1961–62 Northern Rugby Football League season
# 1961–62 Northern Rugby Football League season

The 1961–62 Northern Rugby Football League season was the 67th season of rugby league football.

## Season summary

Huddersfield won their seventh Championship when they beat Wakefield Trinity 14–5 in the play-off final.

The Challenge Cup winners were Wakefield Trinity who beat Huddersfield 12–6 in the final.

At the end of this season the league was split into two divisions. The top 16 in the league formed Division 1 and the bottom 14 formed Division 2.

Wigan won the Lancashire League, and Wakefield Trinity won the Yorkshire League. St. Helens beat Swinton 25–9 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Wakefield Trinity beat Leeds 19–9 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

## Championship

| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Wigan | 36 | 32 | 1 | 3 | 65 |
| 2 | Wakefield Trinity | 36 | 32 | 1 | 3 | 65 |
| 3 | Featherstone Rovers | 36 | 28 | 1 | 7 | 57 |
| 4 | Huddersfield | 36 | 25 | 2 | 9 | 52 |
| 5 | Workington Town | 36 | 25 | 0 | 11 | 50 |
| 6 | Widnes | 36 | 25 | 0 | 11 | 50 |
| 7 | Leeds | 36 | 25 | 0 | 11 | 50 |
| 8 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 36 | 24 | 0 | 12 | 48 |
| 9 | St. Helens | 36 | 23 | 0 | 13 | 46 |
| 10 | Oldham | 36 | 22 | 1 | 13 | 45 |
| 11 | Swinton | 36 | 21 | 1 | 14 | 43 |
| 12 | Castleford | 36 | 21 | 0 | 15 | 42 |
| 13 | Bramley | 36 | 19 | 4 | 13 | 42 |
| 14 | Warrington | 36 | 19 | 2 | 15 | 40 |
| 15 | Halifax | 36 | 18 | 3 | 15 | 39 |
| 16 | Hull | 36 | 18 | 1 | 17 | 37 |
| 17 | Leigh | 36 | 17 | 0 | 19 | 34 |
| 18 | Barrow | 36 | 14 | 1 | 21 | 29 |
| 19 | Keighley | 36 | 13 | 2 | 21 | 28 |
| 20 | York | 36 | 12 | 1 | 23 | 25 |
| 21 | Salford | 36 | 12 | 1 | 23 | 25 |
| 22 | Whitehaven | 36 | 11 | 2 | 23 | 24 |
| 23 | Blackpool Borough | 36 | 11 | 1 | 24 | 23 |
| 24 | Rochdale Hornets | 36 | 9 | 4 | 23 | 22 |
| 25 | Hunslet | 36 | 10 | 1 | 25 | 21 |
| 26 | Batley | 36 | 9 | 2 | 25 | 20 |
| 27 | Dewsbury | 36 | 8 | 2 | 26 | 18 |
| 28 | Doncaster | 36 | 8 | 1 | 27 | 17 |
| 29 | Liverpool City | 36 | 6 | 0 | 30 | 12 |
| 30 | Bradford Northern | 36 | 5 | 1 | 30 | 11 |

* Play-offs

### Play-offs

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Championship final | Championship final | Championship final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Wigan | 11 | | | |
| 4 | Huddersfield | 13 | | | |
| 4 | Huddersfield | 13 | Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 14 |
| | | | Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 5 |
| 2 | Wakefield Trinity | 13 | Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 5 |
| 3 | Featherstone Rovers | 8 | | | |

## Challenge Cup

Wakefield Trinity beat Huddersfield 12–6 in the Challenge Cup Final played at Wembley Stadium before a crowd of 81,263. This was Wakefield Trinity's third Challenge Cup Final win in four Final appearances. Neil Fox, their centre, was awarded the Lance Todd Trophy for his man-of-the-match performance. This has been the only time in a Rugby League Challenge Cup Final that a place kick has not been converted. Fox dropped three goals for Wakefield Trinity, then worth two points each.

* 12 May 1962

| Wakefield Trinity | 12 – 6 | Huddersfield |
| - | - | - |
| Try Fox, Hirst Drop Goals Fox (3) | Report | Try Smales, Ramsden |

* Wembley, London Attendance: 81,263 Referee: D T H Davies (Manchester) Player of the Match: Neil Fox

| 1 | Gerry Round |
| - | - |
| 2 | Fred Smith |
| 3 | Alan Skene |
| 4 | Neil Fox |
| 5 | Kenneth Hirst |
| 6 | Harold Poynton |
| 7 | Keith Holliday |
| 8 | Jack Wilkinson |
| 9 | Geoffrey Oakes |
| 10 | Albert Firth |
| 11 | Brian Briggs |
| 12 | Dennis Williamson |
| 13 | Derek Turner (c) |
| Coach: |
| Ken Traill |
| 1 | Frank Dyson |
| 2 | Aiden Breen |
| 3 | Leo Booth |
| 4 | Ray Haywood |
| 5 | Mike Wicks |
| 6 | Harry Deighton |
| 7 | Thomas Smales (c) |
| 8 | Ted Slevin |
| 9 | Don Close |
| 10 | Ken Noble |
| 11 | Mick Clark |
| 12 | Kenneth Bowman |
| 13 | Peter Ramsden |
| Coach: |
| Dave Valentine |
