The 1906–07 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the 12th season of rugby league football.

Rule changes

During a meeting held on 12 June 1906 at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, the members of the Northern Union agreed to adopt two rule changes that would distinguish the sport thereafter. The Northern Union, motivated by the need to appeal to spectators to improve the game's finances and ensure its survival, and inspired by the attacking style of rugby displayed by the New Zealand rugby union team during their 1905 tour of Britain, revisited two areas of the game that were the focus of much debate: the optimum number of players per team and how play should continue once a tackle had been completed. * The play-the-ball rule was introduced. Previously after each tackle had been completed or a player had been "held" the rules mandated that a scrum be ordered by the referee. These scrums had taken up a significant portion of game time and it was felt that the ball was hidden from spectators too often as a result, diminishing the game's entertainment value. :The play-the-ball restored the early rugby football principle that play does not carry on when the player is no longer standing, but that a tackle is complete when a player is "held" on the ground or while on their feet. The '' Yorkshire Post'' commented on 13 June 1906 that the, "proposals in the name of the

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

Club, provided in effect for a return to the 'play the ball' rule". In New Zealand, a newspaper column in ''The Truth'' on 10 November 1906 while describing the sport to its readers wrote, "the most excellent rule, that was obliterated from the earlier laws of the Union has again been introduced, 'That a player, when collared, must put the ball into play'." :This version of the play-the-ball was used until the 1927–28 season when it was replaced by a 1926 Australian development in which the play-the-ball consisted of two defensive markers, the tackled player and the acting half-back. * The Northern Union reduced the number of players on a team from fifteen to thirteen following approval by the clubs of a proposal by Warrington. In New Zealand, a newspaper column in ''The Truth'' (10 November 1906) describing the sport noted the intention, "to make the game brighter from a spectacular view-point". :There had been support, stronger among northern clubs, for a reduction in the number of players before the 1895 schism but this had not been taken any further because of the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

's threats of sanctions as part of their campaign against professionalism. Since its founding, the NU had trialled games with different numbers of players at various times. * If a ball was kicked out of play on the full, a scrum back where it had been kicked from would now be formed.

Season summary

Halifax won their second Championship in this season and

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

their second Challenge Cup in three years. This season also saw the introduction of the Championship Play-offs at the end of the season. Similar to the current Grand Final system in today's Super League, it involved the top four clubs playing in two semi finals (1v4, 2v3) and then a final with the winners being declared champions. This system was used until 1961-62. Liverpool City joined, but Brighouse Rangers,

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

Millom Millom is a town and civil parish on the north shore of the estuary of the River Duddon in southernmost Cumberland, Cumbria, England. It is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, about north of Barrow-in-Furness ( by road) and ...

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

, and Normanton withdrew, reducing the competition to 27 teams.

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. It lies to the east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the ...

resigned from the league and folded after 8 matches, and their record was expunged (8P 3W 5L 63PF 154PA). Liverpool City became the first of only six teams to record no wins in a league season. Three of the others were in wartime leagues.

had been playing at the Park Avenue ground until this year. A decision by the Park Avenue Directors to form a professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

(soccer) club forced Bradford rugby club to reform and relocate at Greenfield Stadium later adding "Northern" to their name. There was no county league competition this season.

Championship

Championship play-off

Challenge Cup

beat

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

17-3 in the final at

Wheater's Field Wheater's Field was a stadium, rugby ground in Broughton, Salford, Broughton, County Borough of Salford, Salford, England. It was home to the Broughton Rangers rugby league club of the Rugby Football League, Northern Union. On 19 October 1907, ...

Broughton, Salford Broughton is a suburb and district of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. Located on the east bank of the River Irwell, it is northwest of Manchester and south of Prestwich. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, the form ...

before a crowd of 18,500 to win their second Cup in three seasons.

County cups

Broughton Rangers Broughton Rangers were one of the twenty-one rugby clubs which met at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, in 1895 to form the Northern Rugby Football Union. They were originally based in Broughton, Salford, but in 1933 moved to Gorton, Manchester ...

beat

15–6 to win the Lancashire Cup, and Bradford F.C. beat

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...

8–5 to win the

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

County Cup.

Sources

1906-07 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.comThe Challenge Cup at The Rugby Football League website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rugby Football League Season, 1906-07 1906 in English rugby league 1907 in English rugby league Northern Rugby Football Union seasons