# 1947–48 Northern Rugby Football League season

The 1947–48 Rugby Football League season was the 53rd season of rugby league football.

## Season summary

Warrington won their first Championship when they beat Bradford Northern 15–5 in the play-off final. Wigan had ended the regular season as the league leaders.
The Challenge Cup Winners were Wigan who beat Bradford Northern 8–3 in the final.
Wigan's 1948 Challenge Cup Final victory over Bradford Northern was the first ever televised Rugby League match and Cup Final – although it was shown in the Midlands only.
Warrington won the Lancashire League, and Bradford Northern won the Yorkshire League. Wigan beat Belle Vue Rangers 10–7 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Wakefield Trinity beat Leeds 7–7 (replay 8–7) to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

## Championship

| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Wigan | 36 | 31 | 1 | 4 | 63 |
| 2 | Warrington | 36 | 30 | 1 | 5 | 61 |
| 3 | Huddersfield | 36 | 26 | 2 | 8 | 54 |
| 4 | Bradford Northern | 36 | 26 | 2 | 10 | 52 |
| 5 | Workington Town | 36 | 22 | 4 | 10 | 48 |
| 6 | Hunslet | 36 | 21 | 4 | 11 | 46 |
| 7 | Widnes | 36 | 21 | 1 | 14 | 43 |
| 8 | St. Helens | 36 | 20 | 2 | 14 | 42 |
| 9 | Leeds | 36 | 20 | 2 | 14 | 42 |
| 10 | Wakefield Trinity | 36 | 20 | 2 | 14 | 42 |
| 11 | Salford | 36 | 20 | 1 | 15 | 41 |
| 12 | Hull | 36 | 19 | 1 | 16 | 39 |
| 13 | Castleford | 36 | 19 | 1 | 16 | 39 |
| 14 | Leigh | 36 | 18 | 1 | 17 | 37 |
| 15 | Dewsbury | 36 | 17 | 2 | 17 | 36 |
| 16 | Oldham | 36 | 17 | 1 | 18 | 35 |
| 17 | Belle Vue Rangers | 36 | 17 | 0 | 19 | 34 |
| 18 | Halifax | 36 | 16 | 0 | 20 | 32 |
| 19 | Swinton | 36 | 15 | 1 | 20 | 31 |
| 20 | Keighley | 36 | 15 | 1 | 20 | 31 |
| 21 | Barrow | 36 | 14 | 2 | 20 | 30 |
| 22 | Rochdale Hornets | 36 | 11 | 2 | 23 | 24 |
| 23 | Bramley | 36 | 12 | 0 | 24 | 24 |
| 24 | Batley | 36 | 11 | 1 | 24 | 23 |
| 25 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 36 | 10 | 1 | 25 | 21 |
| 26 | Liverpool Stanley | 36 | 8 | 1 | 27 | 17 |
| 27 | Featherstone Rovers | 36 | 6 | 0 | 30 | 12 |
| 28 | York | 36 | 4 | 1 | 31 | 9 |

### Play-offs

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Championship final | Championship final | Championship final |
| 1 | Wigan | 3 | | | |
| 4 | Bradford Northern | 15 | | | |
| 4 | Bradford Northern | 15 | Warrington | Warrington | 15 |
| | | | Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 5 |
| 2 | Warrington | 17 | Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 5 |
| 3 | Huddersfield | 5 | | | |

#### Final

* 8 May 1948
| Warrington | 15 – 5 | Bradford Northern |
| Tries: Bevan, Pimblett, Powell Goals: Palin (3) | | Tries: Case Goals: E. Ward |
* Maine Road, Manchester Attendance: 69,143 Referee: A. S. Dobson (Featherstone)
| Warrington | Number | Bradford Northern |
| | Teams | |
| Les Jones | 1 | George Carmichael |
| Brian Bevan | 2 | Eric Batten |
| Bryn Knowelden | 3 | Des Case |
| Albert Pimblett | 4 | Ernest Ward |
| Stan Powell | 5 | Alan Edwards |
| Jack Fleming | 6 | Willie Davies |
| Gerry Helme | 7 | Donald Ward |
| Bill Derbyshire | 8 | Frank Whitcombe |
| Dave Cotton | 9 | Vic Darlison |
| Bill Riley | 10 | H. Smith |
| Jim Featherstone | 11 | Trevor Foster |
| Bob Ryan | 12 | Barry Tyler |
| Harold Palin | 13 | Ken Traill |
| | 0 | |
| Chris Brockbank | Coach | Dai Rees |

## Challenge Cup

Wigan beat Bradford 8–3 in the final played at Wembley in front of a crowd of 91,465. This was the first Rugby League match ever attended by the reigning monarch, HM King George VI, who presented the trophy. This was also the first televised rugby league match.
This was Wigan's third Cup Final win in seven Final appearances including one loss during World War II. Frank Whitcombe, Bradford Northern's prop forward was awarded the Lance Todd Trophy for man-of-the-match.