The 1986–87 Rugby Football League season was the 92nd season of rugby league football. Sixteen clubs competed for the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

which was determined by League position.

Season summary

The Silk Cut

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

Winners were Halifax who beat St. Helens 19-18 in the final. The John Player Special Trophy Winners were

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

who beat

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 ...

18-4 in the final. The Stones Bitter Premiership Trophy Winners were

who beat

8-0 in the final.

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 ...

27–6 to win the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

County Cup, and

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 ...

beat Hull F.C. 31–24 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.

Championship

Stones Bitter League Champions were

for the tenth time in their history, losing only two league games all season - both to

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Post Office Road and currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Featherstone ...

, Barrow and

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue (Wakefield), Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier o ...

were relegated. A one-off 'two-up, four-down' promotion was used to reduce the top division to 14 clubs.

Second Division

A complicated fixture formula was introduced in the Second Division and continued until the 1991–92 season. 2nd Division Champions were

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

, and Swinton were also promoted.

Challenge Cup

Wigan’s 10-8 defeat to Oldham in Round One this season, would be their last Challenge Cup defeat until February 1996. Halifax and St Helens reached the final with 'Fax coming out victorious with a 19-18 win at Wembley before a crowd of 91,267. A desperate tackle by Halifax's

John Pendlebury John Devitt Stringfellow Pendlebury (12 October 1904 – 22 May 1941) was a British archaeologist who worked for British intelligence during World War II. He was captured and Summary execution, summarily executed by German troops during the ...

was seen as instrumental in giving his side the victory, which was their fifth in twelve Final appearances. Halifax's Australian fullback,

Graham Eadie Graham "Wombat" Eadie (born 25 November 1953), is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. He has been named amongst Australia's finest of the 20th century. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australia ...

, won the Lance Todd Trophy.

John Player Special Trophy

County cups

Premierships

A Premiership competition for Second Division teams was introduced for the first time. The structure was the same as the existing First Division Premiership, with the teams in the top eight league positions qualifying for an end-of-season knockout tournament. The finals of both competitions were played on the same day as a double header at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

Kangaroo Tour

The months of October and November also saw the appearance of the

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

team in England on their 1986 Kangaroo Tour. Other than the three test Ashes series against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

(won 3–0 by Australia), The Kangaroos played and won matches against 9 Championship teams (Wigan, Hull KR, Leeds, Halifax, St Helens, Oldham, Widnes, Hull, and Bradford Northern) and one county side (

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

). The 1986 Kangaroos were coached by Don Furner who had toured as a player in 1956–57 while the team captain was

Wally Lewis Walter James Lewis AM (born 1 December 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1980s and 1990s. He became a commentator for television coverage of the sp ...

who had been the vice-captain of the 1982 Kangaroos. Dual-rugby international Michael O'Connor of the

St George Dragons The St. George Dragons are an Australian rugby league, rugby league football club from the St George, Sydney, St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales Rugby League, New South Wales competition ...

was the leading point scorer on the tour with 170 from 13 tries and 59 goals. Canterbury-Bankstown stand-off / loose forward

Terry Lamb Terence John Lamb (born 15 September 1961), also nicknamed "Baa", is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. He played 350 games, with the Western Suburbs (1980–1983) and Canterbury (1984–1996). Lamb was known for his su ...

was the leading try scorer with 19, including scoring 5 against Hull Kingston Rovers at Craven Park on 15 October. Lamb also became the first player to appear in every match of a Kangaroo Tour. The 1986 Kangaroos became known as The Unbeatables after their second successive unbeaten Kangaroo Tour.

References

Sources

1986-87 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rugby Football League Season, 1986-87 1986 in English rugby league 1987 in English rugby league Rugby Football League seasons