1966–67 Northern Rugby Football League season

1966–67 Northern Rugby Football League season
LeagueNorthern 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

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.

Rule changes

Limited 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

League table

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

 
Round of 16Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
              
 
 
 
 
Leeds27
 
 
 
Widnes18
 
Leeds9
 
 
 
Castleford13
 
Castleford21
 
 
 
Hull7
 
Castleford3
 
 
 
St Helens14
 
Bradford Northern12
 
 
 
Warrington6
 
Bradford Northern8
 
 
 
St Helens15
 
St Helens37
 
 
 
Leigh12
 
Wakefield Trinity7-21
 
 
 
St Helens7-9
 
Wakefield Trinity48
 
 
 
Salford8
 
Wakefield Trinity22
 
 
 
Workington Town2
 
Workington Town23
 
 
 
Halifax14
 
Wakefield Trinity18
 
 
 
Hull KR6
 
Swinton12-15
 
 
 
Oldham12-7
 
Swinton10
 
 
 
Hull KR36
 
Hull KR17
 
 
Barrow15
 

Final

The 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)
Headingley, Leeds
Attendance: 20,161
Referee: J. Manley (Warrington)

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
Station Road, Swinton
Attendance: 33,537
Referee: J. Manley (Warrington)
Player of the Match: Ray Owen

Challenge Cup

Main article: 1966–67 Challenge Cup

In 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

Main article: 1966–67 Lancashire Cup
Main article: 1966–67 Yorkshire Cup

St. 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

Main article: 1966–67 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

The BBC2 Floodlit Trophy winners were Castleford who beat Swinton 7-2 in the final.[4]

References

  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ "St Helens 9 lost to Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 21". rugbyleagueproject.org. Shawn Dollin, Andrew Ferguson and Bill Bates. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  3. ^ "RFL Challenge Cup Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  4. ^ "1966-67 Season summary". Archived from the original on 2009-08-26. Retrieved 2009-08-08.

Sources