# 1928–29 Northern Rugby Football League season

The 1928–29 Rugby Football League season was the 34th season of rugby league football.

## Season summary

Huddersfield won their fourth Championship when they beat Leeds 2-0 in the play-off final.
On 4 May 1929 the first Challenge Cup Final to be held at Wembley Stadium was played. 41,500 saw Wigan beat Dewsbury 13-2.
Carlisle City fielded a team, but resigned after 10 matches and their record was expunged from the table. They won 1 and lost 9, scoring 59 and conceding 166.
Swinton moved from their Chorley Road ground this season due to a dispute over rent. They built a new stadium at Station Road, Swinton using the stands from the old ground.

## Championship

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PAv | PCT | Qualification |
| 1 | Huddersfield | 38 | 26 | 4 | 8 | 476 | 291 | 1.636 | 73.68 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 2 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 40 | 27 | 3 | 10 | 436 | 239 | 1.824 | 71.25 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 3 | Leeds | 38 | 26 | 2 | 10 | 695 | 270 | 2.574 | 71.05 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 4 | Salford | 34 | 23 | 2 | 9 | 395 | 222 | 1.779 | 70.59 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 5 | Wigan | 38 | 26 | 1 | 11 | 636 | 308 | 2.065 | 69.74 | |
| 6 | Swinton | 36 | 23 | 2 | 11 | 429 | 249 | 1.723 | 66.67 | |
| 7 | Warrington | 36 | 22 | 2 | 12 | 568 | 295 | 1.925 | 63.89 | |
| 8 | St Helens Recs | 38 | 22 | 1 | 15 | 545 | 374 | 1.457 | 59.21 | |
| 9 | Oldham | 36 | 18 | 4 | 14 | 439 | 343 | 1.280 | 55.56 | |
| 10 | Hunslet | 38 | 19 | 4 | 15 | 539 | 356 | 1.514 | 55.26 | |
| 11 | St Helens | 38 | 19 | 4 | 15 | 460 | 381 | 1.207 | 55.26 | |
| 12 | Hull | 40 | 20 | 4 | 16 | 458 | 395 | 1.159 | 55.00 | |
| 13 | Leigh | 34 | 17 | 3 | 14 | 285 | 279 | 1.022 | 54.41 | |
| 14 | Wigan Highfield | 32 | 16 | 1 | 15 | 262 | 333 | 0.787 | 51.56 | |
| 15 | Dewsbury | 36 | 17 | 2 | 17 | 380 | 387 | 0.982 | 50.00 | |
| 16 | Halifax | 40 | 18 | 3 | 19 | 379 | 399 | 0.950 | 48.75 | |
| 17 | Wakefield Trinity | 40 | 17 | 4 | 19 | 400 | 461 | 0.868 | 47.50 | |
| 18 | Barrow | 32 | 13 | 2 | 17 | 396 | 387 | 1.023 | 43.75 | |
| 19 | Batley | 38 | 14 | 2 | 22 | 278 | 442 | 0.629 | 39.47 | |
| 20 | Broughton Rangers | 30 | 11 | 1 | 18 | 235 | 401 | 0.586 | 38.33 | |
| 21 | Castleford | 34 | 11 | 4 | 19 | 268 | 369 | 0.726 | 38.24 | |
| 22 | York | 34 | 12 | 0 | 22 | 259 | 409 | 0.633 | 35.29 | |
| 23 | Bramley | 34 | 11 | 2 | 21 | 241 | 437 | 0.551 | 35.29 | |
| 24 | Widnes | 34 | 11 | 2 | 21 | 222 | 439 | 0.506 | 35.29 | |
| 25 | Featherstone Rovers | 38 | 10 | 4 | 24 | 277 | 451 | 0.614 | 31.58 | |
| 26 | Rochdale Hornets | 34 | 10 | 0 | 24 | 235 | 434 | 0.541 | 29.41 | |
| 27 | Keighley | 34 | 8 | 2 | 24 | 209 | 422 | 0.495 | 26.47 | |
| 28 | Bradford Northern | 38 | 5 | 3 | 30 | 242 | 871 | 0.278 | 17.11 | |
| – | Carlisle City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | |
* ↑ Carlisle City resigned from the league in November and folded. Their record (Pld 10, W 1, L 9, PF 59, PA 166, PCT 10.00) was expunged.

## Championship play-off

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Championship final | Championship final | Championship final |
| 1 | Huddersfield | 13 | | | |
| 4 | Salford | 5 | | | |
| 4 | Salford | 5 | Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 2 |
| | | | Leeds | Leeds | 0 |
| 2 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 4 | Leeds | Leeds | 0 |
| 3 | Leeds | 7 | | | |

## County leagues

Swinton won the Lancashire League, and Huddersfield won the Yorkshire League.

## Challenge Cup

Wigan beat Dewsbury 13–2 in the first final to be played at Wembley Stadium in front of a crowd of 41,000.
This was Wigan’s second Challenge Cup Final win in their fourth Cup Final appearance.

## County cups

Wigan beat Widnes 5–4 to win the Lancashire Cup, and Leeds beat Featherstone Rovers 5–0 to win the Yorkshire Cup.