1953–54 Northern Rugby Football League season

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]

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

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. One oddity of the season was that Double winners Warrington, who only lost 5 league games, were beaten by both the bottom Lancashire club, Liverpool City and the bottom Yorkshire club, Hull Kingston Rovers.

Championship

Ladder
Club P W D L PF PA D Pts
1 Halifax 363024538219+31962
2 Warrington 363015663311+35261
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

Semi-finals
  • Halifax 18, Workington Town 7.
  • Warrington 11, St Helens 0.

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
Main article: 1954 Challenge Cup

The 1954 Challenge Cup was the 53rd staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. It featured clubs from the 1953–54 Northern Rugby Football League season and is notable for its Final which had to be replayed before possibly the largest crowd in rugby league history.

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.
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