| 1987 Foster's World Club Challenge | |||||||||||||
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 Central Park hosted the match | |||||||||||||
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| Date | 7 October 1987 | ||||||||||||
| Stadium | Central Park[1] | ||||||||||||
| Location | Wigan, England | ||||||||||||
Shaun Wane  | |||||||||||||
| Referee | John Holdsworth  | ||||||||||||
| Attendance | 36,895 | ||||||||||||
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The 1987 World Club Challenge (also known as the 1987 Foster's World Club Challenge due to sponsorship by brewers, Foster's) was the second game of its kind to be played between Britain's and Australia's domestic rugby league champion clubs. Chairman of Britain's 1986–87 Rugby Football League season champions Wigan, Maurice Lindsay, invited Australia's 1987 NSWRL season premiers, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles to Wigan for the game.[2] After this memorable match, the World Club Challenge was decided to be made an official annual feature on the rugby league calendar.
Originally, Australian Rugby League boss and former long-time Manly club secretary Ken Arthurson proposed that regardless of the outcome, the prize money should be split evenly between the two clubs. However, Wigan chairman Maurice Lindsay convinced Arthurson and the Manly club that it should be "winner takes all" as it would give the players even more incentive to take the game seriously if there was a bigger money pool for the winners.
- ^ "Wigan move quickly to set up showpeice with Maroons", The Sydney Morning Herald (31 December 1988)
- ^ Wilson, Andy (3 October 2010). "Wigan prepare to slay Dragons after crushing St Helens in Grand Final". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 July 2011.