1986–87 Rugby Football League season

1986–87 Rugby Football League season
LeagueStones Bitter Championship
TeamsFirst Division: 16
Second Division: 18
First Division
ChampionsWigan (10th title)
Premiership winnersWigan
Man of Steel Award Ellery Hanley
Top point-scorer Paul Loughlin (424)
Top try-scorer Ellery Hanley (63)
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from Second Division
Relegated to Second Division
Second Division
Champions Hunslet
Runners-upSwinton
Top try-scorerDerek Bate (31)

The 1986–87 Rugby Football League season was the 92nd season of rugby league football. Sixteen clubs competed for the Championship which was determined by League position.

Season summary

Stones Bitter League Champions were Wigan for the tenth time in their history, losing only two league games all season - both to Warrington. Oldham, Featherstone Rovers, Barrow and Wakefield Trinity were relegated. A one-off 'two-up, four-down' promotion was used to reduce the top division to 14 clubs.

A complicated fixture formula was introduced in the Second Division and continued until the 1991–92 season.[1] 2nd Division Champions were Hunslet, and Swinton were also promoted.

A Premiership competition for Second Division teams was introduced for the first time. The structure was the same as the existing First Division Premiership, with the teams in the top eight league positions qualifying for an end-of-season knockout tournament. The finals of both competitions were played on the same day as a double header at Old Trafford.

First Division

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PP Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Wigan (C) 30 28 0 2 941 193 487.6 56 Qualification for Premiership first round
2 St Helens 30 20 1 9 835 465 179.6 41
3 Warrington 30 20 1 9 728 464 156.9 41
4 Castleford 30 20 0 10 631 429 147.1 40
5 Halifax 30 17 1 12 553 487 113.6 35
6 Hull Kingston Rovers 30 16 0 14 446 531 84.0 32
7 Bradford Northern 30 15 1 14 555 550 100.9 31
8 Widnes 30 14 0 16 598 613 97.6 28
9 Salford 30 14 0 16 509 656 77.6 28
10 Leigh 30 13 1 16 549 610 90.0 27
11 Hull 30 13 1 16 538 650 82.8 27
12 Leeds 30 13 0 17 565 571 98.9 26
13 Oldham (R) 30 13 0 17 554 679 81.6 26 Relegated
14 Featherstone Rovers (R) 30 8 1 21 498 776 64.2 17
15 Barrow (R) 30 7 2 21 456 725 62.9 16
16 Wakefield Trinity (R) 30 4 1 25 386 943 40.9 9
Source: [2]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points scored percentage (points scored divided by points conceded)
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Second Division

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PP Pts Promotion or qualification
1 Hunslet (C, P) 28 25 0 3 722 218 331.2 50 Promotion to First Division Qualification for Divisional Premiership first round
2 Swinton (P) 28 23 1 4 713 323 220.7 47
3 Whitehaven 28 21 1 6 577 304 189.8 43 Qualification for Divisional Premiership first round
4 Doncaster 28 20 1 7 586 388 151.0 41
5 Rochdale Hornets 28 19 1 8 519 369 140.7 39
6 Sheffield Eagles 28 17 0 11 625 426 146.7 34
7 Bramley 28 16 0 12 407 440 92.5 32
8 Carlisle 28 15 1 12 463 446 103.8 31
9 Blackpool Borough 28 14 0 14 530 477 111.1 28
10 York 28 11 0 17 492 537 91.6 22
11 Runcorn Highfield 28 10 1 17 391 533 73.4 21
12 Fulham 28 8 2 18 461 632 72.9 18
13 Batley 28 9 0 19 335 528 63.4 18
14 Workington Town 28 9 0 19 405 652 62.1 18
15 Huddersfield Barracudas 28 8 0 20 456 673 67.8 16
16 Mansfield Marksman 28 8 0 20 366 592 61.8 16
17 Dewsbury 28 8 0 20 328 563 58.3 16
18 Keighley 28 7 0 21 366 641 57.1 14
Source: [3]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points scored percentage (points scored divided by points conceded)
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Premierships

Main article: 1986–87 Rugby League Premiership

First Division Premiership

17 May 1987
Wigan (1) 8-0 Warrington (3)
G-Gill, Stephenson
T-Lydon
Old Trafford
Attendance: 38,756
Referee: Kevin Allatt
Player of the Match: Joe Lydon

Divisional Premiership

Main article: 1986–87 Rugby League Divisional Premiership
17 May 1987
Swinton (2) 27 – 10 Hunslet (1)
Tries: Bate, Derbyshire, Grima, Lee, Ainsworth
Goals: Rippon (3)
Drop goals: L. Holliday
 Tries: Bateman (2)
Goals: Platt
Old Trafford, Manchester
Player of the Match: Gary Ainsworth

References

  1. ^ "1986-87 Season summary". Archived from the original on 2009-08-26. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  2. ^ "Championship 1986/87". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  3. ^ "Second Division 1986/87". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 19 March 2026.

Sources

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