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The 1942–43 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the fourth season of the rugby league’s Wartime Emergency Leagues necessitated by the Second World War.
As in the previous wartime season, clubs did not all play the same number of games. Three clubs dropped out before the season started. Only 14 of the pre-war clubs participated with only three; Oldham, St Helens and Wigan from west of the Pennines.
The 1942–43 season began on Saturday 5 September 1942. As in the previous season, there were still only three Lancashire clubs, the Northern Rugby League continued with a single 14 club competition. As the clubs were playing different number of marches, the league positions were decided on a win percentage basis.
At the completion of the regular season Wigan were on top of the league with a percentage success of 81.25% and Dewsbury were second (78.12%). Although Bradford Northern won more games than anyone else their percentage success was only 73.80%, and consequently they finished third. St Helens finished last with only two wins from 15.
Dewsbury went on to defeat Halifax 33–16 on aggregate in the play-off final, however the Championship was declared null and void as the Dewsbury had fielded an ineligible player in the semi-final.
In the Rugby league Challenge Cup Final, Dewsbury beat Leeds 16–15 on aggregate over two legs in front of an aggregate crowd of 26,470.
The RFL announced the fixture list at the end of July 1942 with 15 clubs entered.[1] This was a reduction of two from the previous year as Bramley and Castleford had already notified the RFL of their intentions not to take part in the season.[2] However before the season started, Hunslet's football committee announced their withdrawal due to the amount of travel required.[3] The Hunslet committee's decision was contested by the members of the club who forced a special meeting of the club at which a resolution was passed instructing the committee to withdraw the notice given to the RFL, subject to additional financial guarantors being found.[4] Meeting between prospective guarantors and the committee failed to reach agreement and Hunslet's withdrawal from the league stood, leaving the league with 14 clubs.[5]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PAv | PCT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wigan | 16 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 301 | 141 | 2.135 | 81.25 |
| 2 | Dewsbury | 16 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 270 | 117 | 2.308 | 78.13 |
| 3 | Bradford Northern | 19 | 13 | 1 | 5 | 312 | 183 | 1.705 | 71.05 |
| 4 | Halifax | 19 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 297 | 149 | 1.993 | 68.42 |
| 5 | Leeds | 17 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 337 | 145 | 2.324 | 67.65 |
| 6 | Huddersfield | 18 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 215 | 189 | 1.138 | 66.67 |
| 7 | Wakefield Trinity | 19 | 11 | 1 | 7 | 267 | 192 | 1.391 | 60.53 |
| 8 | Featherstone Rovers | 19 | 10 | 1 | 8 | 179 | 138 | 1.297 | 55.26 |
| 9 | Keighley | 18 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 145 | 235 | 0.617 | 33.33 |
| 10 | Batley | 15 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 158 | 294 | 0.537 | 26.67 |
| 11 | Hull | 15 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 125 | 295 | 0.424 | 26.67 |
| 12 | Oldham | 19 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 142 | 306 | 0.464 | 21.05 |
| 13 | York | 17 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 112 | 311 | 0.360 | 20.59 |
| 14 | St. Helens | 15 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 108 | 273 | 0.396 | 13.33 |
Source: [6]
Qualifying game
On 1 May 1943 Bradford Northern beat Huddersfield 16–13 at Odsal Stadium, Bradford in the qualifying game.[7]
Semi-finals
The semi-finals were played on 8 May 1943. Wigan lost 3–13 to Halifax at Central Park, Wigan.[8] In the other game Bradford Northern beat Dewsbury 8–3 at Odsal.[9] After the game Dewsbury submitted a protest to the Rugby Football League and Bradford Northern were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player.[10]
Final
The first leg was played on 15 May 1943 Dewsbury beat Halifax 11–3 at Crown Flatt, Dewsbury.[11]
The second leg was played the following Saturday, 22 May 1943 and Dewbury won again this time 22–13 at Thrum Hall, Halifax in front of a crowd of 9,700.[12]
Dewsbury won 33–16 on aggregate but at a meeting of the RFL committee in July the championship was declared null and void. The committee heard a complaint submitted by Bradford Northern that in the semi-final between them and Dewsbury, Dewsbury had also fielded an ineligible player. The complaint was upheld, the championship was voided, Dewsbury's title win was removed from the list of Championship wins and the club were fined £100.[13]
Challenge Cup
Barrow who had not entered the League programme, took part in this competition. In the final Dewsbury beat Leeds 16–15 on aggregate over two legs in front of an aggregate crowd of 26,470.
Yorkshire Cup
With the Lancashire Cup suspended for the duration of the war, Wigan competed in the Yorkshire Cup. The cup was won by Dewsbury who beat Huddersfield 7–2 on aggregate before an aggregate crowd of 17,252 in the two low scoring legs of the final
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