1946–47_Northern_Rugby_Football_League_season
The 1946–47 Rugby Football League season was the 52nd season of rugby league football.
| 1946–47 Rugby Football League season | |
|---|---|
| League | Northern Rugby Football League |
| Teams | 28 |
| Champions |  Wigan |
| League Leaders | Wigan |
| Top point-scorer(s) |  Jeff Bawden 243 |
| Top try-scorer(s) |  Brian Bevan 48 |
1946-47 ended up being the longest season on record after a poor winter saw many matches postponed. Just as the country was recovering from post-World War II fuel and food shortages, it had to cope with prolonged frost and snow from 21 January to 16 March.
Wigan won their sixth Championship when they beat Dewsbury 13-4 in the play-off final at Maine Road, Manchester in front of a crowd of 40,599. Wigan scored three tries and two goals to Dewsbury's two goals. Wigan had also ended the regular season as league leaders.[1]
The Challenge Cup winners were Bradford Northern who were 8-4 winners over Leeds.
Leigh returned following World War II. Broughton Rangers relocated, and were renamed Belle Vue Rangers.[2]
Wigan won the Lancashire League, and Dewsbury won the Yorkshire League. Wigan beat Belle Vue Rangers 9–3 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Wakefield Trinity beat Hull F.C. 10–0 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wigan | 36 | 29 | 1 | 6 | 59 |
| 2 | Dewsbury | 36 | 27 | 1 | 8 | 55 |
| 3 | Widnes | 36 | 26 | 2 | 8 | 54 |
| 4 | Leeds | 36 | 25 | 2 | 9 | 52 |
| 5 | Warrington | 36 | 26 | 0 | 10 | 52 |
| 6 | Bradford Northern | 36 | 24 | 3 | 9 | 51 |
| 7 | Huddersfield | 36 | 24 | 2 | 10 | 50 |
| 8 | Oldham | 36 | 22 | 2 | 12 | 46 |
| 9 | Leigh | 36 | 21 | 0 | 15 | 42 |
| 10 | Wakefield Trinity | 36 | 20 | 2 | 14 | 42 |
| 11 | Workington Town | 36 | 19 | 2 | 15 | 40 |
| 12 | Barrow | 36 | 18 | 4 | 14 | 40 |
| 13 | Castleford | 36 | 19 | 1 | 16 | 39 |
| 14 | Hunslet | 36 | 17 | 2 | 17 | 36 |
| 15 | Hull | 36 | 17 | 0 | 19 | 34 |
| 16 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 36 | 15 | 3 | 18 | 33 |
| 17 | Batley | 36 | 15 | 1 | 20 | 31 |
| 18 | Belle Vue Rangers | 36 | 14 | 3 | 19 | 31 |
| 19 | St. Helens | 36 | 14 | 1 | 21 | 29 |
| 20 | Halifax | 36 | 13 | 2 | 21 | 28 |
| 21 | York | 36 | 12 | 2 | 22 | 26 |
| 22 | Salford | 36 | 11 | 2 | 23 | 24 |
| 23 | Liverpool Stanley | 36 | 11 | 1 | 24 | 23 |
| 24 | Swinton | 36 | 11 | 1 | 24 | 23 |
| 25 | Keighley | 36 | 10 | 1 | 25 | 21 |
| 26 | Featherstone Rovers | 36 | 9 | 1 | 26 | 19 |
| 27 | Rochdale Hornets | 36 | 9 | 0 | 27 | 18 |
| 28 | Bramley | 36 | 5 | 0 | 31 | 10 |
| Semi-finals | Championship final | ||||||||
| 1 | Wigan | 21 | |||||||
| 4 | Leeds | 11 | |||||||
| Wigan | 13 | ||||||||
| Dewsbury | 4 | ||||||||
| 2 | Dewsbury | 5 | |||||||
| 3 | Widnes | 2 | |||||||
Leeds reached the Wembley final for the second time, doing so without conceding a single point in the final five rounds of the tournament.[3] However Bradford Northern beat Leeds 8-4 in the final in front of a crowd of 77,605. Trevor Foster and Emlyn Walters scored Bradford's tries and were converted by Ernest Ward. Willie Davies, Bradford Northern's stand-off half back, won the Lance Todd Trophy for man of the match.[4]
This was Bradford’s third Cup Final win in five Final appearances including one win and one loss during World War II.[5]
- Raymond Fletcher; David Howes (1995). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1995-1996. London: Headline Book Publishing. p. 256 & 279. ISBN 0-7472-7817-2.
- "1946-47 Season summary". Retrieved 2009-08-08.
- Demsteader, Christine (2000-10-01). "Rugby League's home from home". BBC Sport. UK: BBC. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
- "Bradford Bulls History". Archived from the original on 2009-04-22. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
- "RFL All Time Records". Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-08-07.