1953–54 Northern Rugby Football League season

1953–54 Northern Rugby Football League season
League Northern Rugby Football League
Champions Warrington
League Leaders Halifax
Top point-scorer(s) Peter Metcalfe 369
Top try-scorer(s) Brian Bevan 67

The 1953–54 Rugby Football League season was the 59th season of rugby league football played in England. The championship, which involved thirty teams, started in August, 1953 and culminated in a finals play-off series in April, 1954 which resulted in a championship final between Warrington and Halifax. The season was also punctuated by the 1954 Rugby League World Cup, the first ever, and is also notable for its Challenge Cup final, which was drawn and had to be re-played, attracting a world record crowd for a rugby football match of either code.[1]

Season summary

The 1953-54 season saw Brian Bevan become the highest try scorer in rugby league history when he passed the 446 tries mark set by Alf Ellaby.

Warrington won the Lancashire League, and Halifax won the Yorkshire League. St.Helens beat Wigan 16–8 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Bradford Northern beat Hull F.C. 7–2 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

Championship

Ladder

Club P W D L PF PA D Pts
1 Halifax 363024538219+31962
2 Warrington 36301566331135261
3 St. Helens 362826672297+37558
4 Workington Town 362907604333+27158
5 Hull 3625011685349+33650
6 Huddersfield 3624012689417+27248
7 Wigan 3623112688392+29647
8 Barrow 3623013574377+19746
9 Bradford Northern 3622014628414+21444
10 Leeds 3622014766517+24944
11 Wakefield Trinity 3619116671508+16339
12 Oldham 3617415504366+13838
13 Leigh 3619017547459+8838
14 Featherstone Rovers 3618216478431+4738
15 Hunslet 3619017455451+438
16 Widnes 3616317420431-1135
17 York 3617019412401+1134
18 Keighley 3615318473533-6033
19 Rochdale Hornets 3614319404457-5331
20 Dewsbury 3614319432508-7631
21 Whitehaven 3614121362544-18229
22 Salford 3613221370438-6828
23 Swinton 3613122341513-17227
24 Batley 3613122367658-29127
25 Bramley 3611322437746-30925
26 Castleford 3611124437728-29123
27 Belle Vue Rangers 367227307714-40716
28 Doncaster 365229340840-50012
29 Hull Kingston Rovers 365229298737-43912
30 Liverpool City 364032304777-4738

Play-offs

Semi-finals

Final

The Championship Final was played between Warrington and Halifax on 8 May (three days after the epic Challenge Cup re-play) at Maine Road before a crowd of 36,519. The match was televised by the BBC and it was a tremendous defensive effort that helped Warrington to a narrow 8-7 win, with Bath kicking 4 goals.

Challenge Cup

Halifax and Warrington, the teams that finished first and second respectively on the Championship ladder (separated by only one competition point), reached the Challenge Cup Final Saturday 24 April 1954. It was played at Wembley and 81,841 spectators saw what turned out to be a lacklustre match. After a couple of penalties, Halifax led 4-0 at half time, then in the second half Warrington drew level, also kicking two penalties. The final score was 4 - 4 and it remains the only time Wembley hasn't seen a single try on Cup Final day. The re-play was scheduled for 5pm on Wednesday 5 May 1954 at Odsal Stadium, Bradford.

Around 70,000 spectators were expected at Odsal for the replay which was re-scheduled for a 7pm kick-off to avoid the rush hour traffic. The twenty trains and fifty buses, specially scheduled for the match, as well as the 100 gatesmen and 150 policemen at the ground were therefore believed to be adequate. However the closeness with which the two teams were matched and the prospect of the Challenge Cup decider coming north for the first time in a decade seem to have generated immense interest.

People had started queuing a good hour before the shuttle buses started running from 4:25pm. The gates opened at 5.00pm, and by that time some people had already been queuing for an hour and a half. At an hour before kick off there were already an estimated 60,000 in the ground. The traffic on the roads in the surrounding area was at a standstill as more and more spectators converged on the stadium. Some squatted around the pitch, while others climbed onto rooftops for a better view. Fences around the ground had collapsed, as more people struggled to cram into the bowl of Odsal before kick-off. The official figure for the crowd at the match was 102,575,[2] easily the biggest number to see a rugby football match of either code. However it is widely believed that the real figure for spectators present is closer to 120,000.[3]

The match itself was another low-scoring struggle, but an improvement on the last one. Jim Challinor opened the scoring with a try for Warrington after nine minutes. Half an hour later, Tyssul Griffiths kicked a penalty for the Halifax side, who had also had two tries disallowed. This meant a half time score of 3 - 2 in favour of Warrington. The third quarter of the match saw additional goals kicked by both Griffiths and Harry Bath, bringing the score to 5 - 4, still just one point in favour of Warrington. Then Gerry Helme scored a try, which Bath couldn't convert, putting Warrington four points clear of Halifax, but still within a converted try. Controversy reared just before full-time, when Halifax had a third try disallowed by referee Ron Gelder. Warrington had claimed their 4th Challenge Cup, with Helme winning the Lance Todd Trophy for his match-winning performance, the first player to do so twice.

Sources

  1. Baker, Andrew (1995-08-20). "100 years of rugby league: From the great divide to the Super era". Independent, The. independent.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
  2. "The History Of Rugby League". Rugby League Information. napit.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  3. Hadfield, Dave (2004-05-06). "Mud, blood and memories of the day when 102,575 made history at Odsal". The Independent. UK: Independent News and Media Limited. Retrieved 2009-12-27.
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