The 1960–61 Northern

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...

season was the 66th season of

rugby league football Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playing field, field measur ...

Season summary

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

won their first Championship when they defeated

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

25-10 in the play-off final. The

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

winners were St. Helens who beat

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

12-6 in the final. Swinton won the Lancashire League, and

won the Yorkshire League. St. Helens beat Swinton 15–9 to win the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

County Cup The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...

, and

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

beat

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

16–10 to win the

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

Championship

Play-offs

Championship final

This match was Warrington loose forward

Albert Naughton Albert Naughton (19 January 1929 – 27 September 2013), also known by the nickname of "Ally", was an English World Cup winning professional rugby league footballer who played as a or in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He played at represe ...

's last appearance.

Challenge Cup

St Helens reached the

Final by beating Widnes 29–10 on 16 Feb away in round one after a 5–5 draw at home on 11 Feb; Castleford 18–10 away in round two on 25 Feb; Swinton 17–9 at home in the quarter-finals on 11 Mar and Hull 26–9 on neutral ground in the semi-final on 15 Apr. St Helens beat Wigan 12–6 (5–2 at Half Time) in the Final played at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

in front of a crowd of 94,672 on 13 May 1961. St Helens’ points were scored by Alex Murphy (try),

Tom van Vollenhoven Karel Thomas van Vollenhoven (29 April 1935 – 21 October 2017) was a South African rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He enjoyed a prolific rugby league career with English club St. Helens after switchi ...

(try) and

Austin Rhodes Austin J. Rhodes (25 February 1937 – 12 February 2019) was an English World Cup winning professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s, and coached in the 1970s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, and ...

(one conversion and two drop goals). The

Lance Todd Trophy The Lance Todd Trophy is a trophy in rugby league, awarded to the annual Challenge Cup Final's man of the match. Introduced in 1945–46, the trophy was named in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was killed in ...

winner was St Helens' second-row forward,

Dick Huddart Richard Huddart (22 June 1936 – 11 August 2021) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. A Great Britain and England international representative forward, he played at club level in England ...

. This was St Helens’ second

Final win in six Final appearances.

References

Sources

1960-61 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.comThe Challenge Cup at The Rugby Football League website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rugby Football League season, 1960-61 1960 in English rugby league 1961 in English rugby league Northern Rugby Football League seasons