1959–60 Northern Rugby Football League season

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.

1959–60 Northern Rugby Football League season
LeagueNorthern Rugby Football League
ChampionsWigan
League LeadersSt. Helens
Top point-scorer(s)Neil Fox 453
Top try-scorer(s)Tom van Vollenhoven 54

Season summary

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.

Championship

Final Standings

Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1St. Helens 383413947343+60469
2Wakefield Trinity 383206831348+48364
3Hull 382819758474+28457
4Wigan 382729828390+43856
5Featherstone Rovers 3827011730437+29354
6Whitehaven 3822313594533+6147
7Warrington 3822214650482+16846
8Swinton 3822214654503+15146
9Oldham 3822115744461+28345
10Hunslet 3821314595488+10745
11Leigh 3820414600502+9844
12Huddersfield 3821116603510+9343
13Hull Kingston Rovers 3820117517575−5841
14Leeds 3820018641573+6840
15Salford 3819217629583+4640
16Batley 3818317476506−3039
17Widnes 3818119598519+7937
18Castleford 3818020561630−6936
19Workington Town 3818020448530−8236
20Keighley 3817120575659−8435
21York 3817021579698−11934
22Halifax 3815221627561+6632
23Rochdale Hornets 3815023435519−8430
24Barrow 3813124422562−14027
25Bramley 3810226393673−28022
26Bradford Northern 389326450645−19521
27Liverpool City 389326383720−33721
28Blackpool Borough 389128400819−41919
29Dewsbury 384133337982−6459
30Doncaster 3821352841,084−8005

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 between Joe Egan' Wigan outfit against Wakefield Trinity 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
Main article: 1959–60 Challenge Cup

The 1959–60 Challenge Cup tournament ended in a final between Wakefield Trinity and Hull F.C. 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.

County cups
Main article: 1959–60 Lancashire Cup
Main article: 1959–60 Yorkshire Cup

Warrington beat St. Helens 5–4 to win the Lancashire Cup, and Featherstone Rovers beat Hull F.C. 15–14 to win the Yorkshire Cup.

Kangaroo Tour
Main article: 1959–60 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France

September until December also saw the appearance of the Australian team in England on their 1959–60 Kangaroo Tour. Other than the three test Ashes series against Great Britain (won 2–1 by Australia), the Kangaroos played 21 matches against club and county representative sides.

The Kangaroos were coached by "The Little Master" Clive Churchill and were captained by Welsh born Balmain Tigers fullback Keith Barnes.

As of 2017, this remains the last time that Great Britain or England won The Ashes on home soil.

Sources
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