# 1946–47 Northern Rugby Football League season

The 1946–47 Rugby Football League season was the 52nd season of rugby league football.

## Season summary

1946-47 ended up being the longest season on record after a poor winter saw many matches postponed. Just as the country was recovering from post-World War II fuel and food shortages, it had to cope with prolonged frost and snow from 21 January to 16 March.
Wigan won their sixth Championship when they beat Dewsbury 13-4 in the play-off final at Maine Road, Manchester in front of a crowd of 40,599. Wigan scored three tries and two goals to Dewsbury's two goals. Wigan had also ended the regular season as league leaders.
The Challenge Cup winners were Bradford Northern who were 8-4 winners over Leeds.
Leigh returned following World War II. Broughton Rangers relocated, and were renamed Belle Vue Rangers.
Wigan won the Lancashire League, and Dewsbury won the Yorkshire League. Wigan beat Belle Vue Rangers 9–3 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Wakefield Trinity beat Hull F.C. 10–0 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

## Championship

| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Wigan | 36 | 29 | 1 | 6 | 59 |
| 2 | Dewsbury | 36 | 27 | 1 | 8 | 55 |
| 3 | Widnes | 36 | 26 | 2 | 8 | 54 |
| 4 | Leeds | 36 | 25 | 2 | 9 | 52 |
| 5 | Warrington | 36 | 26 | 0 | 10 | 52 |
| 6 | Bradford Northern | 36 | 24 | 3 | 9 | 51 |
| 7 | Huddersfield | 36 | 24 | 2 | 10 | 50 |
| 8 | Oldham | 36 | 22 | 2 | 12 | 46 |
| 9 | Leigh | 36 | 21 | 0 | 15 | 42 |
| 10 | Wakefield Trinity | 36 | 20 | 2 | 14 | 42 |
| 11 | Workington Town | 36 | 19 | 2 | 15 | 40 |
| 12 | Barrow | 36 | 18 | 4 | 14 | 40 |
| 13 | Castleford | 36 | 19 | 1 | 16 | 39 |
| 14 | Hunslet | 36 | 17 | 2 | 17 | 36 |
| 15 | Hull | 36 | 17 | 0 | 19 | 34 |
| 16 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 36 | 15 | 3 | 18 | 33 |
| 17 | Batley | 36 | 15 | 1 | 20 | 31 |
| 18 | Belle Vue Rangers | 36 | 14 | 3 | 19 | 31 |
| 19 | St. Helens | 36 | 14 | 1 | 21 | 29 |
| 20 | Halifax | 36 | 13 | 2 | 21 | 28 |
| 21 | York | 36 | 12 | 2 | 22 | 26 |
| 22 | Salford | 36 | 11 | 2 | 23 | 24 |
| 23 | Liverpool Stanley | 36 | 11 | 1 | 24 | 23 |
| 24 | Swinton | 36 | 11 | 1 | 24 | 23 |
| 25 | Keighley | 36 | 10 | 1 | 25 | 21 |
| 26 | Featherstone Rovers | 36 | 9 | 1 | 26 | 19 |
| 27 | Rochdale Hornets | 36 | 9 | 0 | 27 | 18 |
| 28 | Bramley | 36 | 5 | 0 | 31 | 10 |

## Play-offs

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Championship final | Championship final | Championship final |
| 1 | Wigan | 21 | | | |
| 4 | Leeds | 11 | | | |
| 4 | Leeds | 11 | Wigan | Wigan | 13 |
| | | | Dewsbury | Dewsbury | 4 |
| 2 | Dewsbury | 5 | Dewsbury | Dewsbury | 4 |
| 3 | Widnes | 2 | | | |
* 21 June 1947
| Wigan | 13 – 4 | Dewsbury |
| Tries: Nordgren, Lawrenson, Bradshaw Goals: Ward (2) | | Goals: Ledgard, Holt |
* Maine Road, Manchester Attendance: 40,599 Referee: A. S. Dobson (Pontefract)
| Wigan | Number | Dewsbury |
| | Teams | |
| Jack Cunliffe | 1 | Jimmy Ledgard |
| Brian Nordgren | 2 | Des Armitage |
| Ted Ward | 3 | Geoff Clark |
| Ernie Ashcroft | 4 | Ken Sacker |
| Johnny Lawrenson | 5 | George Withington |
| Cecil Mountford | 6 | Cyril Gilbertson |
| Tommy Bradshaw | 7 | Harry Royal |
| Ken Gee | 8 | Harry Hammond |
| Joe Egan | 9 | Vince McKeating |
| Frank Barton | 10 | Ben Pearson |
| George Banks | 11 | Frank Cox |
| Billy Blan | 12 | Jack Holt |
| Jack Blan | 13 | Arthur Street |
| | 0 | |
| Jim Sullivan | Coach | Vic Hey |

## Challenge Cup

Leeds reached the Wembley final for the second time, doing so without conceding a single point in the final five rounds of the tournament. However Bradford Northern beat Leeds 8-4 in the final in front of a crowd of 77,605. Trevor Foster and Emlyn Walters scored Bradford's tries and were converted by Ernest Ward. Willie Davies, Bradford Northern's stand-off half back, won the Lance Todd Trophy for man of the match.
This was Bradford’s third Cup Final win in five Final appearances including one win and one loss during World War II.

## Sources

* Saxton, Irvin (ed.). History of Rugby League: No.52 1946–1947. League Publications.
* 1946-47 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com
* The Challenge Cup at The Rugby Football League website