1945–46 Northern Rugby Football League season

1945–46 Rugby Football League season
League Northern Rugby Football League
Number of teams 27
Champions Wigan
League Leaders Wigan
Top point-scorer(s) Bawden (Huddersfield) 239
Top try-scorer(s) Eric Batten (Bradford Northern) 35
< 1944-45 Seasons 1946–47 >

The 1945–46 Rugby Football League season was the fifty first season of rugby league football.

Contents

Season summary

Wigan won their fifth Championship when they defeated Huddersfield 13-4 in the play-off final. They had also finished the regular season as the league leaders.

The Challenge Cup Winners were Wakefield Trinity who defeated Wigan 13-12 in the final.

Bramley, Broughton Rangers, Hull Kingston Rovers, Liverpool Stanley, Rochdale Hornets, Salford, Swinton, Warrington and Widnes returned following World War II. Workington Town also entered a team for the first time.[1]

Jim Sullivan of Wigan ended his career this season as the all time record scorer of goals with 2,867.[2]

Wigan won the Lancashire League, and Wakefield Trinity won the Yorkshire League. Widnes beat Wigan 7–3 to win the Lancashire Cup, and Bradford Northern beat Wakefield Trinity 5–2 to win the Yorkshire Cup.

Championship

Team Pld W D L Pts
1 Wigan 36 29 2 5 58
2 Huddersfield 36 27 1 8 55
3 Wakefield Trinity 36 26 0 10 52
4 Bradford Northern 36 24 3 9 51
5 Barrow 36 22 4 10 48
6 Dewsbury 36 23 0 13 46
7 Hunslet 36 21 4 11 46
8 Salford 36 23 0 13 46
9 Batley 36 21 4 11 46
10 Warrington 36 21 3 12 45
11 Castleford 36 22 0 14 44
12 Widnes 36 19 3 14 41
13 Featherstone Rovers 36 19 1 16 39
14 Halifax 36 19 0 17 38
15 Oldham 36 18 0 18 36
16 Broughton Rangers 36 16 3 17 35
17 Hull 36 16 2 18 34
18 Hull Kingston Rovers 36 15 3 18 33
19 Workington Town 36 15 0 21 30
20 St. Helens 36 13 1 22 27
21 Swinton 36 9 5 22 23
22 Keighley 36 9 2 25 20
23 Leeds 36 9 1 26 19
24 Rochdale Hornets 36 9 1 26 19
25 Bramley 36 9 0 27 18
26 Liverpool Stanley 36 5 2 29 12
27 York 36 4 1 31 9

Play-Offs

  Semi-finals Championship Final
                 
1  Wigan 18  
4  Bradford Northern 4  
     Wigan 13
   Huddersfield 4
2  Huddersfield 8
3  Wakefield Trinity 3  

The Championship Play-off Final was played at Manchester City Football Club on Sat 18 May. Wigan's scorers were:

Tries: Ashcroft 2, Cunliffe. Goals: Nordgren 2.

Challenge Cup

The Final returned to Wembley following the end of World War II. Wakefield Trinity beat Wigan 13-12 in front of a crowd of 54,730. This was Wakefield Trinity’s second Challenge Cup Final win in three Final appearances.[2] Their centre, Billy Stott was awarded the inaugural Lance Todd Trophy for man-of-the-match.

European Championship

Main article: 1945–46 European Rugby League Championship

The tri-nation tournament was played between November 1945 and March 1946 as single round robin games between England, France and Wales. This was the fifth Rugby League European Championship, and was won by England on points average.[3]
Match Details

Date Venue Home Team Score Away Team
24 Nov 1945 Swansea Wales 11 - 3 England
23 Feb 1946 Swinton England 16 - 6 France
24 Mar 1946 Bordeaux France 19 - 7 Wales

Sources

References

  1. ^ [http://wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/index.php? page_id=365 "1945-46 Season summary"]. http://wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/index.php? page_id=365. Retrieved 2009-08-08. 
  2. ^ a b "RFL All Time Records". Archived from the original on 2009-09-16. http://www.webcitation.org/5jpnxlTKy. Retrieved 2009-08-07. 
  3. ^ Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1995-1996. London: Headline Book Publishing. 1995. p. 424. ISBN 0747278172. 
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