# 1950–51 Northern Rugby Football League season

The 1950–51 Rugby Football League season was the 56th season of rugby league football.

## Season summary

Workington Town won their first, and to date, only Championship when they beat Warrington 26-11 in the play-off final. Warrington had finished the regular season as the league leaders.
The Challenge Cup Winners were Wigan who beat Barrow 10-0 in the final.
Warrington won the Lancashire League, and Leeds won the Yorkshire League.

## Championship

| | Team | Pld | W | D | L | Pts |
| 1 | Warrington | 36 | 30 | 0 | 6 | 60 |
| 2 | Wigan | 36 | 29 | 1 | 6 | 59 |
| 3 | Workington Town | 36 | 27 | 0 | 9 | 54 |
| 4 | Leigh | 36 | 24 | 2 | 10 | 50 |
| 5 | Leeds | 36 | 24 | 0 | 12 | 48 |
| 6 | St. Helens | 36 | 22 | 1 | 13 | 45 |
| 7 | Hunslet | 36 | 22 | 1 | 13 | 45 |
| 8 | Batley | 36 | 21 | 1 | 14 | 43 |
| 9 | Huddersfield | 36 | 20 | 2 | 14 | 42 |
| 10 | Wakefield Trinity | 36 | 19 | 3 | 14 | 41 |
| 11 | Halifax | 36 | 20 | 0 | 16 | 40 |
| 12 | Belle Vue Rangers | 36 | 19 | 2 | 15 | 40 |
| 13 | Dewsbury | 36 | 19 | 2 | 15 | 40 |
| 14 | Bradford Northern | 36 | 19 | 0 | 17 | 38 |
| 15 | Oldham | 36 | 17 | 2 | 17 | 36 |
| 16 | Keighley | 36 | 16 | 3 | 17 | 35 |
| 17 | Swinton | 36 | 16 | 1 | 19 | 33 |
| 18 | Hull | 36 | 15 | 2 | 19 | 32 |
| 19 | Salford | 36 | 15 | 1 | 20 | 31 |
| 20 | Barrow | 36 | 14 | 2 | 20 | 30 |
| 21 | Whitehaven | 36 | 13 | 3 | 20 | 29 |
| 22 | Rochdale Hornets | 36 | 14 | 1 | 21 | 29 |
| 23 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 36 | 12 | 2 | 22 | 26 |
| 24 | Bramley | 36 | 11 | 3 | 22 | 25 |
| 25 | Castleford | 36 | 12 | 1 | 23 | 25 |
| 26 | Featherstone Rovers | 36 | 12 | 1 | 23 | 25 |
| 27 | Widnes | 36 | 10 | 1 | 25 | 21 |
| 28 | York | 36 | 8 | 1 | 27 | 17 |
| 29 | Liverpool Stanley | 36 | 2 | 1 | 33 | 5 |

### Play-offs

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Championship final | Championship final | Championship final |
| 1 | Warrington | 15 | | | |
| 4 | Leigh | 9 | | | |
| 4 | Leigh | 9 | Warrington | Warrington | 11 |
| | | | Workington Town | Workington Town | 26 |
| 2 | Wigan | 5 | Workington Town | Workington Town | 26 |
| 3 | Workington Town | 8 | | | |
* 12 May 1951
| Workington Town | 26 – 11 | Warrington |
| Tries: Gibson (2), Wilson (2), Lawrenson, Paskins Goals: Risman (4) | | Tries: Heathwood (2), Jackson Goals: Bath |
* Maine Road, Manchester Attendance: 61,618 Referee: A. Hill (Dewsbury)
| Workington Town | Number | Warrington |
| | Teams | |
| Gus Risman | 1 | Eric Frodsham |
| Johnny Lawrenson | 2 | Brian Bevan |
| Tony Paskins | 3 | Bill Jackson |
| Eppie Gibson | 4 | Albert Naughton |
| George Wilson | 5 | Albert Johnson |
| John Thomas | 6 | Bryn Knowelden |
| Albert Pepperell | 7 | Gerry Helme |
| Jimmy Hayton | 8 | Billy Derbyshire |
| Vince McKeating | 9 | Harold Fishwick |
| Jimmy Wareing | 10 | Jack Atherton |
| Rupert Mudge | 11 | Harry Bath |
| Steve Thurlow | 12 | Bob Ryan |
| Billy Ivison | 13 | Austin Heathwood |
| | 0 | |
| Gus Risman | Coach | Chris Brockbank |

## Challenge Cup

Wigan beat Barrow 10–0 in the final played at Wembley in front of a crowd of 94,262. This was Wigan's fourth Cup Final win in nine Final appearances. It was also the third successive final that the losing team had failed to score. Cec Mountford, Wigan's stand-off half back was awarded the Lance Todd Trophy for man-of-the-match.

## County cups

Wigan beat Warrington 28–5 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Huddersfield beat Castleford 16–3 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

## European Championship

This was the eleventh European Championships and was won for the third time by France on points difference.

### Results

* 14 October
| England | 22–4 | Wales |
* Abertillery
* 11 November
| England | 14–9 | France |
* Leeds
* 10 December
| France | 16–3 | Other nationalities |
* Bordeaux
* 31 March
| Other nationalities | 27–21 | Wales |
* Swansea
* 11 April
| Other nationalities | 35–10 | England |
* Wigan
* 15 April
| France | 28–13 | Wales |
* Marseilles

### Final standings

| Team | Played | Won | Drew | Lost | For | Against | Diff | Points |
| France | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 53 | 30 | +23 | 4 |
| Other nationalities | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 65 | 47 | +18 | 4 |
| England | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 46 | 48 | −2 | 4 |
| Wales | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 38 | 77 | −39 | 0 |

## Sources

* 1950-51 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com
* The Challenge Cup at The Rugby Football League website