1903–04 Northern Rugby Football Union season

1903–04 Northern Rugby Football Union season
LeagueChampionship
TeamsFirst Division: 18
Second Division: 17
First Division
ChampionsBradford F.C. (1st title)
Runners-upSalford
Top point-scorer James Lomas (Salford) (222)
Top try-scorer Andrew Hogg (Broughton Rangers) (34)
Second Division
ChampionsWakefield Trinity
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from Second DivisionWakefield Trinity
St Helens
Joined the LeaguePontefract

The 1903–04 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the ninth season of rugby league football.

Season summary

The League Champions were Bradford and the Challenge Cup Winners were Halifax.[1]

Keighley and Huddersfield were demoted from the top division and replaced by Wakefield Trinity (champions) and St. Helens.

As the top two teams had finished level on points and Points Difference had not been introduced as a tie breaker yet, despite having a worse points difference, Bradford contested a play-off with Salford, that Bradford won 5-0.

In the Second Division, Manningham and Stockport were replaced by Pontefract, reducing the competition to 17 teams. Birkenhead Wanderers dropped the Wanderers from their name.

The second promotion place had to be decided by a play-off as Points Difference had not yet been introduced as a tie breaker. St. Helens beat Holbeck 7-0.

There was no county league competition this season.

Tables

First Division

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PAv Pts Qualification
1 Bradford (C) 34 25 2 7 303 96 3.156 52 Championship Playoff
2 Salford 34 25 2 7 366 108 3.389 52
3 Broughton Rangers 34 21 4 9 306 142 2.155 46
4 Hunslet 34 22 1 11 250 157 1.592 45
5 Oldham 34 20 3 11 215 110 1.955 43
6 Leeds 34 19 5 10 211 145 1.455 43
7 Warrington 34 17 3 14 214 153 1.399 37
8 Hull Kingston Rovers 34 17 2 15 191 167 1.144 36
9 Halifax 34 14 3 17 125 148 0.845 31
10 Wigan 34 11 6 17 177 174 1.017 28
11 Swinton 34 12 4 18 139 215 0.647 28
12 Batley 34 12 3 19 139 241 0.577 27
13 Hull F.C. 34 12 3 19 148 258 0.574 27
14 Widnes 34 11 5 18 126 243 0.519 27
15 Leigh 34 10 5 19 174 250 0.696 25
16 Runcorn 34 11 2 21 151 245 0.616 24
17 Keighley (R) 34 8 5 21 129 319 0.404 21 Relegation to Second Division
18 Huddersfield (R) 34 10 0 24 160 353 0.453 20
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Championship play-off

Bradford 5-0 Salford

Second Division

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PAv Pts Promotion
1 Wakefield Trinity (C, P) 32 27 1 4 389 57 6.825 55 Promoted to First Division
2 St. Helens (P) 32 23 3 6 328 105 3.124 49 Playoff
3 Holbeck 32 24 1 7 256 120 2.133 49
4 Rochdale Hornets 32 22 2 8 319 104 3.067 46
5 York 32 20 1 11 244 97 2.515 41
6 Brighouse Rangers 32 19 3 10 192 136 1.412 41
7 Castleford 32 18 3 11 185 194 0.954 39
8 Bramley 32 16 4 12 181 180 1.006 36
9 Barrow 32 16 3 13 219 162 1.352 35
10 Pontefract 32 14 6 12 174 150 1.160 34
11 Dewsbury 32 12 3 17 185 205 0.902 27
12 Millom 32 12 2 18 185 209 0.885 26
13 Lancaster 32 8 2 22 129 291 0.443 18
14 Birkenhead 32 7 0 25 75 334 0.225 14
15 South Shields 32 6 1 25 140 336 0.417 13
16 Morecambe 32 5 3 24 72 287 0.251 13
17 Normanton 32 4 0 28 105 411 0.255 8
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Promotion play-off

St. Helens 7-0 Holbeck

Challenge Cup

Main article: 1904 Challenge Cup

Halifax beat Warrington 8-3 in the final at Salford's The Willows before a paying crowd of 17,041, plus 1,000 additional guests, to become the second team to record back-to-back Cup wins. Halifax wouldn’t reach another final until 1921 nor win the Cup again until 1931.[2]

Internationals

On 5 April 1904, the first ever International Rugby League match took place between England and Other Nationalities. It was played at Central Park, Wigan, having originally been scheduled for New Year's Day in Oldham. England lost 3-9 in a twelve sided match, with the opposition made up of ten Welshmen and two Scots. The crowd numbered just 6,000.[3]

Teams

England Other Nationalities
Full back Full back
W.B. Little D. Smith
Three Quarters Three Quarters
F. Spottiswoode D. Thomas
G. Dickenson T.D. Llewellyn
J. Lomas D. Harris
J. Fish D.J. Lewis
Half backs Half backs
J. Baxter E. Davies
J. Morely P.J. Brady
Forwards Forwards
A. Starks [c] J. Rhapps
P. Tunney J.G. Moffatt
J. Riley G. Frater [c]
J.W. Bulmer D. Thomas
J. Ferguson H. Buckler

Sources

References

  1. ^ "1903-04 Season summary". Archived from the original on 2009-08-27. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  2. ^ "RFL Challenge Cup Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  3. ^ "International". The First International Match. RL1908. Archived from the original on 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
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