# 1962–63 Northern Rugby Football League season

The 1962–63 Northern Rugby Football League season was the 68th season of rugby league football.

## Season summary

1962–63 season saw the league split into two divisions with each team playing each other team home and away. The introduction of an even league meant the end of season championship play-off was abolished and the team finishing top of the table was declared champions.
1962-63 finished up with huge fixture backlogs similar to 1946-47 after "the Big Freeze" brought heavy snow and postponed most rugby league matches for two and half months.
Swinton won their fifth Championship. Oldham and Bramley were demoted to the Second Division.
The Challenge Cup winners were Wakefield Trinity who beat Wigan 25–10 in the final.
The 2nd Division Champions were Hunslet who were promoted along with second placed Keighley.
Workington Town (from Cumberland) won the Lancashire League, and Wakefield Trinity won the Yorkshire League. St. Helens beat Swinton 7–4 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Hunslet beat Hull Kingston Rovers 12–2 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

## First Division

| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Swinton | 30 | 22 | 1 | 7 | 45 |
| 2 | St. Helens | 30 | 19 | 1 | 10 | 39 |
| 3 | Widnes | 30 | 19 | 1 | 10 | 39 |
| 4 | Castleford | 30 | 16 | 3 | 11 | 35 |
| 5 | Wakefield Trinity | 30 | 16 | 1 | 13 | 33 |
| 6 | Warrington | 30 | 15 | 2 | 13 | 32 |
| 7 | Leeds | 30 | 16 | 0 | 14 | 32 |
| 8 | Wigan | 30 | 14 | 2 | 14 | 30 |
| 9 | Huddersfield | 30 | 14 | 0 | 16 | 28 |
| 10 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 30 | 13 | 1 | 16 | 27 |
| 11 | Featherstone Rovers | 30 | 12 | 3 | 15 | 27 |
| 12 | Workington Town | 30 | 12 | 3 | 15 | 27 |
| 13 | Halifax | 30 | 13 | 1 | 16 | 27 |
| 14 | Hull | 30 | 10 | 2 | 18 | 22 |
| 15 | Oldham | 30 | 9 | 1 | 20 | 19 |
| 16 | Bramley | 30 | 9 | 0 | 21 | 18 |
| Champions | Relegated |

## Second Division

| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | Pts |
| 1 | Hunslet | 26 | 22 | 0 | 4 | 508 | 214 | 44 |
| 2 | Keighley | 26 | 21 | 0 | 5 | 450 | 187 | 42 |
| 3 | York | 26 | 16 | 1 | 9 | 418 | 243 | 33 |
| 4 | Blackpool Borough | 26 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 281 | 247 | 30 |
| 5 | Rochdale Hornets | 26 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 282 | 243 | 29 |
| 6 | Barrow | 26 | 14 | 0 | 12 | 413 | 280 | 28 |
| 7 | Leigh | 26 | 14 | 0 | 12 | 361 | 264 | 28 |
| 8 | Batley | 26 | 13 | 1 | 12 | 275 | 322 | 27 |
| 9 | Whitehaven | 26 | 12 | 2 | 12 | 318 | 306 | 26 |
| 10 | Doncaster | 26 | 10 | 0 | 16 | 283 | 329 | 20 |
| 11 | Liverpool City | 26 | 9 | 1 | 16 | 159 | 328 | 19 |
| 12 | Salford | 26 | 8 | 1 | 17 | 271 | 442 | 17 |
| 13 | Dewsbury | 26 | 8 | 0 | 18 | 200 | 345 | 16 |
| 14 | Bradford Northern | 26 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 163 | 632 | 5 |
* Promoted

## Challenge Cup

Wakefield Trinity beat Wigan 25–10 in the challenge Cup Final played at Wembley, in front of a crowd of 84,492.
This was Wakefield Trinity's fifth Cup Final win in their fifth Final appearance and their second in successive seasons. Harold Poynton, their stand-off half was awarded the Lance Todd Trophy for his man-of-the-match performance.

## County championships

Prior to the start of the league season in October, each team played eight fixtures in a regional competition, with teams being split into a Western and Eastern Division. The top four teams in each division competed in the play-offs for the Divisional Championship.

### Western Division

| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Pts |
| 1 | Workington Town | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 230 | 44 | 16 |
| 2 | St Helens | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 216 | 73 | 15 |
| 3 | Widnes | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 180 | 54 | 14 |
| 4 | Wigan | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 213 | 72 | 14 |
| 5 | Swinton | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 158 | 61 | 14 |
| 6 | Warrington | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 171 | 93 | 12 |
| 7 | Oldham | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 137 | 91 | 10 |
| 8 | Barrow | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 81 | 144 | 6 |
| 9 | Whitehaven | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 84 | 174 | 4 |
| 10 | Rochdale Hornets | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 47 | 172 | 4 |
| 11 | Leigh | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 81 | 154 | 2 |
| 12 | Blackpool Borough | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 67 | 162 | 1 |
| 13 | Liverpool City | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 57 | 204 | 0 |
| 14 | Salford | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 71 | 295 | 0 |
| Source: |||||||||

#### Semi-finals

* 9 October 1962
| St Helens | 9 – 10 | Widnes |
| Tries: Watson Goals: Coslett (3) | | Tries: Myler, Measures Goals: Randall (2) |
* Knowsley Road Attendance: 20,200
* 15 October 1962
| Workington Town | 27 – 9 | Wigan |
| Tries: Pretorius, O'Neill (3), Archer, W. Martin, Glastonbury Goals: Ferreira (3) | | Tries: Carlton (2), Davies |
* Derwent Park

#### Final

* 10 November 1962
| Widnes | 9 – 9 | Workington Town |
| Tries: Thompson Goals: Randall (3) | | Tries: Pretorius Goals: Lowdon (3) |
* Central Park, Wigan Attendance: 13,588 Referee: M. Coates (Pudsey)

##### Replay

* 21 November 1962
| Widnes | 0 – 10 | Workington Town |
| | | Tries: Pretorius, Glastonbury Goals: Lowdon (2) |
* Central Park, Wigan Attendance: 7,584 Referee: D.S. Brown (Dewsbury)

### Eastern Division

| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Pts |
| 1 | Huddersfield | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 211 | 44 | 16 |
| 2 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 189 | 72 | 16 |
| 3 | Featherstone Rovers | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 181 | 71 | 14 |
| 4 | Halifax | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 166 | 73 | 14 |
| 5 | Leeds | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 177 | 65 | 13 |
| 6 | Wakefield Trinity | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 193 | 65 | 12 |
| 7 | Castleford | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 117 | 137 | 8 |
| 8 | Hunslet | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 109 | 144 | 8 |
| 9 | Bramley | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 108 | 130 | 6 |
| 10 | York | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 128 | 139 | 4 |
| 11 | Hull | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 96 | 142 | 4 |
| 12 | Keighley | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 79 | 155 | 4 |
| 13 | Batley | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 63 | 132 | 3 |
| 14 | Bradford Northern | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 86 | 236 | 2 |
| 15 | Doncaster | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 40 | 160 | 2 |
| 16 | Dewsbury | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 56 | 234 | 2 |
| Source: |||||||||

#### Semi-finals

* 10 October 1962
| Huddersfield | 17 – 0 | Halifax |
| Tries: Bowman (3) Goals: Dyson (4) | | |
* Fartown Referee: N.T. Railton
* 15 October 1962
| Hull Kingston Rovers | 27 – 11 | Featherstone Rovers |
| Tries: Paul (3), A. Burwell, Hatch Goals: Kellett (6) | | Tries: Greatorex Goals: Clawson (4) |
* Craven Park Attendance: 9,500 Referee: J. Manley

#### Final

* 10 November 1962
| Huddersfield | 10 – 13 | Hull Kingston Rovers |
| Tries: Heywood, Smales Goals: Dyson (2) | | Tries: Paul (2), Harris Goals: Kellett (2) |
* Headingley, Leeds Attendance: 6,822 Referee: T. W. Watkinson (Manchester)