Wigan 32-12 Halifax — 1987/88 Challenge Cup Final

Wembley Stadium, London · Attendance: 94,273

Data last verified: 11 August 2026.

1987/88 Challenge Cup Final: Wigan 32-12 Halifax, at Wembley Stadium, London.

Sourcing caveat: Halifax's try/goal scorers for their 12 points could not be confirmed by sources checked; exact minutes for all Wigan tries also unconfirmed. Full lineups, benches and coaches for both sides were subsequently confirmed via Rugby League Project.

Scorers

Wigan	Tries: Kevin Iro (2 tries); Tony Iro; Dean Bell; Ellery Hanley; Henderson; Joe Lydon Goals: Andy Gregory (2 goals; full breakdown of all Wigan goal-kicking not fully confirmed)
Halifax	No scorers recorded.

Teams

Wigan			Halifax
1	Joe Lydon	Fullback	Graham Eadie	1
2	Tony Iro	Wing	Martin Meredith	2
3	Kevin Iro	Centre	Tony Anderson	3
4	Dean Bell	Centre	Ian Wilkinson	4
5	Henderson Gill	Wing	Colin Whitfield	5
6	Shaun Edwards	Five-eighth	Robert Grogan	6
7	Andy Gregory	Halfback	Steve Robinson	7
8	Brian Case	Front row	Neil James	8
9	Nicky Kiss	Hooker	Seamus McCallion	9
10	Adrian Shelford	Front row	Keith Neller	10
11	Andy Goodway	Second row	Les Holliday	11
12	Ian Potter	Second row	Paul Dixon	12
13	Ellery Hanley	Lock	John Pendlebury	13
Substitutes
14	Gerard Byrne		Dick Fairbank	14
15	Shaun Wane		Mick Scott	15

Graham Lowe		Coach	Chris Anderson

Match officials

Referee	Fred Lindop (Wakefield)
Lance Todd Trophy	Andy Gregory (Wigan) — Lance Todd Trophy

Match report

This was the first final of what became Wigan's legendary run of consecutive Challenge Cup wins, following the club's 1987 league championship success and marking, as one retrospective put it, “the foundation of something special.” Wigan overwhelmed defending champions Halifax 32-12 at Wembley in front of over 90,000 fans with a seven-try performance featuring both Iro brothers (Kevin and Tony), Dean Bell, Ellery Hanley and others crossing the whitewash. Scrum-half Andy Gregory orchestrated the rout and was named Lance Todd Trophy winner, the first of two such awards he would win in Wigan's cup dynasty. For much of the competition's early history the final rotated around northern club and representative grounds such as Headingley, Fartown, Central Park and the Athletic Ground, Rochdale, before Wembley Stadium became the final's permanent home from 1928/29 onward (with a short break during Wembley's 2000-2007 reconstruction, when finals were staged at Murrayfield, Twickenham and the Millennium Stadium instead). Since 1946/47, the competition's individual award, the Lance Todd Trophy, has been presented to the final's outstanding player, voted for by a panel of media representatives at the final whistle — on several notable occasions the trophy has gone to a player on the losing side, an unusual honour that reflects the award's focus on individual performance rather than simply reflecting the final scoreline. This was the 87th Challenge Cup final played, and, under the name “Wigan,” the 9th Challenge Cup title for the club.

Round by round

Jump to round:

Preliminary Round

Result	Venue	Attendance	Date
Kells 0–28 Leeds	Recreation Ground (Whitehaven)	—	1988-01-13
Bramley 6–14 Sheffield Eagles	McLaren Field	578	1988-01-15
Leigh Miners Welfare 4–23 Hunslet	Hilton Park	—	1988-01-15
Carlisle 8–8 Whitehaven	Brunton Park	1867	1988-01-17
Warrington 48–10 Huddersfield	Wilderspool	3433	1988-01-17
Whitehaven 8–22 Carlisle	Recreation Ground (Whitehaven)	2614	1988-01-20

Qualifying Round

Result	Venue	Attendance	Date
Heworth 11–4 West Hull	Wigginton Road	—	1988-01-16

Round 1

Result	Venue	Attendance	Date
Wigan 2–0 Bradford Northern	Central Park	9825	1988-01-30
Dewsbury 10–38 Widnes	Crown Flatt	1980	1988-01-31
Doncaster 18–10 Batley	Tattersfield	1442	1988-01-31
Featherstone Rovers 32–21 York	Post Office Road	1870	1988-01-31
Fulham 4–16 Mansfield Marksman	Polytechnic Stadium	712	1988-01-31
Heworth 4–60 Halifax	Wigginton Road	—	1988-01-31
Hull Kingston Rovers 14–6 Carlisle	Craven Park (Hull)	2908	1988-01-31
Hunslet 10–27 Hull FC	Elland Road	1892	1988-01-31
Keighley 30–4 Workington Town	Lawkholme Lane	1248	1988-01-31
Leeds 22–14 Castleford	Headingley	14757	1988-01-31
Leigh 12–22 St Helens	Hilton Park	8813	1988-01-31
Rochdale Hornets 6–4 Barrow	Spotland Stadium	964	1988-01-31
Runcorn Highfield 6–8 Springfield Borough	Canal Street	550	1988-01-31
Salford 16–6 Swinton	The Willows	3425	1988-01-31
Wakefield Trinity 10–14 Sheffield Eagles	Belle Vue	2371	1988-01-31
Warrington 17–6 Oldham	Wilderspool	6642	1988-01-31

Round 2

Result	Venue	Attendance	Date
Warrington 20–24 St Helens	Wilderspool	5969	1988-02-13
Doncaster 16–8 Mansfield Marksman	Tattersfield	1912	1988-02-14
Halifax 30–6 Rochdale Hornets	Thrum Hall	6538	1988-02-14
Hull Kingston Rovers 35–26 Featherstone Rovers	Craven Park (Hull)	4743	1988-02-14
Hull FC 26–6 Sheffield Eagles	Boulevard	4544	1988-02-14
Keighley 2–16 Widnes	Lawkholme Lane	3331	1988-02-14
Salford 12–10 Springfield Borough	The Willows	2352	1988-02-14
Wigan 30–14 Leeds	Central Park	25110	1988-02-14

Round 3

Result	Venue	Attendance	Date
Wigan 10–1 Widnes	Central Park	18079	1988-02-27
Hull Kingston Rovers 4–26 Halifax	Craven Park (Hull)	8837	1988-02-28
Hull FC 27–12 Doncaster	Boulevard	6659	1988-02-28
Salford 22–18 St Helens	The Willows	7964	1988-02-28

Semi-Final

Result	Venue	Attendance	Date
Wigan 34–4 Salford	Burnden Park	20783	1988-03-12
Halifax 0–0 Hull FC	Headingley	20534	1988-03-26

Semi-Final Replay

Result	Venue	Attendance	Date
Halifax 4–3 Hull FC	Elland Road	25117	1988-03-30

Final

Result	Venue	Attendance	Date
Wigan 32–12 Halifax	Wembley Stadium (London)	94273	1988-04-30

Early rounds feature amateur and community clubs alongside professional ones; team names are linked only where this site has a team page for that exact club, matching the same safety-first approach used for the Final's own results table.

Sources

← All Challenge Cup Finals