# 1959–60 Northern Rugby Football League season

The 1959–60 Rugby Football League season was the 65th season of rugby league football played in England. The championship, which involved thirty teams, started in August 1959 and culminated in a finals play-off series in May 1960 which resulted in a championship final between Wigan and Wakefield Trinity.

## Season summary

* League Champions: Wigan (27–3 v Wakefield Trinity)
* Challenge Cup Winners: Wakefield Trinity (38–5 v Hull)
A number of clubs complained to the Rugby Football League over BBC televising rugby league matches live on TV, stating that it was affecting attendances.
St. Helens won the Lancashire League, and Wakefield Trinity won the Yorkshire League.

## Championship

Final Standings
| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | St. Helens | 38 | 34 | 1 | 3 | 947 | 343 | +604 | 69 |
| 2 | Wakefield Trinity | 38 | 32 | 0 | 6 | 831 | 348 | +483 | 64 |
| 3 | Hull | 38 | 28 | 1 | 9 | 758 | 474 | +284 | 57 |
| 4 | Wigan | 38 | 27 | 2 | 9 | 828 | 390 | +438 | 56 |
| 5 | Featherstone Rovers | 38 | 27 | 0 | 11 | 730 | 437 | +293 | 54 |
| 6 | Whitehaven | 38 | 22 | 3 | 13 | 594 | 533 | +61 | 47 |
| 7 | Warrington | 38 | 22 | 2 | 14 | 650 | 482 | +168 | 46 |
| 8 | Swinton | 38 | 22 | 2 | 14 | 654 | 503 | +151 | 46 |
| 9 | Oldham | 38 | 22 | 1 | 15 | 744 | 461 | +283 | 45 |
| 10 | Hunslet | 38 | 21 | 3 | 14 | 595 | 488 | +107 | 45 |
| 11 | Leigh | 38 | 20 | 4 | 14 | 600 | 502 | +98 | 44 |
| 12 | Huddersfield | 38 | 21 | 1 | 16 | 603 | 510 | +93 | 43 |
| 13 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 38 | 20 | 1 | 17 | 517 | 575 | −58 | 41 |
| 14 | Leeds | 38 | 20 | 0 | 18 | 641 | 573 | +68 | 40 |
| 15 | Salford | 38 | 19 | 2 | 17 | 629 | 583 | +46 | 40 |
| 16 | Batley | 38 | 18 | 3 | 17 | 476 | 506 | −30 | 39 |
| 17 | Widnes | 38 | 18 | 1 | 19 | 598 | 519 | +79 | 37 |
| 18 | Castleford | 38 | 18 | 0 | 20 | 561 | 630 | −69 | 36 |
| 19 | Workington Town | 38 | 18 | 0 | 20 | 448 | 530 | −82 | 36 |
| 20 | Keighley | 38 | 17 | 1 | 20 | 575 | 659 | −84 | 35 |
| 21 | York | 38 | 17 | 0 | 21 | 579 | 698 | −119 | 34 |
| 22 | Halifax | 38 | 15 | 2 | 21 | 627 | 561 | +66 | 32 |
| 23 | Rochdale Hornets | 38 | 15 | 0 | 23 | 435 | 519 | −84 | 30 |
| 24 | Barrow | 38 | 13 | 1 | 24 | 422 | 562 | −140 | 27 |
| 25 | Bramley | 38 | 10 | 2 | 26 | 393 | 673 | −280 | 22 |
| 26 | Bradford Northern | 38 | 9 | 3 | 26 | 450 | 645 | −195 | 21 |
| 27 | Liverpool City | 38 | 9 | 3 | 26 | 383 | 720 | −337 | 21 |
| 28 | Blackpool Borough | 38 | 9 | 1 | 28 | 400 | 819 | −419 | 19 |
| 29 | Dewsbury | 38 | 4 | 1 | 33 | 337 | 982 | −645 | 9 |
| 30 | Doncaster | 38 | 2 | 1 | 35 | 284 | 1,084 | −800 | 5 |

### Play-offs

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Championship final | Championship final | Championship final |
| 1 | St. Helens | 9 | | | |
| 4 | Wigan | 19 | | | |
| 4 | Wigan | 19 | Wigan | Wigan | 27 |
| | | | Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 3 |
| 2 | Wakefield Trinity | 24 | Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 3 |
| 3 | Hull | 4 | | | |

#### Final

The Championship Final was played between Joe Egan' Wigan outfit against Wakefield Trinity at 3 o'clock on a warm afternoon on Saturday, 21 May 1960 at Odsal Stadium, Bradford. A crowd of 83,190 turned out for the game which was refereed by Eric Clay (Leeds).
* 21 May 1960
| Wigan | 27 – 3 | Wakefield Trinity |
| Tries: Boston (2), Ashton (2), Sayer Goals: Griffiths (6) | | Tries: Smith |
* Odsal Stadium, Bradford Attendance: 83,190 Referee: Eric Clay (Rothwell)
| Wigan | Number | Wakefield Trinity |
| | Teams | |
| Fred Griffiths | 1 | Gerry Round |
| Frank Halliwell | 2 | Fred Smith |
| Billy Boston | 3 | Alan Skene |
| Keith Holden | 4 | Neil Fox |
| Syd Fenton | 5 | John Etty |
| Eric Ashton | 6 | Ken Rollin |
| Dave Bolton | 7 | Keith Holliday |
| John Barton | 8 | Jack Wilkinson |
| Bill Sayer | 9 | Geoff Oakes |
| Frank Collier | 10 | Don Vines |
| Brian McTigue | 11 | Albert Firth |
| Geoff Lyon | 12 | Les Chamberlain |
| Roy Evans | 13 | Derek Turner |
| | 0 | |
| Joe Egan | Coach | Ken Traill |

## Challenge Cup

The 1959–60 Challenge Cup tournament ended in a final between Wakefield Trinity and Hull F.C. The match was played at Wembley Stadium before a crowd of 79,773, with Wakefield Trinity winning 38 – 5. Despite being on the losing team, Hull's hooker, Tommy Harris was awarded the Lance Todd Trophy for his man-of-the-match performance.
Neil Fox of Wakefield Trinity scored a Cup Final record 20 points (two tries and seven goals) in the final for Wakefield, a feat that would not be repeated for another 39 years 1999.

## County cups

Warrington beat St. Helens 5–4 to win the Lancashire Cup, and Featherstone Rovers beat Hull F.C. 15–14 to win the Yorkshire Cup.

## Kangaroo Tour

September until December also saw the appearance of the Australian team in England on their 1959–60 Kangaroo Tour. Other than the three test Ashes series against Great Britain (won 2–1 by Australia), the Kangaroos played 21 matches against club and county representative sides.
The Kangaroos were coached by "The Little Master" Clive Churchill and were captained by Welsh born Balmain Tigers fullback Keith Barnes.
As of 2017, this remains the last time that Great Britain or England won The Ashes on home soil.