# 1945–46 Northern Rugby Football League season

The 1945–46 Rugby Football League season was the 51st season of rugby league football.

## Season summary

Wigan won their fifth Championship when they defeated Huddersfield 13-4 in the play-off final. They had also finished the regular season as the league leaders.
The Challenge Cup Winners were Wakefield Trinity who defeated Wigan 13-12 in the final.
Bramley, Broughton Rangers, Hull Kingston Rovers, Liverpool Stanley, Rochdale Hornets, Salford, Swinton, Warrington and Widnes returned following the Second World War. Workington Town also entered a team for the first time.
Jim Sullivan of Wigan ended his career this season as the all-time record scorer of goals with 2,867.
Wigan won the Lancashire League, and Wakefield Trinity won the Yorkshire League.

## Championship

| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Wigan | 36 | 29 | 2 | 5 | 58 |
| 2 | Huddersfield | 36 | 27 | 1 | 8 | 55 |
| 3 | Wakefield Trinity | 36 | 26 | 0 | 10 | 52 |
| 4 | Bradford Northern | 36 | 24 | 3 | 9 | 51 |
| 5 | Barrow | 36 | 22 | 4 | 10 | 48 |
| 6 | Dewsbury | 36 | 23 | 0 | 13 | 46 |
| 7 | Hunslet | 36 | 21 | 4 | 11 | 46 |
| 8 | Salford | 36 | 23 | 0 | 13 | 46 |
| 9 | Batley | 36 | 21 | 4 | 11 | 46 |
| 10 | Warrington | 36 | 21 | 3 | 12 | 45 |
| 11 | Castleford | 36 | 22 | 0 | 14 | 44 |
| 12 | Widnes | 36 | 19 | 3 | 14 | 41 |
| 13 | Featherstone Rovers | 36 | 19 | 1 | 16 | 39 |
| 14 | Halifax | 36 | 19 | 0 | 17 | 38 |
| 15 | Oldham | 36 | 18 | 0 | 18 | 36 |
| 16 | Broughton Rangers | 36 | 16 | 3 | 17 | 35 |
| 17 | Hull | 36 | 16 | 2 | 18 | 34 |
| 18 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 36 | 15 | 3 | 18 | 33 |
| 19 | Workington Town | 36 | 15 | 0 | 21 | 30 |
| 20 | St. Helens | 36 | 13 | 1 | 22 | 27 |
| 21 | Swinton | 36 | 9 | 5 | 22 | 23 |
| 22 | Keighley | 36 | 9 | 2 | 25 | 20 |
| 23 | Leeds | 36 | 9 | 1 | 26 | 19 |
| 24 | Rochdale Hornets | 36 | 9 | 1 | 26 | 19 |
| 25 | Bramley | 36 | 9 | 0 | 27 | 18 |
| 26 | Liverpool Stanley | 36 | 5 | 2 | 29 | 12 |
| 27 | York | 36 | 4 | 1 | 31 | 9 |

### Play-offs

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Championship final | Championship final | Championship final |
| 1 | Wigan | 18 | | | |
| 4 | Bradford Northern | 4 | | | |
| 4 | Bradford Northern | 4 | Wigan | Wigan | 13 |
| | | | Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 4 |
| 2 | Huddersfield | 8 | Huddersfield | Huddersfield | 4 |
| 3 | Wakefield Trinity | 3 | | | |

#### Final

The Championship Play-off Final was played at Manchester City Football Club on Saturday 18 May.
* 18 May 1946
| Wigan | 13 – 4 | Huddersfield |
| Tries: Ashcroft (2), Cunliffe Goals: Nordgren (2) | | Goals: Bawden (2) |
* Maine Road, Manchester Attendance: 67,136 Referee: A. S. Dobson (Featherstone)
| Wigan | Number | Huddersfield |
| | Teams | |
| Jack Cunliffe | 1 | William Leake |
| Brian Nordgren | 2 | John Anderson |
| Gordon Ratcliffe | 3 | Alex Fiddes |
| Ernie Ashcroft | 4 | Bill Davies |
| Stan Jolley | 5 | Jeff Bawden |
| Reg Lowrey | 6 | Tom Grahame |
| Tommy Bradshaw | 7 | Glyn Morgan |
| George Banks | 8 | Ken Mallinson |
| Jack Blan | 9 | Harold Whitehead |
| Frank Barton | 10 | Joe Bradbury |
| Eddie Watkins | 11 | John Aspinall |
| Harry Atkinson | 12 | Leslie Baxter |
| Billy Blan | 13 | Robert Robson |
| | 0 | |
| Jim Sullivan | Coach | |

## Challenge Cup

The final returned to Wembley following the end of the Second World War. Wakefield Trinity beat Wigan 13-12 in front of a crowd of 54,730. This was Wakefield Trinity’s second Challenge Cup Final win in three final appearances. Their centre, Billy Stott was awarded the inaugural Lance Todd Trophy for man-of-the-match.

## County cups

Widnes beat Wigan 7–3 to win the Lancashire Cup, and Bradford Northern beat Wakefield Trinity 5–2 to win the Yorkshire Cup.

## European Championship

The tri-nation tournament was played between November 1945 and March 1946 as single round robin games between England, France and Wales. This was the fifth Rugby League European Championship, and was won by England on points average.
Match Details
| Date | Venue | Home team | Score | Away team |
| 24 November 1945 | Swansea | Wales | 11 - 3 | England |
| 23 February 1946 | Swinton | England | 16 - 6 | France |
| 24 March 1946 | Bordeaux | France | 19 - 7 | Wales |