1985–86 Rugby Football League season

The 1985–86 Rugby Football League season was the 91st ever season of professional rugby league football in Britain. Sixteen teams competed from August, 1985 until May, 1986 for the Slalom Lager Championship.

1985–86 Rugby Football League season
League	Slalom Lager Championship
Teams	16
Champions	Halifax
Premiership winners	Warrington
Man of Steel Award	Gavin Miller
Top try-scorer(s)	Ellery Hanley 63
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from Second Division	Leigh Barrow Wakefield Trinity
Relegated to Second Division	York Swinton Dewsbury
Second Division
Champions	Leigh
Top point-scorer(s)	Chris Johnson 400
Top try-scorer(s)	John Henderson 27
← 1984–85 1986–87 →

Season summary

Slalom Lager League Champions were Halifax.
Halifax finished on top of the First Division table to claim their fourth, and to date, last championship, but Warrington defeated them in the Rugby League Premiership competition.
Paul Bishop of Warrington scored a record equalling 5 drop goals in the Premiership semi-final against Wigan on 11 May 1986.

Castleford were 15-14 winners over Hull Kingston Rovers in the Silk Cut Challenge Cup.

Wigan were 11-8 winners over Hull Kingston Rovers in the final for the John Player Special Trophy.

Warrington were 38-10 winners over Halifax in the Premiership Trophy. Warrington's Australian forward Les Boyd was awarded the Harry Sunderland Trophy as man-of-the-match.

2nd Division Champions were Leigh.
Bridgend Blue Dragons and Southend Invicta dropped out of the competition. The promotion scheme was changed to 3-up 3-down.

Wigan beat Warrington 34–8 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Hull Kingston Rovers beat Castleford 22–18 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

League Tables

Division One Final Standings Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts 1 Halifax 30 19 6 5 499 365 +134 44 2 Wigan 30 20 3 7 776 300 +476 43 3 St. Helens 30 20 2 8 729 503 +226 42 4 Warrington 30 20 1 9 665 393 +272 41 5 Widnes 30 19 3 8 520 454 +66 41 6 Leeds 30 15 3 12 554 518 +36 33 7 Hull Kingston Rovers 30 16 1 13 507 500 +7 33 8 Hull 30 15 2 13 616 508 +108 32 9 Oldham 30 14 0 16 508 561 -53 28 10 Salford 30 14 0 16 508 561 -53 28 11 Castleford 30 12 1 17 551 585 +34 25 12 Bradford Northern 30 11 1 18 447 473 +26 23 13 Featherstone Rovers 30 9 3 18 419 616 -197 21 14 York 30 9 0 21 413 592 -179 18 15 Swinton 30 8 0 22 371 648 -277 16 16 Dewsbury 30 5 0 25 313 847 -534 10

Division Two Team P W D L PF PA Pts 1 Leigh 34 33 0 1 1156 373 66 2 Barrow 34 27 0 7 1012 398 54 3 Wakefield Trinity 34 24 1 9 680 435 49 4 Whitehaven 34 22 0 12 619 479 44 5 Rochdale Hornets 34 21 0 13 763 485 42 6 Blackpool Borough 34 20 0 14 769 570 40 7 Batley 34 18 3 13 567 450 39 8 Bramley 34 17 1 16 608 663 35 9 Fulham 34 16 1 17 679 709 33 10 Doncaster 34 16 1 17 611 650 33 11 Carlisle 34 15 2 17 585 682 32 12 Sheffield Eagles 34 14 1 19 516 617 29 13 Workington Town 34 13 0 21 684 723 26 14 Hunslet 34 11 3 20 594 795 25 15 Huddersfield Barracudas 34 8 4 22 542 841 20 16 Runcorn Highfield 34 9 2 23 489 790 20 17 Keighley 34 9 2 23 401 918 20 18 Mansfield Marksman 34 2 1 31 383 1080 5   Champions   Play-offs   Promoted   Relegated

Challenge Cup

Main article: 1985–86 Challenge Cup

The 1985-86 Silk Cut Challenge Cup Final was played by Castleford and Hull Kingston Rovers at Wembley before a crowd of 82,134. was won by Castleford defeated Hull Kingston Rovers 15-14. Castleford's scrum half back, Bob Beardmore was awarded the Lance Todd Trophy as man of the match.

John Player Special Trophy

Main article: 1985–86 John Player Special Trophy

County cups

Main article: 1985–86 Lancashire Cup

Main article: 1985–86 Yorkshire Cup

Premiership

Main article: 1985–86 Rugby League Premiership

Sources

• 1985-86 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com