1962–63_Northern_Rugby_Football_League_season
The 1962–63 Northern Rugby Football League season was the 68th season of rugby league football.
1962–63 Northern Rugby Football League season | |
---|---|
League | First Division |
Champions | Swinton |
Top point-scorer(s) | Kel Coslett 321 |
Top try-scorer(s) | Ray Glastonbury 41 |
Promotion and relegation | |
Promoted from Second Division | Hunslet Keighley |
Relegated to Second Division | Oldham Bramley |
Second Division | |
Champions | Hunslet |
1962–63 season saw the league split into two divisions with each team playing each other team home and away. The introduction of an even league meant the end of season championship play-off was done away with and the team finishing top of the table was declared champions.
1962-63 finished up with huge fixture backlogs similar to 1946-47 after "the Big Freeze" brought heavy snow and postponed most rugby league matches for two and half months.
Swinton won their fifth Championship. Oldham and Bramley were demoted to the Second Division.
The Challenge Cup winners were Wakefield Trinity who beat Wigan 25–10 in the final.
The 2nd Division Champions were Hunslet who were promoted along with second placed Keighley.[1]
Workington Town (from Cumberland) won the Lancashire League, and Wakefield Trinity won the Yorkshire League. St. Helens beat Swinton 7–4 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Hunslet beat Hull Kingston Rovers 12–2 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.
Team | Pld | W | D | L | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Swinton | 30 | 22 | 1 | 7 | 45 |
2 | St. Helens | 30 | 19 | 1 | 10 | 39 |
3 | Widnes | 30 | 19 | 1 | 10 | 39 |
4 | Castleford | 30 | 16 | 3 | 11 | 35 |
5 | Wakefield Trinity | 30 | 16 | 1 | 13 | 33 |
6 | Warrington | 30 | 15 | 2 | 13 | 32 |
7 | Leeds | 30 | 16 | 0 | 14 | 32 |
8 | Wigan | 30 | 14 | 2 | 14 | 30 |
9 | Huddersfield | 30 | 14 | 0 | 16 | 28 |
10 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 30 | 13 | 1 | 16 | 27 |
11 | Featherstone Rovers | 30 | 12 | 3 | 15 | 27 |
12 | Workington Town | 30 | 12 | 3 | 15 | 27 |
13 | Halifax | 30 | 13 | 1 | 16 | 27 |
14 | Hull | 30 | 10 | 2 | 18 | 22 |
15 | Oldham | 30 | 9 | 1 | 20 | 19 |
16 | Bramley | 30 | 9 | 0 | 21 | 18 |
Champions | Relegated |
Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Hunslet | 26 | 22 | 0 | 4 | 508 | 214 | 44 |
2 | Keighley | 26 | 21 | 0 | 5 | 450 | 187 | 42 |
3 | York | 26 | 16 | 1 | 9 | 418 | 243 | 33 |
4 | Blackpool Borough | 26 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 281 | 247 | 30 |
5 | Rochdale Hornets | 26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 282 | 243 | 29 |
6 | Barrow | 26 | 14 | 0 | 12 | 413 | 280 | 28 |
7 | Leigh | 26 | 14 | 0 | 12 | 361 | 264 | 28 |
8 | Batley | 26 | 13 | 1 | 12 | 275 | 322 | 27 |
9 | Whitehaven | 26 | 12 | 2 | 12 | 318 | 306 | 26 |
10 | Doncaster | 26 | 10 | 0 | 16 | 283 | 329 | 20 |
11 | Liverpool City | 26 | 9 | 1 | 16 | 159 | 328 | 19 |
12 | Salford | 26 | 8 | 1 | 17 | 271 | 442 | 17 |
13 | Dewsbury | 26 | 8 | 0 | 18 | 200 | 345 | 16 |
14 | Bradford Northern | 26 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 163 | 632 | 5 |
Promoted |
Wakefield Trinity beat Wigan 25–10 in the challenge Cup Final played at Wembley, in front of a crowd of 84,492.
This was Wakefield Trinity's fifth Cup Final win in their fifth Final appearance and their second in successive seasons.[2] Harold Poynton, their stand-off half was awarded the Lance Todd Trophy for his man-of-the-match performance.
Prior to the start of the league season in October, each team played eight fixtures in a regional competition, with teams being split into a Western and Eastern Division. The top four teams in each division competed in the play-offs for the Divisional Championship.
Western Division
Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Workington Town | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 230 | 44 | 16 | |
2 | St Helens | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 216 | 73 | 15 | |
3 | Widnes | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 180 | 54 | 14 | |
4 | Wigan | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 213 | 72 | 14 | |
5 | Swinton | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 158 | 61 | 14 | |
6 | Warrington | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 171 | 93 | 12 | |
7 | Oldham | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 137 | 91 | 10 | |
8 | Barrow | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 81 | 144 | 6 | |
9 | Whitehaven | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 84 | 174 | 4 | |
10 | Rochdale Hornets | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 47 | 172 | 4 | |
11 | Leigh | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 81 | 154 | 2 | |
12 | Blackpool Borough | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 67 | 162 | 1 | |
13 | Liverpool City | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 57 | 204 | 0 | |
14 | Salford | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 71 | 295 | 0 | |
Source:[3] |
Semi-finals
St Helens | 9 – 10 | Widnes |
---|---|---|
Tries: Watson Goals: Coslett (3) |
[4] |
Tries: Myler, Measures Goals: Randall (2) |
9 October 1962 |
Knowsley Road Attendance: 20,200 |
Workington Town | 27 – 9 | Wigan |
---|---|---|
Tries: Pretorius, O'Neill (3), Archer, W. Martin, Glastonbury Goals: Ferreira (3) |
[5] |
Tries: Carlton (2), Davies |
15 October 1962 |
Final
Widnes | 9 – 9 | Workington Town |
---|---|---|
Tries: Thompson Goals: Randall (3) |
[6] |
Tries: Pretorius Goals: Lowdon (3) |
10 November 1962 |
Replay
Widnes | 0 – 10 | Workington Town |
---|---|---|
[7] |
Tries: Pretorius, Glastonbury Goals: Lowdon (2) |
21 November 1962 |
Eastern Division
Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Huddersfield | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 211 | 44 | 16 | |
2 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 189 | 72 | 16 | |
3 | Featherstone Rovers | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 181 | 71 | 14 | |
4 | Halifax | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 166 | 73 | 14 | |
5 | Leeds | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 177 | 65 | 13 | |
6 | Wakefield Trinity | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 193 | 65 | 12 | |
7 | Castleford | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 117 | 137 | 8 | |
8 | Hunslet | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 109 | 144 | 8 | |
9 | Bramley | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 108 | 130 | 6 | |
10 | York | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 128 | 139 | 4 | |
11 | Hull | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 96 | 142 | 4 | |
12 | Keighley | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 79 | 155 | 4 | |
13 | Batley | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 63 | 132 | 3 | |
14 | Bradford Northern | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 86 | 236 | 2 | |
15 | Doncaster | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 40 | 160 | 2 | |
16 | Dewsbury | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 56 | 234 | 2 | |
Source:[3] |
Semi-finals
Huddersfield | 17 – 0 | Halifax |
---|---|---|
Tries: Bowman (3) Goals: Dyson (4) |
[8] |
10 October 1962 |
Fartown Referee: N.T. Railton |
Hull Kingston Rovers | 27 – 11 | Featherstone Rovers |
---|---|---|
Tries: Paul (3), A. Burwell, Hatch Goals: Kellett (6) |
[9] |
Tries: Greatorex Goals: Clawson (4) |
15 October 1962 |
Final
Huddersfield | 10 – 13 | Hull Kingston Rovers |
---|---|---|
Tries: Heywood, Smales Goals: Dyson (2) |
[10] |
Tries: Paul (2), Harris Goals: Kellett (2) |
10 November 1962 |
Lancashire Cup
Yorkshire Cup
- "1962-63 Season summary". Archived from the original on 2009-08-26. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
- "RFL Challenge Cup Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
- Saxton, Irvin (ed.). History of Rugby League: No.68 1962–1963. League Publications.
- 1962-63 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com
- The Challenge Cup at The Rugby Football League website