1965–66 Northern Rugby Football League season on:
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The 1965–66
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 71st 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 ...
. A three-way county championship was also held, with comparative minnows
Cumberland against
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
and
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 Lancash ...
.
Rule change
* The substitutes rule introduced in the previous season changed so that substitutions could be used for any reason, including tactical reasons, although they were still only allowed up to and including half-time.
[ Top ten: Rugby league rules, ''Rugby League World'', Aug 2009: 61]
Season summary
The
BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition was launched in this season with the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
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televising matches on Tuesday nights. The competition was used to trial the four-tackle rule, an experiment in ending the unlimited tackles that had been a by-product from the introduction of the play-the-ball in 1906.
[ Bottom ten: Rugby league rules, ''Rugby League World'', Aug 2009: 62]
St. Helens finished the regular season as league leaders before winning their fourth Championship when they beat
Halifax 35–12 in the play-off final.
The
Challenge Cup winners were
St. Helens who beat
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the 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 north-east and Warrington t ...
21–2 in the final.
The
BBC2 Floodlit Trophy winners were
Castleford
Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins th ...
who beat
St. Helens 4–0 in the final.
St. Helens won the
Lancashire League, and
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 popula ...
won the
Yorkshire League.
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 ...
beat
Rochdale Hornets
The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the Championship, the second tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs ...
16–5 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 Lancash ...
County Cup, and
Bradford Northern
The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is pre ...
beat
Hunslet
Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the city centre and has an industrial past.
It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside ward of Leeds City Council and Leeds Central parliamentar ...
17–8 to win the
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
County Cup.
At the end of the season,
Eric Ashton
Eric Ashton MBE (24 January 1935 – 20 March 2008) was an English World Cup winning professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s, and coached in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
He played his whole top flight football c ...
became the first Rugby League player to receive an award from Her Majesty, the Queen. He was awarded the
MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.
Championship
Play-offs
Final
The 1966 Championship Final was played between
Halifax and
St. Helens on Saturday, 28 May 1966 at
Station Road Ground before a crowd of 30,634. St Helens won 35–12 with their
hat trick-scoring prop forward,
Albert Halsall being awarded the
Harry Sunderland Trophy
The Harry Sunderland Trophy is awarded annually to the man of the match in the Super League Grand Final. Named after Harry Sunderland, who was an Australian rugby league football administrator in both Australia and the United Kingdom, the Troph ...
as man-of-the-match.
Challenge Cup
St Helens had reached the final by beating Wakefield Trinity 10–0 away on 26 February in round one; Swinton 16–4 at home on 19 March in round two; Hull Kingston Rovers 12–10 at home on 2 April in round three and Dewsbury 12–5 on neutral ground on 16 April in the semi-final.
Wigan had reached the final by beating Halifax 9–4 at home on 26 February in round one; Whitehaven 40–6 at home on 19 March in round two; Bradford Northern 15–6 away on 6 April in round three and Leeds 7–2 in the semi-final at Huddersfield on 23 April.
The Challenge Cup final was 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 original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...
,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
on 21 May 1966, in front of a crowd of 98,536. Prime Minister
Harold Wilson was introduced to the players before kick-off. St Helens led 9–2 at half time and went on to defeat Wigan 21–2. Saints' scorers were
John Mantle (1 try),
Tommy Bishop
Tommy Bishop (born 15 October 1940) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s, and coached in the 1970s and 1980s. He played for Blackpool Borough, Barrow and St Helens in the English Champion ...
(1 try),
Len Killeen (1 try, 5 goals), and
Alex Murphy (1 goal). Wigan's scorer was
Laurie Gilfedder (1 goal). This was St Helens' third Cup final win in seven final appearances.
References
In-line
General
*
Sources
1965-66 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.comThe Challenge Cup at The Rugby Football League website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rugby Football League Season, 1965-66
1965 in English rugby league
1966 in English rugby league
Northern Rugby Football League seasons