1987–88 Rugby Football League season

1987–88 Rugby Football League season
LeagueStones Bitter Championship
TeamsFirst Division: 14
Second Division: 20
First Division
ChampionsWidnes (2nd title)
PremiershipWidnes
Man of Steel Award Martin Offiah
Top point-scorer John Woods (351)
Top try-scorer Martin Offiah (44)
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from Second Division
Relegated to Second Division
Second Division
ChampionsOldham
Runners-upFeatherstone Rovers
Top point-scorerKevin Pape (23)

The 1987–88 Rugby Football League season was the 93rd season of rugby league football in Britain.

Season summary

During the summer of 1987, freedom of contract was introduced, replacing the retain and transfer system used in previous seasons. Players could now negotiate a move to another club at the end of their contract, with the new club paying compensation to the player's former club. An independent tribunal was created to rule on transfers where the two clubs were unable to agree on a fee.[1] The first case decided by the new tribunal was on 27 August 1987, setting a £40,000 fee for Ged Byrne's transfer from Salford to Wigan.[2]

During the season, defending champions Wigan hosted NSWRL champions, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the 1987 World Club Challenge match. Wigan were World Club Champions for the first time when they beat Manly-Warringah 8–2 at Central Park, Wigan on 7 Oct 1987 before a crowd of 36,895 [3]

The Stones Bitter League Champions were Widnes for the second time in their history, exactly ten years after their first. Leigh, Swinton and Hunslet were relegated.

The Challenge Cup winners were Wigan who beat Halifax 32–12 in the final.

John Player Special Trophy winners were St. Helens who beat Leeds 15–14 in the final.

Rugby League Premiership Trophy Winners were Widnes who beat St. Helens 38–14 in the final.

2nd Division Champions were Oldham. Featherstone Rovers and Wakefield Trinity were also promoted. Blackpool Borough changed their name to Springfield Borough.

Wigan beat Warrington 28–16 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Bradford Northern beat Castleford 12–12 (replay 11–2) to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

At the end of the season players from the League were selected to go on the 1988 Great Britain Lions tour.

First Division

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PP Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Widnes (C) 26 20 0 6 641 311 206.1 40 Qualification for Premiership first round
2 St Helens 26 18 0 8 672 337 199.4 36
3 Wigan 26 17 2 7 621 327 189.9 36
4 Bradford Northern 26 18 0 8 528 304 173.7 36
5 Leeds 26 15 3 8 577 450 128.2 33
6 Warrington 26 14 2 10 531 416 127.6 30
7 Castleford 26 13 0 13 505 559 90.3 26
8 Halifax 26 12 0 14 499 437 114.2 24
9 Hull Kingston Rovers 26 11 1 14 420 480 87.5 23
10 Hull 26 11 0 15 364 595 61.2 22
11 Salford 26 10 0 16 368 561 65.6 20
12 Leigh (R) 26 9 0 17 416 559 74.4 18 Relegated to Second Division
13 Swinton (R) 26 4 2 20 390 780 50.0 10
14 Hunslet (R) 26 4 2 20 363 779 46.6 10
Source: [4]
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 Oldham (C, P) 28 23 1 4 771 335 230.1 47 Promoted to First Division Qualification for Divisional Premiership first round
2 Featherstone Rovers (P) 28 21 2 5 712 353 201.7 44
3 Wakefield Trinity (P) 28 20 1 7 666 315 211.4 41
4 Springfield Borough 28 18 0 10 448 356 125.8 36 Qualification for Divisional Premiership first round
5 Sheffield Eagles 28 16 1 11 490 429 114.2 33
6 Mansfield Marksman 28 15 1 12 439 412 106.6 31
7 York 28 15 1 12 558 526 106.1 31
8 Keighley 28 15 0 13 495 428 115.7 30
9 Barrow 28 14 2 12 382 397 96.2 30
10 Workington Town 28 15 0 13 380 441 86.2 30
11 Carlisle 28 14 1 13 388 444 87.4 29
12 Runcorn Highfield 28 14 0 14 420 469 89.6 28
13 Whitehaven 28 10 1 17 417 452 92.3 21
14 Bramley 28 10 1 17 400 600 66.7 21
15 Dewsbury 28 10 0 18 417 519 80.3 20
16 Doncaster 28 9 2 17 406 512 79.3 20
17 Fulham 28 10 0 18 382 559 68.3 20
18 Rochdale Hornets 28 10 0 18 322 514 62.6 20
19 Huddersfield Barracudas 28 7 1 20 383 597 64.2 15
20 Batley 28 6 1 21 305 523 58.3 13
Source: [5]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points scored percentage (points scored divided by points conceded)
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Premiership

First Division Premiership

Main article: 1987–88 Rugby League Premiership
15 May 1988
Widnes (1) 38-14 St Helens (2)
T-Tait, D Wright, D Hulme (2), Sorensen, McKenzie
G-Platt, Currier(4) 		T-Ledger, Haggerty
G-Loughlin (3)
Old Trafford
Attendance: 35,252
Referee: John Holdsworth
Player of the Match: David Hulme

Divisional Premiership

Main article: 1987–88 Rugby League Divisional Premiership
15 May 1988
Oldham (1) 28 – 26 Featherstone Rovers (2)
Tries: Foy (2), Flanagan, Walsh, Meadows
Goals: McAlister (4)
 [6]
 Tries: Steadman (2), Bannister, Sykes
Goals: Quinn (5)
Old Trafford, Manchester
Referee: Robin Whitfield (Widnes)
Player of the Match: Des Foy

References

  1. ^ Fitzpatrick, Paul (27 June 1987). "Freedon from the murkier depths". The Guardian. London. p. 17. ProQuest 186698335.
  2. ^ "Sport In Brief". The Guardian. London. 28 August 1987. p. 21. ProQuest 186860056.
  3. ^ "1987-88 Season summary". Archived from the original on 2009-08-27. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  4. ^ "Championship 1987/88". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  5. ^ "Second Division 1987/88". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  6. ^ Fletcher & Howes (1988), p. 161.

Sources

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.