The 1966–67 Northern Rugby Football League season was the 72nd season of rugby league football in Britain. After Leeds had ended the regular season as league leaders, Wakefield Trinity won their first Championship when they beat St. Helens 21-9 in the Final replay, after a 7-7 draw. The Challenge Cup-winners were Featherstone Rovers who beat Barrow 17-12 in the Wembley final.
| 1966–67 Northern Rugby Football League season | |
|---|---|
| League | Northern Rugby Football League |
| Champions |  Wakefield Trinity |
| League Leaders |  Leeds |
| Top point-scorer(s) |  Len Killeen 353 |
| Top try-scorer(s) |  Chris Young 34 Keith Howe 34 |
Rule changes
editLimited tackles:
- The Rugby Football League ended unlimited tackles, introducing a four-tackle rule.[1] The introduction of the "tackle count" in December 1966 meant a team now had a limited number of tackles in which to score before they must surrender possession to their opponents. The limit would remain four until an increase to six tackles in 1972.[1]
Championship
editLeague table
edit| Team | Pld | W | D | L | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leeds | 34 | 29 | 0 | 5 | 58 |
| 2 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 34 | 26 | 2 | 6 | 54 |
| 3 | Wakefield Trinity | 34 | 27 | 0 | 7 | 54 |
| 4 | St. Helens | 34 | 22 | 3 | 9 | 47 |
| 5 | Bradford Northern | 34 | 22 | 2 | 10 | 46 |
| 6 | Workington Town | 34 | 22 | 1 | 11 | 45 |
| 7 | Swinton | 34 | 20 | 3 | 11 | 43 |
| 8 | Castleford | 34 | 21 | 0 | 13 | 42 |
| 9 | Hull | 34 | 18 | 3 | 13 | 39 |
| 10 | Oldham | 34 | 18 | 2 | 14 | 38 |
| 11 | Halifax | 34 | 18 | 2 | 14 | 38 |
| 12 | Warrington | 34 | 18 | 1 | 15 | 37 |
| 13 | Leigh | 34 | 17 | 3 | 14 | 37 |
| 14 | Salford | 34 | 18 | 1 | 15 | 37 |
| 15 | Barrow | 34 | 17 | 2 | 15 | 36 |
| 16 | Widnes | 34 | 15 | 5 | 14 | 35 |
| 17 | Wigan | 34 | 17 | 0 | 17 | 34 |
| 18 | Rochdale Hornets | 34 | 15 | 4 | 15 | 34 |
| 19 | Dewsbury | 34 | 15 | 1 | 18 | 31 |
| 20 | Featherstone Rovers | 34 | 12 | 3 | 19 | 27 |
| 21 | Huddersfield | 34 | 13 | 0 | 21 | 26 |
| 22 | York | 34 | 13 | 0 | 21 | 26 |
| 23 | Bramley | 34 | 12 | 0 | 22 | 24 |
| 24 | Keighley | 34 | 11 | 1 | 22 | 23 |
| 25 | Hunslet | 34 | 9 | 2 | 23 | 20 |
| 26 | Blackpool Borough | 34 | 9 | 2 | 23 | 20 |
| 27 | Whitehaven | 34 | 10 | 0 | 24 | 20 |
| 28 | Liverpool City | 34 | 9 | 0 | 25 | 18 |
| 29 | Doncaster | 34 | 8 | 1 | 25 | 17 |
| 30 | Batley | 34 | 7 | 0 | 27 | 14 |
Play-offs
edit| Round of 16 | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||
| Leeds | 27 | |||||||||||||
| Widnes | 18 | |||||||||||||
| Leeds | 9 | |||||||||||||
| Castleford | 13 | |||||||||||||
| Castleford | 21 | |||||||||||||
| Hull | 7 | |||||||||||||
| Castleford | 3 | |||||||||||||
| St Helens | 14 | |||||||||||||
| Bradford Northern | 12 | |||||||||||||
| Warrington | 6 | |||||||||||||
| Bradford Northern | 8 | |||||||||||||
| St Helens | 15 | |||||||||||||
| St Helens | 37 | |||||||||||||
| Leigh | 12 | |||||||||||||
| Wakefield Trinity | 7-21 | |||||||||||||
| St Helens | 7-9 | |||||||||||||
| Wakefield Trinity | 48 | |||||||||||||
| Salford | 8 | |||||||||||||
| Wakefield Trinity | 22 | |||||||||||||
| Workington Town | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Workington Town | 23 | |||||||||||||
| Halifax | 14 | |||||||||||||
| Wakefield Trinity | 18 | |||||||||||||
| Hull KR | 6 | |||||||||||||
| Swinton | 12-15 | |||||||||||||
| Oldham | 12-7 | |||||||||||||
| Swinton | 10 | |||||||||||||
| Hull KR | 36 | |||||||||||||
| Hull KR | 17 | |||||||||||||
| Barrow | 15 | |||||||||||||
Final
editThe 1966/67 Championship Final replay was played between Wakefield Trinity and St. Helens on Wednesday, 10 May 1967 at Station Road Ground before a crowd of 33,537.[2] Wakefield Trinity won 21-9 with their try-scoring scrum half back, Ray Owen being awarded the Harry Sunderland Trophy as man-of-the-match.
Final
6 May 1967
|
| Wakefield Trinity | 7 – 7 | St Helens |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Owen Goals: N. Fox (2) |
Tries: Watson Goals: Killeen (2) |
Replay
10 May 1967
|
| Wakefield Trinity | 21 – 9 | St Helens |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Brooke (2), Hirst, Poynton, Owen Goals: N. Fox (3) |
Tries: Van Vollenhoven Goals: Killeen (2), Bishop |
Challenge Cup
editIn the Challenge Cup Final Featherstone Rovers faced Barrow, who were captain-coached by Jim Challinor at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 13 May 1967 in front of a crowd of 76,290.
Featherstone Rovers won 17-12 and it was their first Cup Final win in two Final appearances.[3]
County cups
editSt. Helens won the Lancashire League, and Leeds won the Yorkshire League. Wigan beat Oldham 16–13 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Hull Kingston Rovers beat Featherstone Rovers 25–12 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.
BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
editThe BBC2 Floodlit Trophy winners were Castleford who beat Swinton 7-2 in the final.[4]
References
edit- ^ a b de la Riviere, Richard, ed. (2009), "Top ten: Rugby league rules", Rugby League World, no. 340, Brighouse, UK: League Publications (published August 2009), p. 61, ISSN 1466-0105
- ^ "St Helens 9 lost to Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 21". rugbyleagueproject.org. Shawn Dollin, Andrew Ferguson and Bill Bates. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
- ^ "RFL Challenge Cup Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
- ^ "1966-67 Season summary". Archived from the original on 2009-08-26. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
Sources
edit- Saxton, Irvin (ed.). History of Rugby League: No.72 1966–1967. League Publications.
- 1966-67 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com
- The Challenge Cup at The Rugby Football League website