 1981–82 →;

The 1980–81 Challenge Cup was the 80th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. Known as the Three Fives Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, the final was contested by Widnes and Hull Kingston Rovers at Wembley, with Widnes winning 18–9.

First round

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Attendance
1	Hull Kingston Rovers	18–13	Barrow	8,220
2	Batley	7–15	Keighley	1,714
3	Blackpool Borough	2–11	Oldham	2,837
4	Bramley	5–18	Warrington	3,350
5	Castleford	42–7	Huyton	3,020
6	Dewsbury	15–10	Hunslet	1,777
7	Fulham	5–9	Wakefield Trinity	15,013
8	Halifax	3–2	Wigan	8,360
9	Huddersfield	8–10	St. Helens	3,094
10	Hull	14–5	Leeds	15,119
11	Leigh	20–6	Whitehaven	5,139
12	Pilkington Recs	7–18	York
13	Salford	17–13	Bradford Northern	5,371
14	Swinton	8–10	Featherstone Rovers	2,987
15	Widnes	50–0	Doncaster	4,563
16	Workington Town	17–8	Rochdale Hornets	2,459

Second round

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Attendance
1	St. Helens	5–3	Hull	8,263
2	Featherstone Rovers	10–7	Keighley	3,126
3	Hull Kingston Rovers	23–7	York	13,764
4	Oldham	18–7	Workington Town	4,350
5	Salford	12–3	Leigh	8,759
6	Wakefield Trinity	18–8	Halifax	9,604
7	Widnes	7–5	Castleford	7,436
8	Dewsbury	10–18	Warrington	5,200

Third round

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Attendance
1	Warrington	13–9	Wakefield Trinity	7,587
2	Featherstone Rovers	5–21	Widnes	7,620
3	Hull Kingston Rovers	19–8	Salford	14,315
4	Oldham	5–6	St. Helens	8,712

Semi final

28 March 1981

Warrington	9 – 17	Widnes
Try: Bevan Goal: Hesford (3)	Report	Try: Burke, Cunningham, Wright Goal: Burke (4)

Central Park, Wigan
Attendance: 12,624
Referee: John Holdsworth (Leeds)

4 April 1981

Hull Kingston Rovers	22 – 5	St. Helens
Try: Hogan, Hartley (2), Muscroft Goal: Hubbard (5)	Report	Try: Pinner Goal: Griffiths

Headingley, Leeds
Attendance: 17,073
Referee: Ron Campbell (Widnes)

Final

Hull Kingston Rovers returned to Wembley as defending champions, having won the Challenge Cup for the first time in their history in the previous year. Widnes won the match 18–9, with Widnes full-back Mick Burke being awarded the Lance Todd Trophy.

2 May 1981

Widnes	18 – 9	Hull Kingston Rovers
Try: Burke, George, Gregory Goal: Burke (4) Drop goal: Adams	Report	Try: Burton Goal: Hubbard (3)

Wembley, London
Attendance: 92,496
Referee: Gerry Kershaw (Easingwold)^[1]
Player of the Match: Mick Burke


FB	1	Mick Burke
RW	2	Stuart Wright
RC	3	Mick George
LC	4	Eddie Cunningham
LW	5	Keith Bentley
SO	6	Eric Hughes
SH	7	Andy Gregory
PR	8	Mike O'Neill
HK	9	Keith Elwell
PR	10	Brian Lockwood
SR	11	Les Gorley
SR	12	Eric Prescott
LF	13	Mick Adams (c)
Substitutions:
IC	14	John Myler
IC	15	Glyn Shaw
Coach:
Doug Laughton


FB	1	David Hall
RW	2	Steve Hubbard
RC	3	Mike Smith
LC	4	Phil Hogan
LW	5	Peter Muscroft
SO	6	Steve Hartley
SH	7	Paul Harkin
PR	8	Roy Holdstock
HK	9	David Watkinson
PR	10	Steve Crooks
SR	11	Phil Lowe
SR	12	Chris Burton
LF	13	Len Casey (c)
Substitutions:
IC	14	Paul Proctor
IC	15	John Millington
Coach:
Roger Millward

References

^ Nicholson, Geoffrey (3 May 1981). "Burke has no peers". The Observer. p. 27. ProQuest 476685224.

External links

Challenge Cup official website Archived 2014-01-22 at the Wayback Machine
Challenge Cup 1980/81 results at Rugby League Project

[nicholson-1] Nicholson, Geoffrey (3 May 1981). "Burke has no peers". The Observer. p. 27. ProQuest 476685224.

[1]

v t e Challenge Cup
Years	1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025-26
Finals (List)	1968-69 1969–70 · 1970–71 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Related articles	Wembley Stadium 1923 2007 Lance Todd Trophy Abide with Me Rugby Football League Challenge Cup records Double Treble All Four Cups