The 1958–59 Northern Rugby Football League season was the 64th season of rugby league football. Thirty clubs from across Northern England competed for the Championship, culminating in a final between St. Helens and Hunslet.
| 1958–59 Rugby Football League season | |
|---|---|
| League | Northern Rugby Football League |
| League Leaders |  St. Helens |
| Top point-scorer(s) |  Fred Griffiths 394 |
| Top try-scorer(s) | Tom van Vollenhoven (62) |
Season summary
editSt. Helens won their third Championship when they beat Hunslet 44–22 in the Championship Final. They had also finished the regular season as the league leaders.
The Challenge Cup winners were Wigan who beat Hull F.C. 30–13 in the final.[1]
Wigan won the Lancashire League, and Wakefield Trinity won the Yorkshire League.
This season, St. Helens winger Tom van Vollenhoven set a new record for most tries in a season, with 62.
Championship
edit| Team | Pld | W | D | L | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. Helens | 38 | 31 | 1 | 6 | 63 |
| 2 | Wigan | 38 | 29 | 0 | 9 | 58 |
| 3 | Hunslet | 38 | 27 | 3 | 8 | 57 |
| 4 | Oldham | 38 | 28 | 1 | 9 | 57 |
| 5 | Wakefield Trinity | 38 | 27 | 1 | 10 | 55 |
| 6 | Swinton | 38 | 27 | 1 | 10 | 55 |
| 7 | Hull | 38 | 25 | 1 | 12 | 51 |
| 8 | Widnes | 38 | 23 | 0 | 15 | 46 |
| 9 | Warrington | 38 | 22 | 0 | 16 | 44 |
| 10 | Bradford Northern | 38 | 20 | 2 | 16 | 42 |
| 11 | York | 38 | 20 | 1 | 17 | 41 |
| 12 | Halifax | 38 | 19 | 2 | 17 | 40 |
| 13 | Featherstone Rovers | 38 | 18 | 3 | 17 | 39 |
| 14 | Leeds | 38 | 19 | 0 | 19 | 38 |
| 15 | Keighley | 38 | 18 | 1 | 19 | 37 |
| 16 | Leigh | 38 | 18 | 0 | 20 | 36 |
| 17 | Barrow | 38 | 18 | 0 | 20 | 36 |
| 18 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 38 | 18 | 0 | 20 | 36 |
| 19 | Huddersfield | 38 | 18 | 0 | 20 | 36 |
| 20 | Workington Town | 38 | 16 | 3 | 19 | 35 |
| 21 | Whitehaven | 38 | 17 | 0 | 21 | 34 |
| 22 | Salford | 38 | 16 | 1 | 21 | 33 |
| 23 | Bramley | 38 | 15 | 1 | 22 | 31 |
| 24 | Blackpool Borough | 38 | 15 | 0 | 23 | 30 |
| 25 | Castleford | 38 | 13 | 0 | 25 | 26 |
| 26 | Rochdale Hornets | 38 | 11 | 1 | 26 | 23 |
| 27 | Batley | 38 | 10 | 1 | 27 | 21 |
| 28 | Liverpool City | 38 | 8 | 0 | 30 | 16 |
| 29 | Dewsbury | 38 | 7 | 0 | 31 | 14 |
| 30 | Doncaster | 38 | 5 | 0 | 33 | 10 |
| Play-offs |
Play-offs
edit| Semi-finals | Championship final | ||||||||
| 1 | St. Helens | 42 | |||||||
| 4 | Oldham | 4 | |||||||
| St. Helens | 44 | ||||||||
| Hunslet | 22 | ||||||||
| 2 | Wigan | 11 | |||||||
| 3 | Hunslet | 22 | |||||||
Final
edit16 May 1959
|
| St Helens | 44 – 22 | Hunslet |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Van Vollenhoven (3), Murphy (2), Prinsloo, Smith, Huddart Goals: Rhodes (10) |
[2] |
Tries: Stockdill, Doyle, Poole, Gunney Goals: Langton (5) |
|
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Challenge Cup
editWigan reached the final by beating Leeds 12–5 at home on 21 Feb in Round 1; Hunslet 22–4 at home on 7 Mar in Round 2; Halifax 26–0 away on 21 Mar in the quarter-finals and Swinton 5–0 on 11 Apr in the semi-final played at Leigh. Captained by Eric Ashton,[3] they then beat Hull 30–13 in the Challenge Cup Final played at Wembley Stadium before a crowd of 79,811 with tries from Boston (2), Bolton, Holden, McTigue and Sullivan and six goals from Griffiths.[4]
This was Wigan's sixth Challenge Cup Final win in ten Final appearances and their second in successive years.[5] Brian McTigue, their second-row forward, was awarded the Lance Todd Trophy for his man-of-the-match performance.
County cups
editOldham beat St. Helens 12–2 to win the Lancashire Cup, and Leeds beat Wakefield Trinity 24–20 to win the Yorkshire Cup.
References
edit- ^ "1958-59 season summary". Retrieved 2009-08-08.
- ^ Mather, Harold (18 May 1959). "St Helens Make No Mistake". The Manchester Guardian. p. 7. ProQuest 480343455.
- ^ news.bbc.co.uk (27 February 2004). "Cup heroes: Eric Ashton". BBC Sport. UK: BBC. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
- ^ "A complete history of Hull FC's Challenge Cup finals". Hull Daily Mail. 22 August 2013. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- ^ "RFL Challenge Cup Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
Sources
edit- Saxton, Irvin (ed.). History of Rugby League: No.64 1958–1959. League Publications.
- 1958-59 Rugby Football League season at Wigan.rlfans.com
- The Challenge Cup at The Rugby Football League website