# 1964–65 Northern Rugby Football League season

The 1964–65 Rugby Football League season was the 70th season of rugby league football.

## Rule change

* Substitutes were introduced. They were initially only for players injured in the time up to and including half time.

## Season summary

1964-65 saw the two divisions of rugby league merge back into one single league. The championship play-offs returned to decide the champions. A new top 16 play-off format was introduced rather than top four system used between 1905–06 and 1962–63. A Bottom 14 Championship was also introduced for the remaining clubs who finished below the top 16, although some clubs declined to take part.
St. Helens had finished the regular season as league leaders. Halifax won their third Championship when they beat St. Helens 15-7 in the play-off final. Terry Fogerty was awarded the Harry Sunderland Trophy as man-of-the-match.
Challenge Cup winners were Wigan who beat Hunslet 20-16 in the final.
Bradford Northern were resurrected and accepted back into the League.
St. Helens won the Lancashire League, and Castleford won the Yorkshire League.

## Championship

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PAv | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | St Helens (L) | 34 | 28 | 0 | 6 | 621 | 226 | 2.748 | 56 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 2 | Wigan | 34 | 26 | 0 | 8 | 626 | 260 | 2.408 | 52 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 3 | Castleford | 34 | 25 | 1 | 8 | 555 | 294 | 1.888 | 51 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 4 | Wakefield Trinity | 34 | 24 | 2 | 8 | 486 | 228 | 2.132 | 50 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 5 | Warrington | 34 | 24 | 1 | 9 | 416 | 292 | 1.425 | 49 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 6 | Workington Town | 34 | 23 | 1 | 10 | 497 | 326 | 1.525 | 47 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 7 | Halifax | 34 | 22 | 1 | 11 | 629 | 335 | 1.878 | 45 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 8 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 34 | 22 | 0 | 12 | 587 | 377 | 1.557 | 44 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 9 | Oldham | 34 | 20 | 1 | 13 | 444 | 312 | 1.423 | 41 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 10 | Leeds | 34 | 20 | 0 | 14 | 469 | 349 | 1.344 | 40 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 11 | Swinton | 34 | 19 | 1 | 14 | 334 | 250 | 1.336 | 39 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 12 | Leigh | 34 | 19 | 1 | 14 | 446 | 349 | 1.278 | 39 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 13 | Hull | 34 | 19 | 0 | 15 | 412 | 381 | 1.081 | 38 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 14 | Hunslet | 34 | 19 | 0 | 15 | 477 | 466 | 1.024 | 38 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 15 | Featherstone Rovers | 34 | 18 | 0 | 16 | 436 | 463 | 0.942 | 36 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 16 | Barrow | 34 | 18 | 0 | 16 | 383 | 408 | 0.939 | 36 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 17 | Bradford Northern | 34 | 15 | 1 | 18 | 345 | 347 | 0.994 | 31 | Qualification for the Bottom 14 Championship |
| 18 | Huddersfield | 34 | 15 | 0 | 19 | 368 | 419 | 0.878 | 30 | Qualification for the Bottom 14 Championship |
| 19 | Widnes | 34 | 14 | 2 | 18 | 348 | 410 | 0.849 | 30 | Qualification for the Bottom 14 Championship |
| 20 | Whitehaven | 34 | 14 | 1 | 19 | 308 | 402 | 0.766 | 29 | Qualification for the Bottom 14 Championship |
| 21 | Dewsbury | 34 | 13 | 2 | 19 | 298 | 407 | 0.732 | 28 | Qualification for the Bottom 14 Championship |
| 22 | Salford | 34 | 11 | 2 | 21 | 307 | 420 | 0.731 | 24 | Qualification for the Bottom 14 Championship |
| 23 | Liverpool City | 34 | 10 | 2 | 22 | 248 | 519 | 0.478 | 22 | Qualification for the Bottom 14 Championship |
| 24 | Bramley | 34 | 10 | 1 | 23 | 309 | 456 | 0.678 | 21 | Qualification for the Bottom 14 Championship |
| 25 | York | 34 | 10 | 0 | 24 | 347 | 535 | 0.649 | 20 | Qualification for the Bottom 14 Championship |
| 26 | Batley | 34 | 9 | 1 | 24 | 263 | 613 | 0.429 | 19 | Qualification for the Bottom 14 Championship |
| 27 | Keighley | 34 | 9 | 0 | 25 | 303 | 592 | 0.512 | 18 | Qualification for the Bottom 14 Championship |
| 28 | Doncaster | 34 | 9 | 0 | 25 | 296 | 616 | 0.481 | 18 | Qualification for the Bottom 14 Championship |
| 29 | Rochdale Hornets | 34 | 7 | 1 | 26 | 293 | 493 | 0.594 | 15 | Qualification for the Bottom 14 Championship |
| 30 | Blackpool Borough | 34 | 6 | 2 | 26 | 248 | 554 | 0.448 | 14 | Qualification for the Bottom 14 Championship |
* ↑ Due to a miscalculation, some contemporary sources incorrectly published Featherstone's final league position as 16th, but the error was discovered before the play-offs took place.

### Play-offs

| Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Semi-final | Semi-final | Semi-final | | Championship final | Championship final | Championship final |
| St. Helens | St. Helens | 23 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Barrow | Barrow | 7 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Barrow | Barrow | 7 | St. Helens | St. Helens | 24 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 6 | | | | | | | |
| Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 18 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 6 | | | | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | 14 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Oldham | Oldham | 14 | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 10 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 5 | | | | |
| Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 15 | | | | | | | Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 5 | | | | |
| Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 9 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 9 | Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 17 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Warrington | Warrington | 8 | | | | | | | |
| Warrington | Warrington | 10 | Warrington | Warrington | 8 | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Leigh | Leigh | 4 | | | | | | | | St. Helens | St. Helens | 7 |
| | | | | | | | | | | Halifax | Halifax | 15 |
| Castleford | Castleford | 18 | | | | | | | | | | | Halifax | Halifax | 15 |
| Hunslet | Hunslet | 7 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Hunslet | Hunslet | 7 | Castleford | Castleford | 11 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Workington Town | Workington Town | 3 | | | | | | | |
| Swinton | Swinton | 2 | Workington Town | Workington Town | 3 | | | | | | | |
| Workington Town | Workington Town | 29 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Workington Town | Workington Town | 29 | | | | Castleford | Castleford | 18 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Halifax | Halifax | 26 | | | | |
| Featherstone Rovers | Featherstone Rovers | 15 | | | | | | | Halifax | Halifax | 26 | | | | |
| Wigan | Wigan | 8 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Wigan | Wigan | 8 | Featherstone Rovers | Featherstone Rovers | 6 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Halifax | Halifax | 31 | | | | | | | |
| Halifax | Halifax | 28 | Halifax | Halifax | 31 | | | | | | | |
| Leeds | Leeds | 11 | | | | | | | | | | |

#### Final

* 22 May 1965
| Halifax | 15 – 7 | St Helens |
| Tries: Burnett (2), Jackson Goals: James (3) | | Tries: Killeen Goals: Killeen (2) |
* Station Road, Swinton Attendance: 20,776 Referee: D. S. Brown (Dewsbury) Player of the Match: Terry Fogerty

## Challenge Cup

Captained by player-coach Eric Ashton, Wigan beat Hunslet 20–16 in the final played at Wembley in front of a crowd of 89,016.
This was Wigan’s seventh Cup Final win in thirteen Final appearances.
To date, this was Hunslet’s last Challenge Cup Final appearance.

## County cups

St Helens beat Swinton 12–4 to win the Lancashire Cup, and Wakefield Trinity beat Leeds 18–2 to win the Yorkshire Cup.