1904–05 Northern Rugby Football Union season
| 1904–05 Northern Rugby Football Union season | |
|---|---|
| League | Championship |
| Teams | First Division: 18 Second Division: 14 |
| First Division | |
| Champions | Oldham (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Bradford F.C. |
| Top point-scorer | James Lomas (Salford) (146) |
| Top try-scorer | James Dechan (Bradford F.C.) (31) |
| Second Division | |
| Champions | Dewsbury |
| Resigned from the League | Birkenhead Holbeck South Shields Lancaster |
The 1904–05 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the tenth season of rugby league football.
Season summary
Oldham won their first Championship whilst Warrington won the Challenge Cup.
Holbeck and South Shields dropped out, reducing the competition to 15 teams.[1]
Birkenhead resigned after 4 games, the results of which were struck out of the table. They lost all four games, conceding 93 points and scoring none.
On 4 March 1905, a record 11 tries were scored by George West (Hull Kingston Rovers) v Brookland Rovers in the Northern Union Challenge Cup. In this same match the record for most points in a match, 53 (11t, 10g) by George West (Hull Kingston Rovers) was recorded.[2]
There was no county league competition this season.
At the end of the season, all First Division and Second Division clubs, except Lancaster, were elected to the new single top division, the NRFU Championship.
Notable events
- At the start of this season, the Northern Union changed its rules to allow clubs to have full-time players paid by the clubs, thus making it fully professional.[3]
Tables
First Division
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PAv | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oldham (C) | 34 | 25 | 1 | 8 | 291 | 158 | 1.842 | 51 |
| 2 | Bradford | 34 | 23 | 2 | 9 | 294 | 156 | 1.885 | 48 |
| 3 | Broughton Rangers | 34 | 22 | 2 | 10 | 295 | 175 | 1.686 | 46 |
| 4 | Leeds | 34 | 20 | 4 | 10 | 232 | 150 | 1.547 | 44 |
| 5 | Warrington | 34 | 20 | 2 | 12 | 220 | 150 | 1.467 | 42 |
| 6 | Salford | 34 | 19 | 2 | 13 | 276 | 204 | 1.353 | 40 |
| 7 | Wigan | 34 | 18 | 1 | 15 | 230 | 195 | 1.179 | 37 |
| 8 | Hull F.C. | 34 | 15 | 4 | 15 | 224 | 214 | 1.047 | 34 |
| 9 | Hunslet | 34 | 16 | 1 | 17 | 240 | 216 | 1.111 | 33 |
| 10 | Halifax | 34 | 15 | 2 | 17 | 204 | 155 | 1.316 | 32 |
| 11 | Leigh | 34 | 14 | 3 | 17 | 165 | 209 | 0.789 | 31 |
| 12 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 34 | 15 | 0 | 19 | 200 | 220 | 0.909 | 30 |
| 13 | Swinton | 34 | 13 | 2 | 19 | 155 | 196 | 0.791 | 28 |
| 14 | Wakefield Trinity | 34 | 13 | 2 | 19 | 154 | 211 | 0.730 | 28 |
| 15 | Batley | 34 | 12 | 3 | 19 | 160 | 228 | 0.702 | 27 |
| 16 | Widnes | 34 | 13 | 1 | 20 | 128 | 280 | 0.457 | 27 |
| 17 | St. Helens | 34 | 9 | 1 | 24 | 168 | 351 | 0.479 | 19 |
| 18 | Runcorn | 34 | 7 | 1 | 26 | 133 | 301 | 0.442 | 15 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Points scored
(C) Champions
Second Division
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PAv | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dewsbury (C, P) | 26 | 22 | 2 | 2 | 247 | 48 | 5.146 | 46 | Promotion to First Division |
| 2 | Barrow (P) | 26 | 22 | 0 | 4 | 286 | 68 | 4.206 | 44 | |
| 3 | York (P) | 26 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 205 | 76 | 2.697 | 39 | |
| 4 | Keighley (P) | 26 | 15 | 2 | 9 | 259 | 94 | 2.755 | 32 | |
| 5 | Huddersfield (P) | 26 | 14 | 2 | 10 | 231 | 143 | 1.615 | 30 | |
| 6 | Rochdale Hornets (P) | 26 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 154 | 145 | 1.062 | 26 | |
| 7 | Millom (P) | 26 | 12 | 0 | 14 | 139 | 173 | 0.803 | 24 | |
| 8 | Pontefract (P) | 26 | 10 | 1 | 15 | 156 | 175 | 0.891 | 21 | |
| 9 | Castleford (P) | 26 | 9 | 3 | 14 | 104 | 199 | 0.523 | 21 | |
| 10 | Normanton (P) | 26 | 9 | 1 | 16 | 105 | 228 | 0.461 | 19 | |
| 11 | Brighouse Rangers (P) | 26 | 8 | 1 | 17 | 111 | 169 | 0.657 | 17 | |
| 12 | Lancaster | 26 | 8 | 1 | 17 | 106 | 257 | 0.412 | 17 | Resigned from league |
| 13 | Morecambe (P) | 26 | 7 | 2 | 17 | 88 | 272 | 0.324 | 16 | Promotion to First Division |
| 14 | Bramley (P) | 26 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 95 | 239 | 0.397 | 12 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Points scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted
Challenge Cup
Warrington beat Hull Kingston Rovers 6–0 in the final at Leeds before a crowd of 19,638 to win the Cup at their third attempt in a final.[2]
References
- ^ "1904-05 Season summary". Archived from the original on 2009-08-26. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
- ^ a b Raymond Fletcher; David Howes (1995). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1995-1996. London: Headline Book Publishing. p. 191. ISBN 0-7472-7817-2.
- ^ Michael Higgins; Clarissa Smith, John Storey (2010). The Cambridge Companion to Modern British Culture. Cambridge University Press. p. 225. ISBN 978-0-521-68346-3. Retrieved 2010-03-02.