1977–78 Northern Rugby Football League season

The 1977–78 Northern Rugby Football League season was the 83rd season of rugby league football. Sixteen English clubs competed for the Northern Rugby Football League Championship with Widnes claiming the title by finishing the season on top of the League.

1977–78 Northern Rugby Football League season
League	Northern Rugby Football League
Champions	Widnes
Premiership	Bradford
Man of Steel Award	George Nicholls
Top point-scorer(s)	Geoff Pimblett (381)
Top try-scorer(s)	Stuart Wright (33)
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from Second Division	Leigh Barrow Rochdale Hornets Huddersfield
Relegated to Second Division	Hull New Hunslet Bramley Dewsbury
← 1976–77 1978–79 →

Season summary

In June 1977, the International Rugby League Board imposed a four-year ban on international transfers. The ban was primarily put in place as a response to the growing number of English players being recruited by Australian clubs.^[1]

The League champions were Widnes for the first time. Bradford Northern's last game was cancelled as Featherstone Rovers were on strike, consequently Bradford Northern finished 2nd on percentages.

Hull FC, New Hunslet, Bramley and Dewsbury were demoted to the Second Division.

Leeds were 14-12 Challenge Cup Winners over St. Helens.

John Player Trophy Winners were Warrington beating Widnes 9-4 in the final

Rugby League Premiership Trophy Winners were Bradford Northern beating Widnes 17-8 in the final.

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Winners were Hull Kingston Rovers beating St. Helens 26-11 in the final.

2nd Division Champions were Leigh, and they, Barrow, Rochdale Hornets and Huddersfield were promoted to the First Division.^[2]

Workington Town (from Cumbria) beat Wigan 16–13 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Castleford beat Featherstone Rovers 17–7 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

League Tables

First Division Championship Team Pld W D L PF PA Pts 1 Widnes 30 24 2 4 613 241 50 2 Bradford Northern 29 21 2 6 500 291 44 3 St. Helens 30 22 1 7 678 384 45 4 Hull Kingston Rovers 30 16 3 11 495 419 35 5 Wigan 30 17 1 12 482 435 35 6 Salford 30 16 0 14 470 446 32 7 Featherstone Rovers 29 15 2 12 443 452 32 8 Leeds 30 15 1 14 512 460 31 9 Warrington 30 15 0 15 561 367 30 10 Castleford 30 13 2 15 515 583 28 11 Workington Town 30 11 4 15 406 519 26 12 Wakefield Trinity 30 12 1 17 393 450 25 13 Hull 30 10 3 17 358 480 23 14 New Hunslet 30 11 0 19 318 518 22 15 Bramley 30 5 4 21 281 608 14 16 Dewsbury 30 2 2 26 207 589 6

Second Division Championship Team Pld W D L PF PA Pts 1 Leigh 26 21 0 5 538 231 42 2 Barrow 26 21 0 5 521 234 42 3 Rochdale Hornets 26 21 0 5 437 200 42 4 Huddersfield 26 18 0 8 502 324 36 5 York 26 16 2 8 447 286 34 6 Oldham 26 17 0 9 419 325 34 7 Keighley 26 11 3 12 357 337 25 8 Swinton 26 11 1 14 369 385 23 9 Whitehaven 26 10 2 14 277 326 22 10 Huyton 26 9 2 15 250 352 20 11 Doncaster 26 9 0 17 304 528 18 12 Batley 26 5 1 20 233 496 11 13 Blackpool Borough 26 5 1 20 262 543 11 14 Halifax 26 2 0 24 182 531 4   Champions   Play-offs   Promoted   Relegated

Challenge Cup

Main article: 1977–78 Challenge Cup

Leeds beat St Helens 14-12 in the final played at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 13 May 1978 before a crowd of 96,000.

This was Leeds’ eleventh Cup Final win in fifteen appearances and their second in successive years.^[3]

League Cup

Main article: 1977–78 League Cup (rugby league)

Premiership

Main article: 1977–78 Rugby League Premiership

Statistics

The following are the top points scorers in the 1977–78 season.^[4]

Most tries Player Team Tries Stuart Wright Widnes 33 Keith Fielding Salford 31 Eddie Cunningham St. Helens 30 John Bevan Warrington 30 Steve Fenton Castleford 30 Green Vigo Wigan 29 Peter Glynn St. Helens 28 David Smith Leeds 28 Terry Morgan York 27 Bruce Burton Castleford 27

Most goals (including drop goals) Player Team Goals Geoff Pimblett St. Helens 178 Steve Hesford Warrington 158 John Woods Leigh 149 Iain McCorquodale Workington Town 138 Paul Woods Widnes 122 David Watkins Salford 110 Keith Mumby Bradford Northern 107 Sammy Lloyd Castleford 104 Neil Fox Bradford Northern 95 Willie Oulton Leeds 80

References

1. "Ban on rugby league transfers". Reading Evening Post. 24 June 1977. p. 26 – via British Newspaper Archive.
2. "1977–78 Season summary". Archived from the original on 2009-08-26. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
3. "RFL Challenge Cup Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
4. Fletcher, Raymond; Howes, David (27 March 1997). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1997. London: Headline. pp. 163–7. ISBN 978-0-7472-7764-4.

Sources

• 1977–78 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com
• The Challenge Cup at The Rugby Football League website