1908–09 Northern Rugby Football Union season

The 1908–09 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the 14th season of rugby league football.

1908–09 Northern Rugby Football Union season
LeagueNorthern Rugby League
1908–09 Season
Champions Wigan
League Leaders Wigan
Top point-scorer(s) James Lomas 272
Top try-scorer(s) Joe Miller 44
Frank Williams 44

Season summary

Wigan won their first Championship this season beating Oldham 7-3 in the play-off final. They had also ended the regular season as the league leaders . It was the first time that a team from outside the top two in the league had reached the Championship final.

Wakefield Trinity beat Hull F.C. 17-0 to win their first Challenge Cup in their first final.

Aberdare, Barry, Mid-Rhondda and Treherbert joined, taking the competition to 31 teams.

Bradford disbanded and became Bradford Northern.[1] They also moved for the second time in as many seasons to their new ground at Birch Lane.[2]

Wigan won the Lancashire League, and Halifax won the Yorkshire League. Wigan beat Oldham 10–9 to win the Lancashire Cup, and Halifax beat Hunslet 9–5 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

Australia toured England this season. On 17 October 1908, they drew 9-9 at Salford.[3]

Championship
Team Pld W D L PF PA Pts Pct
1Wigan3228047062075687.50
2Halifax3428155261745783.82
3Oldham3226064881765281.25
4Batley3223364121764976.56
5Huddersfield34213105042924566.17
6Wakefield Trinity31201104713184166.12
7Salford32201114553094164.06
8Merthyr Tydfil1811161841562363.88
9Broughton Rangers32191124203303960.93
10Warrington32182124732663859.37
11Runcorn28161112711913358.92
12Hunslet32181133612993757.81
13Hull34191144873663957.35
14Ebbw Vale24121112492692552.08
15Leeds32151163983553148.43
16Hull Kingston Rovers32141174294232945.31
17St. Helens28113143124212544.64
18York32131183945102742.18
19Dewsbury30121173503242541.66
20Keighley30121173383552541.66
21Leigh28110172143082239.28
22Swinton32111202584402335.93
23Bradford Northern32110213244512234.37
24Mid-Rhondda1851121112141130.55
25Rochdale Hornets3082201953841830.00
26Barrow3291222455071929.69
27Widnes2863191973591526.78
28Treherbert18411381212925.00
29Barry18301576445616.66
30Bramley263023162582611.53
31Aberdare17101613440625.88
 

Play-offs

Play-Offs
Semi-finals Championship Final
      
1 Wigan 18
4 Batley 2
Wigan 7
Oldham 3
2 Halifax 3-2
3 Oldham 3-8

Final

The Championship final was played on a rainy afternoon of 1 May 1909 before a crowd of around 12,000 at The Willows in Salford.

Wigan:
1 Jim Sharrock, 2 Jim Leytham, 3 Bert Jenkins, 4 Lance Todd, 5 Joe Miller, 6 Johnny Thomas, 7 Ned Jones
8 Jack Barton, 9 Walter Cheetham, 10 Howell de Francis, 11 Dick Ramsdale, 12 Dick Silcock, 13 Tom Whittaker

Oldham:
1 Alf Wood, 2 George Tyson, 3 Sid Deane, 4 Tom Llewellyn, 5 George Smith, 6 Billy Dixon, 7 Arthur Anlezark
8 Bert Avery, 9 Joe Ferguson, 10 Bill Jardine, 11 Joe Owens, 12 Arthur Smith, 13 Harry Topham

In the third minute, Wigan took the lead through a penalty goal by Jim Leytham. Oldham however scored the first try when Bill Jardine crossed in the fifteenth minute. Wigan's Dick Ramsdale took his side back into the lead with a try in the thirtieth minute. Leytham converted to give Wigan a 7-3 lead at half time. No further points were scored during the match.[4]

Challenge Cup
Main article: 1909 Challenge Cup

Wakefield Trinity beat Hull F.C. 17-0 in the final to win their first Cup in their first final. This was Hull's second successive defeat in a Challenge Cup final, having failed to score a point in either final.[5][6]

Wakefield Trinity Tries: Thomas "Tommy" 'Trapper' Newbould, Ezra Sidwell, Arthur Kenealy "Nealy" Crosland, Ernest W. Bennett, William 'Billie ' G. Simpson

Wakefield Trinity Goals: James "Jimmy" D. Metcalfe

Half-time: 6-0

Attendance: 23,587 (at Headingley Rugby Stadium, Leeds)

Teams:

Wakefield Trinity: James "Jimmy" D. Metcalfe, Ernest W. Bennett, William "Billy" Lynch, Ezra Sidwell, William 'Billie ' G. Simpson, Harry Slater, Thomas "Tommy" 'Trapper' Newbould, Arthur Kenealy "Nealy" Crosland, James Auton, Joseph Taylor, John "Jack" Walton, Herbert Kershaw, Harry 'Dickie' Beaumont

Hull FC: Harry Taylor, J. Dechan, G. Connell, G. T. Cottrell, (E. or Ned) Rogers, Harry Wallace, Billie Anderson, Tom Herridge, William Holder, Frank Boylen, F. Britton, H. Havelock, W. J. Carroll

Sources

References
  1. "1908-09 Season summary". Archived from the original on 2009-08-11. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  2. "Bradford Bulls History". Archived from the original on 2009-04-25. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
  3. "Salford first game". Salford City Reds Official Web Site, History page. Archived from the original on 7 March 2011. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  4. "1908-1909 Championship Final". wigan.rlfans.com. Cherryandwhite.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  5. "RFL Challenge Cup Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 2009-08-11. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  6. "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.
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