1966–67 Northern Rugby Football League season

Rugby league season

The 1966–67 Northern Rugby Football League season was the 72nd season of rugby league football in Britain. After Leeds had ended the regular season as league leaders, Wakefield Trinity won their first Championship when they beat St. Helens 21-9 in the Final replay, after a 7-7 draw. The Challenge Cup-winners were Featherstone Rovers who beat Barrow 17-12 in the Wembley final.

Rule changes

Limited tackles:

• The Rugby Football League ended unlimited tackles, introducing a four-tackle rule.^[1] The introduction of the "tackle count" in December 1966 meant a team now had a limited number of tackles in which to score before they must surrender possession to their opponents. The limit would remain four until an increase to six tackles in 1972.^[1]

Championship

League table

Play-offs

Final

The 1966/67 Championship Final replay was played between Wakefield Trinity and St. Helens on Wednesday, 10 May 1967 at Station Road Ground before a crowd of 33,537.^[2] Wakefield Trinity won 21-9 with their try-scoring scrum half back, Ray Owen being awarded the Harry Sunderland Trophy as man-of-the-match.

Final

Replay

Challenge Cup

In the Challenge Cup Final Featherstone Rovers faced Barrow, who were captain-coached by Jim Challinor at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 13 May 1967 in front of a crowd of 76,290.

Featherstone Rovers won 17-12 and it was their first Cup Final win in two Final appearances.^[3]

County cups

St. Helens won the Lancashire League, and Leeds won the Yorkshire League. Wigan beat Oldham 16–13 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Hull Kingston Rovers beat Featherstone Rovers 25–12 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

The BBC2 Floodlit Trophy winners were Castleford who beat Swinton 7-2 in the final.^[4]

References

1. de la Riviere, Richard, ed. (2009), "Top ten: Rugby league rules", Rugby League World, no. 340, Brighouse, UK: League Publications (published August 2009), p. 61, ISSN 1466-0105
2. "St Helens 9 lost to Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 21". rugbyleagueproject.org. Shawn Dollin, Andrew Ferguson and Bill Bates. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
3. "RFL Challenge Cup Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
4. "1966-67 Season summary". Archived from the original on 2009-08-26. Retrieved 2009-08-08.

Sources

• Saxton, Irvin (ed.). History of Rugby League: No.72 1966–1967. League Publications.
• 1966-67 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com
• The Challenge Cup at The Rugby Football League website