1941–42 Northern Rugby Football League Wartime Emergency League season

The 1941–42 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the third season of the rugby league’s Wartime Emergency League necessitated by the Second World War.
As in the previous (second) Wartime season, the clubs each played a different number of games and several clubs dropped out . In fact as only 17 of the original clubs remained (and only Oldham, St Helens and Wigan from west of the Pennines) the leagues were amalgamated into one single Championship.

1941–42 Northern Rugby Football League Wartime Emergency League season
LeagueNorthern Rugby Football League Wartime Emergency League
1941–42 Season
ChampionsDewsbury
Runner-upBradford Northern

General Comments

Season summary

The 1941–42 season began on Saturday 6 September 1941. As there were now only three Lancashire clubs who have not had to close down and withdraw from the League, the Northern Rugby League decided to unite all the 17 remaining clubs into one single Competition. As the clubs were still playing different number of matches, the league positions and the title would be decided on a percentage basis.

At the completion of the regular season Dewsbury were on top of the league both on points scored (39 points) and percentage success (81.25%). Bradford Northern were second and the highest Lancashire team were placed sixth (Wigan).

Dewsbury went on to defeat Bradford Northern 13-0 in the play-off final.[1] and win the Championship for the second consecutive season.

The Wartime Emergency Leagues did not count as an official league championship.

In the Challenge Cup Final the same two clubs as last season contested the tie, with the same result, Leeds beat Halifax 15-10 at Odsal.

The Lancashire County Cup, suspended for season 1940–41 remained so for the rest of the war and again Wigan competed in the Yorkshire Cup.

Bradford Northern beat Halifax 24-0 at Fartown in front of a 5,989 (receipts were £635.0.0). This was Bradford Northern's second consecutive victory in this tournament.

Previous withdrawals


The following clubs had withdrawn from the League, before this 1941–42 season began :-
St Helens Recs – who folded before the war started
Barrow – withdrew after the end of the first (1939–40) ‘season finished and did not rejoin until the 1943–44 season.
Hull Kingston Rovers – withdrew after the end of the first (1939–40) ‘season finished and did not rejoin until the 1945–46 season.
Rochdale Hornets – As Hull Kingston Rovers.
Widnes – As Hull Kingston Rovers.

New withdrawals


Broughton Rangers – withdrew prior to this season 1941–42 commencing and not re-joining until the 1945–46 season.
Leigh - During the Second World War, the club was forced to leave its ground as the adjacent cable factory extended onto the land. The townsfolk of Leigh, acting on chairman James Hilton's inspiration, cleared some fields on the edge of the town, and built a new stadium, including moving and rebuilding the old grandstand from the original ground. In 1941–42, Leigh quit the wartime Lancashire league and would not return to the league until 1946–47 when they played as a temporary measure at the Athletic Ground, Holden Road before moving to Kirkhall Lane (which was later officially renamed Hilton Park after James Hilton.
Liverpool Stanley – As Broughton Rangers.
Salford - Salford had continued to function, but it was a struggle. At the beginning of January 1941, the club decided to cease playing, due to poor gates. As Broughton Rangers, the club withdrew prior to this season 1941–42 commencing and not re-joining until the 1945–46 season. In November 1942, manager Lance Todd was killed in a car crash.
Swinton - As Broughton Rangers.
Warrington - During the War, it was difficult to play matches and therefore pay the bills. To help out the club committee decided that a Limited Company of 10,000 £1 shares was to be created. The Warrington Football Club Limited became a reality. But times were still hard and like Broughton Rangers, the club withdrew prior to this season 1941–42 commencing and not re-joining until the 1945–46 season.

Dewsbury had a relatively successful time during the war years. Managed by Eddie Waring, and with the side boosted by the inclusion of a number of big-name guest players, the club won the Wartime Emergency League in 1941–42 and again the following season 1942–43 (though that championship was declared null and void when it was discovered they had played an ineligible player). They were also runners-up in the Championship in 1943–44, Challenge Cup winners in 1943 and Yorkshire Cup Final appearances in this season 1940–41 and winners in 1942–43.

Records


Bramley joined the ranks of the clubs with the unenviable record of losing every league match during the season.
Bramley withdrew from competitions for the following seasons.
A full list to date of all clubs with this record is as follows :-

Lost all league matches in a season
Club season League Cup Notes Ref
Bramley1941–4219 War Emergency League4 Cup-ties[2]
Other clubs with the same equal record
Liverpool City1906-0730** League2 Cup-ties**[2]
Broughton Rangers1940–4110 War Lancashire League1 Cup-tie[2]
Leigh1940–4113 War Lancashire League1 Cup-tie[2]
Runcorn Highfield1989-9028 Division Two3 Cup-ties[2]
Nottingham City1991-9226 Division Three3 Cup-ties[2]
** Also lost to Pontefract, but this match was expunged from League records after Pontefract disbanded[2]
** Also drew against Bramley but this was expunged from the records as the return match was cancelled[2]

Championship

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts PCT
1 Dewsbury 24 19 1 4 431 172 +259 39 .813
2 Bradford Northern 17 13 1 3 318 130 +188 27 .794
3 Halifax 17 13 0 4 262 139 +123 26 .765
4 Hull 18 12 0 6 265 146 +119 24 .667
5 Hunslet 18 10 0 8 212 177 +35 20 .556
6 Wigan 20 11 0 9 241 207 +34 22 .550
7 Oldham 20 11 0 9 209 209 0 22 .550
8 Leeds 23 12 1 10 245 213 +32 25 .543
9 Huddersfield 23 12 0 11 355 276 +79 24 .522
10 Keighley 23 12 0 11 224 306 82 24 .522
11 Wakefield Trinity 19 9 0 10 195 215 20 18 .474
12 Featherstone Rovers 18 8 0 10 166 181 15 16 .444
13 St. Helens 19 8 0 11 217 270 53 16 .421
14 Castleford 20 8 0 12 195 253 58 16 .400
15 York 22 6 0 16 231 386 155 12 .273
16 Batley 18 3 1 14 133 269 136 7 .194
17 Bramley 19 0 0 19 104 454 350 0 .000
Source:
Rules for classification: % Pts = A percentage system was used to determine league positions due to clubs playing varying number of fixtures and against different opponents
League points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.

Championship Play-Off

Semi-finals Championship Final
      
1 Dewsbury 32
4 Hull 18
Dewsbury 13
Bradford Northern 0
2 Bradford Northern 15
3 Halifax 8


The final was played at Headingley, the attendance was 18,000 and receipts £1,121.0.0

Trophies

Challenge Cup

Below are given some of the fixtures and results from this year’s Challenge Cup competition. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Swinton, who had not entered the League programme, took part in this competition.

Date Stage Home Team score Away Team Venue agg att rcts Note ref
1st Round
CC R1 1st legSat 25-04-1942Hull34-0BramleyThe Boulevard[5]
CC R1 1st legSat 25-04-1942Wigan6-4DewsburyCentral Park[4]
CC R1 1st LegSat 25-04-1942KeighleyLost toBradford NorthernLawkholme Ln
CC R1 2nd legSat 02-05-1942Bramley8-17HullBarley Mow8-51[5]
CC R1 2nd legSat 02-05-1942Dewsbury12-14WiganCrown Flatt16-20[4]
CC R1 2nd LegSat 02-05-1942Bradford NorthernbeatKeighleyOdsalWon
2nd Round
CC R2 1st legSat 09-05-1942Leeds22-8HullHeadingley[5]
CC R2 1st legSat 09-05-1942Swinton0-9WiganStation Rd[4]
CC R2 2nd legSat 16-05-1942Hull12-7LeedsThe Boulevard20-29[5]
CC R2 2nd legSat 16-05-1942Wigan12-17SwintonCentral Park21-17[4]
Semi-Final
CC SF 1st legSat 23-05-1942Halifax10-0WiganThrum Hall[4]
CC SF 2nd legSat 30-05-1942Wigan16-16HalifaxCentral Park16-26[4]
Final
CC F--??Leeds15-10HalifaxOdsal15,250£1,276.0.0
Leeds are winners of the Challenge Cup

Lancashire Cup


The Lancashire County Cup, suspended for season 1940–41 remained so for the rest of the war and again Wigan competed in the Yorkshire Cup.

Yorkshire Cup

In the Final of the Yorkshire County Cup, Leeds beat Halifax 15-10 at Odsal in front of a crowd of 15,250 and with receipts of £1,276.0.0.
This is the second year running that these two teams contested the Final, in each case Leeds winning.


Below are given some of the fixtures and results from this year’s Yorkshire Cup competition.

Date Stage Home Team score Away Team Venue agg att rcts Note ref
1st Round
YC R1 1st legSat 25-10-1941Hull3-20HuddersfieldThe Boulevard[5]
YC R1 1st legSat 25-10-1941Keighley2-14WiganLawkholme Ln[4]
YC R1 2nd legSat 01-11-1941Huddersfield13-5HullFartown33-8[5]
YC R1 2nd legSat 01-11-1941Wigan19-0KeighleyCentral Park33-2[4]
2nd Round
YC R2 1st legSat 08-11-1941Hunslet3-8WiganParkside[4]
YC R2 2nd legSat 15-11-1941Wigan10-4HunsletCentral Park18-7[4]
Semi-Final
YC SF 1st legSat 22-11-1941Halifax11-8WiganThrum Hall[4]
YC SF 2nd legSat 29-11-1941Wigan2-2HalifaxCentral Park10-13[4]
Final
YC F--??Bradford Northern24-0HalifaxFartown5989£635.0.0
Bradford Northern are winners of Yorkshire Cup

See also

References


  1. "Wigan Warriors Rugby League Fan Site". Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  2. "RFL all time records". Archived from the original on 2011-09-02. Retrieved 2011-09-18.
  3. "Saints Heritage Society".
  4. "Cherry and white".
  5. <"Hull&Proud".
  6. "Widnes Vikings - One team, one passion Season In Review".
  7. "Warrington History". Archived from the original on 2010-07-06.
  8. Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-91. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0-356-17851-X.
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