1959–60 Northern Rugby Football League season

195ui9–60 Northern Rugby Football League season

League	Northern Rugby Football League
Champions	Wigan
League Leaders	St Helens
Top point-scorer(s)	Neil Fox 453
Top try-scorer(s)	Tom van Vollenhoven 54
< 1958–59 Seasons 1960–61 >

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.

Season summary

• League Champions: Wigan (27–3 v Wakefield Trinity)
• Challenge Cup Winners: Wakefield Trinity (38–5 v Hull)

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 Cup, and Featherstone Rovers beat Hull 15–14 to win the Yorkshire Cup.

Championship

Final Standings

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	St. Helens	38	34	1	3	947	343	+604	69
2	Wakefield Trinity	38	32	0	6	831	348	+483	64
3	Hull	38	28	1	9	758	474	+284	57
4	Wigan	38	27	2	9	828	390	+438	56
5	Featherstone Rovers	38	27	0	11	730	437	+293	54
6	Whitehaven	38	22	3	13	594	533	+61	47
7	Warrington	38	22	2	14	650	482	+168	46
8	Swinton	38	22	2	14	654	503	+151	46
9	Oldham	38	22	1	15	744	461	+283	45
10	Hunslet	38	21	3	14	595	488	+107	45
11	Leigh	38	20	4	14	600	502	+98	44
12	Huddersfield	38	21	1	16	603	510	+93	43
13	Hull Kingston Rovers	38	20	1	17	517	575	−58	41
14	Leeds	38	20	0	18	641	573	+68	40
15	Salford	38	19	2	17	629	583	+46	40
16	Batley	38	18	3	17	476	506	−30	39
17	Widnes	38	18	1	19	598	519	+79	37
18	Castleford	38	18	0	20	561	630	−69	36
19	Workington Town	38	18	0	20	448	530	−82	36
20	Keighley	38	17	1	20	575	659	−84	35
21	York	38	17	0	21	579	698	−119	34
22	Halifax	38	15	2	21	627	561	+66	32
23	Rochdale Hornets	38	15	0	23	435	519	−84	30
24	Barrow	38	13	1	24	422	562	−140	27
25	Bramley	38	10	2	26	393	673	−280	22
26	Bradford Northern	38	9	3	26	450	645	−195	21
27	Liverpool City	38	9	3	26	383	720	−337	21
28	Blackpool Borough	38	9	1	28	400	819	−419	19
29	Dewsbury	38	4	1	33	337	982	−645	9
30	Doncaster	38	2	1	35	284	1,084	−800	5

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 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 ended in a final between Wakefield Trinity and Hull. 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.

Wakefield Trinity 38

Wakefield Trinity Tries: Fred Smith, Alan Skene 2, Neil Fox 2, Kenneth Rollin, Keith Holliday 2

Wakefield Trinity Goals: Neil Fox 7

Hull FC 5

Hull FC Tries: Stan Cowan

Hull FC Goals: Sam Evans

Half-time 7–5

Attendance: 79,773

Teams:

Wakefield Trinity: Gerry Round, Fred Smith, Alan Skene, Neil Fox, John Etty, Kenneth Rollin, Keith Holliday, Jack Wilkinson, Geoffrey Oakes, Don Vines, Leslie Chamberlain, Albert Firth, Derek Turner

Hull FC: Jack Kershaw, Gordon Harrison, Stan Cowan, Nan Halafihi, Dave Johnson, Frank Broadhurst, Tommy Finn, Michael Scott, Tommy Harris, Sam Evans, Tom Sutton, Mike Smith, Johnny Whiteley

Sources

• 1959–60 Northern Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com