1959–60 Northern Rugby Football League season

The 1959–60 Rugby Football League season was the 65th season of rugby league football played in England. The championship, which involved thirty teams, started in August 1959 and culminated in a finals play-off series in May 1960 which resulted in a championship final between Wigan and Wakefield Trinity.

1959–60 Northern Rugby Football League season
LeagueNorthern Rugby Football League
ChampionsWigan
League LeadersSt. Helens
Top point-scorer(s)Neil Fox 453
Top try-scorer(s)Tom van Vollenhoven 54

Season summary

A number of clubs complained to the Rugby Football League over BBC televising rugby league matches live on TV, stating that it was affecting attendances.

St. Helens won the Lancashire League, and Wakefield Trinity won the Yorkshire League. Warrington beat St. Helens 5–4 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Featherstone Rovers beat Hull F.C. 15–14 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

Championship

Final Standings

Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1St. Helens 383413947343+60469
2Wakefield Trinity 383206831348+48364
3Hull 382819758474+28457
4Wigan 382729828390+43856
5Featherstone Rovers 3827011730437+29354
6Whitehaven 3822313594533+6147
7Warrington 3822214650482+16846
8Swinton 3822214654503+15146
9Oldham 3822115744461+28345
10Hunslet 3821314595488+10745
11Leigh 3820414600502+9844
12Huddersfield 3821116603510+9343
13Hull Kingston Rovers 3820117517575−5841
14Leeds 3820018641573+6840
15Salford 3819217629583+4640
16Batley 3818317476506−3039
17Widnes 3818119598519+7937
18Castleford 3818020561630−6936
19Workington Town 3818020448530−8236
20Keighley 3817120575659−8435
21York 3817021579698−11934
22Halifax 3815221627561+6632
23Rochdale Hornets 3815023435519−8430
24Barrow 3813124422562−14027
25Bramley 3810226393673−28022
26Bradford Northern 389326450645−19521
27Liverpool City 389326383720−33721
28Blackpool Borough 389128400819−41919
29Dewsbury 384133337982−6459
30Doncaster 3821352841,084−8005

Play-offs

Semi-finals Championship final
      
1 St. Helens 9
4 Wigan 19
Wigan 27
Wakefield Trinity 3
2 Wakefield Trinity 24
3 Hull 4

Final

The Championship Final was played between Joe Egan' Wigan outfit against Wakefield Trinity at 3 o'clock on a warm afternoon on Saturday, 21 May 1960 at Odsal Stadium, Bradford. A crowd of 83,190 turned out for the game which was refereed by Eric Clay (Leeds).

  • Wigan: 27

Tries (5): Billy Boston (2), Eric Ashton (2), Bill Sayer
Goals: Fred Griffiths (6)

  • Wakefield Trinity: 3

Try: Fred Smith

Challenge Cup

The 1959–60 Challenge Cup tournament ended in a final between Wakefield Trinity and Hull F.C. The match was played at Wembley Stadium before a crowd of 79,773, with Wakefield Trinity winning 38 – 5. Despite being on the losing team, Hull's hooker, Tommy Harris was awarded the Lance Todd Trophy for his man-of-the-match performance.

Neil Fox of Wakefield Trinity scored a Cup Final record 20 points (two tries and seven goals) in the final for Wakefield, a feat that would not be repeated for another 39 years 1999.

14 May 1960
Wakefield Trinity 38 – 5 Hull
Tries: Smith, Skene 2, Fox 2, Rollin, Holliday 2
Goals: Fox 7
Tries: Cowan
Goals: Evans
Wembley, London
Attendance: 79,773
Referee: Half time 7-5
Player of the Match: Harris
1Gerry Round
2Fred Smith
3Alan Skene
4Neil Fox
5John Etty
6Kenneth Rollin
7Keith Holliday
8Jack Wilkinson
9Geoffrey Oakes
10Don Vines
11Leslie Chamberlain
12Albert Firth
13Derek Turner
Coach:
1Jack Kershaw
2Gordon Harrison
3Stan Cowan
4Nan Halafihi
5Dave Johnson
6Frank Broadhurst
7Tommy Finn
8Michael Scott
9Tommy Harris
10Sam Evans
11Tom Sutton
12Mike Smith
13Johnny Whiteley
Coach:

Kangaroo Tour

September until December also saw the appearance of the Australian team in England on their 1959–60 Kangaroo Tour. Other than the three test Ashes series against Great Britain (won 2–1 by Australia), the Kangaroos played 21 matches against club and county representative sides.

The Kangaroos were coached by "The Little Master" Clive Churchill and were captained by Welsh born Balmain Tigers fullback Keith Barnes.

As of 2017, this remains the last time that Great Britain or England won The Ashes on home soil.

gameDateResultVenueAttendance
112 September Australia def. Leeds 44–20Headingley, Leeds14,629
215 September Australia def. Rochdale Hornets 27–14Athletic Grounds, Rochdale10,155
318 September Australia def. Warrington 30–24Wilderspool, Warrington17,112
423 SeptemberLancashire Lancashire def. Australia 30–22Knowsley Road, St. Helens15,743
526 September Australia def. Salford 22–20The Willows, Salford11,008
628 SeptemberYorkshire Yorkshire def. Australia 47–15Clarence Street, York7,338
71 October Australia def. Widnes 45–15Naughton Park, Widnes9,381
83 October Australia def. Oldham 25–14Watersheddings, Oldham17,630
97 October Leigh def. Australia 18–17Hilton Park, Leigh11,932
1010 October Australia def. St. Helens 15–2Knowsley Road, St. Helens29,156
1117 October Australia def.  Great Britain 22–14Station Road, Swinton35,224
1222 October Australia def. Whitehaven / Workington Town XIII 13–8Recreation Ground, Whitehaven7,463
1324 October Barrow def. Australia 12–9Craven Park, Barrow8,488
1426 October Australia def. Hull F.C. / Hull Kingston Rovers XIII 29–9The Boulevard, Hull15,944
154 November Australia def. Bradford Northern 28–9Odsal, Bradford4,126
167 November Australia def. Halifax 17–5Thrum Hall, Halifax8,274
1711 November Featherstone Rovers def. Australia 23–15Post Office Road, Featherstone7,671
1814 November Wigan def. Australia 16–9Central Park, Wigan24,466
1921 November Great Britain def.  Australia 11–10Headingley, Leeds30,301
2025 November Australia def. Swinton 25–24Station Road, Swinton5,021
2128 November Wakefield Trinity def. Australia 20–10Belle Vue, Wakefield17,615
222 December Australia def. Huddersfield 21–7Fartown, Huddersfield2,349
235 December Australia def. Hunslet 12–11Parkside, Hunslet8,061
2412 December Great Britain def.  Australia 18–12Central Park, Wigan26,089

Sources

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