1973–74 Northern Rugby Football League season

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

1973–74 Rugby Football League season
LeagueChampionship
First Division
Champions Salford
Runners-up St Helens
Club Championship Warrington
Top point-scorer(s) David Watkins 438
Top try-scorer(s) Keith Fielding 49
Promotion and relegation
Relegated to Second Division Oldham
Hull Kingston Rovers
Leigh
Whitehaven
Second Division
Champions Bradford Northern
Promoted to First Division Bradford Northern
York
Keighley
Halifax

Season summary

1973-1974 saw two division rugby re-introduced. The Championship playoffs were discontinued and the league leaders were declared the champions. A "Club Championship" was played in place of the playoffs 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 Club Championship was won by Warrington who beat St. Helens 13-12 in the final.

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

League Tables

Cups

Challenge Cup

Warrington defeated Huddersfield, Huyton, Wigan and Dewsbury to reach 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.

League Cup

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

County Cups

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

Captain Morgan Trophy

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

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

Kangaroo Tour

From September until December also saw the appearance of the Australian team in England on their 1973 Kangaroo Tour. Other than the three test Ashes series against Great Britain (won 2–1 by Australia), The Kangaroos played matches against club and county representative sides

The 1978 Kangaroos were captain-coached by champion St George Dragons fullback Graeme Langlands who was making his third tour following from 1963–64 and 1967–68

gameDateResultVenueAttendance
130 September Australia def. Salford 15–12The Willows, Salford11,064
23 October Australia def. Wakefield Trinity 13–9Belle Vue, Wakefield5,863
37 October Australia def. Dewsbury 17–3Crown Flatt, Dewsbury5,865
410 October Australia def. Castleford 18–10Wheldon Road, Castleford2,419
514 October Australia def. Widnes 25–10Naughton Park, Widnes5,185
619 October Australia def. Oldham 44–10The Watersheddings, Oldham2,895
724 October Australia def. Cumbria Cumberland 28–2Recreation Ground, Whitehaven3,666
828 October Australia def. Bradford Northern 50–14Odsal Stadium, Bradford5,667
93 November Great Britain def.  Australia 21–12Wembley Stadium, London9,874
107 November Australia def. Hull Kingston Rovers 32–2Craven Park, Hull5,150
1110 November Australia def. Huddersfield 25–9Fartown Ground, Huddersfield1,333
1211 November Australia def. Leigh 31–4Hilton Park, Leigh2,607
1313 November St. Helens def. Australia 11–7Knowsley Road, St Helens10,013
1418 November Australia def. Featherstone Rovers 18–3Post Office Road, Featherstone5,659
1524 November Australia def.  Great Britain 14–6Headingley, Leeds16,674
161 December Australia def.  Great Britain 15–5Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington10,019

References

  1. 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 2009-04-25. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  3. "1973-74 Season summary". Archived from the original on 2009-08-27. 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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