1973–74 Northern Rugby Football League season

1973–74 Rugby Football League season
League Northern Rugby Football League
Champions Salford
Club Championship Warrington
Top point-scorer(s) David Watkins 438
Top try-scorer(s) Keith Fielding 49
< 1972–73 Seasons 1974–75 >

The 1973–74 Rugby Football League season was the 79th season of rugby league football.

Season summary

1973-1974 saw two division rugby re-introduced. The Championship play offs were done away with and the league leaders were declared the champions. A "Club Championship" was played in place of the play offs but this was a one-off precursor to what became the end of season Premiership. It was a complicated format that involved sides from both divisions.

On 25 April, David Watkins of Salford scored the last of 929 points (41 tries, 403 goals) in a record run of scoring in 92 consecutive games for one club.[1]

Keith Mumby made his début for Bradford Northern this season as the club's youngest ever player, aged 16. In a match against Doncaster this season he scored 12 goals and a try. He went on to become the club's record appearance holder, playing 576 games.[2]

Salford won their fifth Championship. Oldham, Hull Kingston Rovers, Leigh and Whitehaven were demoted to the Second Division.

The Challenge Cup winners were Warrington who beat Featherstone Rovers 24-9 in the final.

The Player's No.6 Trophy winners were Warrington who beat Rochdale Hornets 24-17 in the final.

The Club Championship was won by Warrington who beat St. Helens 13-12 in the final.

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy winners were Bramley who beat Widnes 15-7 in the final.

2nd Division Champions were: Bradford Northern, and they York, Keighley and Halifax were promoted to the First Division.[3]

Wigan beat Salford 19–9 to win the Lancashire Cup, and Leeds beat Wakefield Trinity 7–2 to win the Yorkshire Cup.

League Tables

Championship

Team Pld W D L PF PA Pts
1Salford30231663229947
2St Helens30222659526346
3Leeds30201955437841
4Widnes301811143132937
5Warrington301611341436833
6Dewsbury301611338947433
7Wakefield Trinity301601447041132
8Featherstone Rovers301421444339730
9Castleford301241442041128
10Rochdale Hornets301321537941528
11Wigan301231542736427
12Bramley301131634445725
13Oldham301211734149425
14Hull Kingston Rovers30921942855220
15Leigh30702332665514
16Whitehaven30702330863414

Second Division

Team Pld W D L PF PA Pts
1Bradford Northern26240260722148
2York26210542921942
3Keighley26200643925040
4Halifax26180846029836
5Workington Town26170942131034
6Hull261601046525632
7Swinton261501140527630
8Batley261201428631124
9Barrow261101521429122
10Huddersfield26901736339418
11New Hunslet26701927241814
12Blackpool Borough26701927258514
13Doncaster2630231586846
14 Huyton2620241824604
  Champions   Promoted   Relegated

Challenge Cup

Warrington defeated Huddersfield, Huyton, Wigan and Dewsbury to get to the final against Featherstone Rovers.[4] Captained by Alex Murphy, Warrington beat Featherstone Rovers 24-9 in the final played at Wembley in front of a crowd of 77,400.

This was Warrington’s fourth Cup Final win in ten Final appearances.[1] Derek Whitehead, Warrington's full-back won the Lance Todd Trophy for man-of-the-match.


References

  1. 1 2 Raymond Fletcher; David Howes (1995). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1995-1996. London: Headline Book Publishing. p. 191. ISBN 0-7472-7817-2.
  2. "Bradford Bulls History". Archived from the original on 2009-09-16. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  3. "1973-74 Season summary". Archived from the original on 2009-09-16. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  4. "Victory parade for Wolves players". BBC News. UK: BBC. 30 August 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2010.


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