Challenge Cup: Joe Lydon's love affair with Widnes & Wigan

Some players have a special Challenge Cup moment... Joe Lydon has a catalogue of them.

Whether it was in the black and white of Widnes, or the cherry and white of Wigan, Lydon became part of cup folklore, finishing with six winners' medals and a host of memories.

"It's a very special competition. Wembley and the Challenge Cup is a fantastic opportunity," Lydon told BBC Sport.

Although a staunch Wiganer whose first taste of the big day out was with the town's schoolboys in 1975, it was with Widnes that the 49-year-old would first lift the famous old trophy.

He signed professional terms at Widnes at a time when Dougie Laughton's side were regular finalists, a lure too great for the then-teenager to resist.

"It was almost a promise - join Widnes and you'd go to Wembley. In 1984 I got there, playing against Wigan," he said.

If there was any sentiment, it never showed. The Chemics won 16-9 against Alex Murphy's Wigan, with Lydon scoring two tries and picking up the Lance Todd Trophy for his efforts.

"It was difficult. Myself, Andy Gregory and Keiron O'Loughlin - who also scored in that final - we took an awful lot of stick for playing against our home-town team," Lydon continued.

"We wanted to prove a point as Wiganers, probably wrongly on reflection.

"It was a fabulous occasion, and the tries, like the game, came and went so quickly. The whole occasion that surrounded it was phenomenal."

The 1984 season proved to be the making of Lydon who played in several positions, including full-back and centre. He won Man of Steel in addition to Player and Young Player of the Year awards, and forged a regular place in the Great Britain side.

It did not please everybody, however, with the loyalties of those close to him tested.

"My mother wasn't a rugby league follower - she was just happy that her son was at Wembley - but the rest of the family had mixed emotions to a degree, although a large degree of loyalty to me, I hope," he said.

"It was the friends I took most of the stick from, those who were die-hard Cherry and White and had been most of their lives.

"There were some people who found it hard to forgive that I was going to play against them, even more so when we came back with the silverware and Wigan didn't."

His form at Naughton Park led to a dream move, with Wigan paying £100,000 for his services in 1986.

However, it would be two years before he would finally achieve his dream of representing the Cherry and Whites in the Challenge Cup final.

"I knew how much it meant to the Wigan public, being born and bred there, but we failed (to get there) against Castleford (the 1986 winners) and Oldham (in 1987)," he added.

Success in the 1987 Premiership final and a famous World Club Challenge win against Australian champions Manly that same year gave Wigan the platform for a cup tilt, and they responded by reaching the 1988 final against Halifax.

Their West Yorkshire opponents went into the final as cup holders, but Wigan, packed with talent such as Shaun Edwards, Ellery Hanley and the Iro brothers Tony and Kevin, were too strong.

"It was a fabulous occasion, made more special in that arena in front of a crowd that could be generated at that time in Wembley," Lydon said.

"Most importantly, most teams and people who have played at Wembley will know this, it's about the team spirit.

"Yes, memories are fantastic, of winning the trophy, the silverware and the medal, but it's the camaraderie, the friendship that goes along with it, and the changing room stories, the quirks of humour make it a special place.

"It was special to win my first Challenge Cup medal with Widnes, but knowing how much it means to the Wigan public, knowing I'm going to play for my home town, standing there just before kick-off unsure of what was going to happen but knowing we had some great players, was very special."

Between 1988 and defeat by Salford in February 1996, no-one could touch the men from Central Park, who recorded 43 consecutive victories as they won the cup eight times in a row.

"I heard criticism that Wigan were 'spoiling the game', that we were too dominant. Rubbish, it was fantastic to be part of," he said.

"You didn't want to be in the team that let it go. I go back to a game against Hull where were 22-0 down at half-time at the Boulevard, our captain Dean Bell came in and said if we didn't pull our socks up, we could lose this.

"Not that we will lose it - we could. Basically it was up to us to sort it out and Andy Farrell eventually scored the try that took us through to the next round.

"People realised how special it was to go and wanted to make sure they were in the team that went back."

Lydon's last Challenge Cup final appearance came in the 1993 victory against Widnes, while Wigan would go on to win another two - both against Leeds - before their streak finished.

Now, 20 years on from that success, his two former clubs again go head to head bidding for a place in the last four of the 2013 competition.

Although Wigan have re-established themselves at the top of the modern Super League and lifted their 18th Challenge Cup as recently as 2011 with victory against Leeds, Widnes only returned to the top tier in 2012 after relegation in 2005.

The game also pits two of Lydon's former team-mates together in Shaun Wane and current Widnes coach Denis Betts, two winners with history on their side.

"It's possible for Widnes, and if I know anything about Denis then it is that he knows how to win," said Lydon who is set to take on a post as head of international player development for the Rugby Football Union when his notice with the Welsh Rugby Union is served.

"It's knock-out rugby and it's the Challenge Cup. Many people wouldn't have given Sheffield Eagles any chance at all against Wigan in 1998 and there have been massive upsets.

"He may not have the ability to transfer that on the day, however, because Shaun will be trying equally hard to stop him and to progress in this round.

"But the beauty of cup football is the underdogs do on occasions win."