| 1987–88 Lancashire Cup | |
| Structure: | Regional knockout championship |
| Season Champs: | Wigan |
| Season Champ Name: | Winners |
| Runner-Up Name: | Runner-up |
| Second Place: | Warrington |
| Prevseason Link: | 1986 Lancashire Cup |
| Prevseason Year: | 1986–87 |
| Nextseason Link: | 1988 Lancashire Cup |
| Nextseason Year: | 1988–89 |
| No Of Teams: | 16 |
The 1987–88 Lancashire Cup was the seventy-fifth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup competition had been held. It was contested during the 1987–88 Rugby Football League season by clubs in Lancashire. Wigan won the trophy by beating Warrington in the final.
This season the total number of entrants remained at the 16 level. With this full sixteen members there was no need for “blank” or “dummy” fixtures or any byes.[1] [2]
Round 1 involved 8 matches (with no byes) and 16 clubs.
| width=20 abbr="No" | Game No | width=100 abbr="Date" | Fixture Date | width=150 abbr="Home Team" | Home Team | width=5 abbr="space" | width=20 abbr="Score" | Score | width=5 abbr="space" | width=150 abbr="Away Team" | Away Team | width=150 abbr="Venue" | Venue | width=30 abbr="Att" | Att | width=30 abbr="Rec" | Rec | width=20 abbr="Notes" | Notes | width=30 abbr="Ref" | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sun 13 Sep 1987 | Barrow | 2-36 | Wigan | Craven Park | 5950 | [3] | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Sun 13 Sep 1987 | Leigh | 27-21 | St. Helens | Hilton Park | 7747 | [4] | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Sun 13 Sep 1987 | Runcorn Highfield | 6-40 | Widnes | Canal Street | 2679 | [5] | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Sun 13 Sep 1987 | Salford | 58-4 | Fulham | The Willows | 1640 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Sun 13 Sep 1987 | Swinton | 38-20 | Rochdale Hornets | Station Road | 1443 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Sun 13 Sep 1987 | Warrington | 42-8 | Oldham | Wilderspool | 5615 | [6] | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Sun 13 Sep 1987 | Whitehaven | 28-12 | Carlisle | Recreation Ground | 2075 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Sun 13 Sep 1987 | Workington Town | 12-10 | Springfield Borough | Derwent Park | 549 | 1 |
Round 2 involved 4 matches and 8 clubs.
| width=20 abbr="No" | Game No | width=100 abbr="Date" | Fixture Date | width=150 abbr="Home Team" | Home Team | width=5 abbr="space" | width=20 abbr="Score" | Score | width=5 abbr="space" | width=150 abbr="Away Team" | Away Team | width=150 abbr="Venue" | Venue | width=30 abbr="Att" | Att | width=30 abbr="Rec" | Rec | width=20 abbr="Notes" | Notes | width=30 abbr="Ref" | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wed 23 Sep 1987 | Swinton | 22-14 | Leigh | Station Road | 3824 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Wed 23 Sep 1987 | Wigan | 42-2 | Salford | Central Park | 11633 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Wed 23 Sep 1987 | Workington Town | 10-50 | Warrington | Derwent Park | 1759 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Thu 24 Sep 1987 | Whitehaven | 14-20 | Widnes | Recreation Ground | 3152 |
Round 3 involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
| width=20 abbr="No" | Game No | width=100 abbr="Date" | Fixture Date | width=150 abbr="Home Team" | Home Team | width=5 abbr="space" | width=20 abbr="Score" | Score | width=5 abbr="space" | width=150 abbr="Away Team" | Away Team | width=150 abbr="Venue" | Venue | width=30 abbr="Att" | Att | width=30 abbr="Rec" | Rec | width=20 abbr="Notes" | Notes | width=30 abbr="Ref" | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wed 30 Sep 1987 | Warrington | 44-6 | Swinton | Wilderspool | 5296 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Wed 30 Sep 1987 | Widnes | 12-20 | Wigan | Naughton Park | 7306 |
The final was contested by Wigan and Warrington, with Wigan winning by the score of 28-16. The match was played at Knowsley Road, Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 20,237 and receipts were £67,339. This was Wigan’s fourth appearance in four years and a third victory in what would be a run of four victories and five appearances in five successive years. The attendance was again at a very pleasing level, the fourth of the five year period when it would reach around the 20,000 level, and the receipts reached a new record level exceeding the previous record by almost £7,000.
| width=20 abbr="No" | Game No | width=100 abbr="Date" | Fixture Date | width=150 abbr="Home Team" | Home Team | width=5 abbr="space" | width=20 abbr="Score" | Score | width=5 abbr="space" | width=150 abbr="Away Team" | Away Team | width=150 abbr="Venue" | Venue | width=45 abbr="Att" | Att | width=60 abbr="Rec" | Rec | width=20 abbr="Notes" | Notes | width=30 abbr="Ref" | Ref | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday 11 October 1987 | Wigan | 28-16 | Warrington | Knowsley Road | 20237 | 67339 | 2 3 | [7] |
1 * The first Lancashire Cup match played by the newly named/formed club, Springfield Borough
2 * The attendance is given as 20,234 in the RUGBYLEAGUEproject [1] data, and as 20,237 in the Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992.[7] The Wigan[3] official archives give 20,234 in the results details, and 20,237 in the game details
3 * Knowsley Road was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 to 2010. The final capacity was in the region of 18,000, although the actual record attendance was 35,695, set on 26 December 1949, for a league game between St Helens and Wigan
4 * The Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-1992[7] shows the Wigan number 2 position occupied by Richard Russell - The official Wigan archives[3] show the number 2 position as Richard Marshall