# 1971–72 Northern Rugby Football League season

The 1971–72 Northern Rugby Football League season was the 77th season of rugby league football. This season saw the entry of rugby league's first sponsors: Joshua Tetley and John Player.

## Season summary

This season saw the introduction of the League Cup competition as a major secondary competition to the Challenge Cup. Due to sponsorship it was never commonly known as the League Cup. It began in this year as the Player's No.6 Trophy and finished up as the Regal Trophy before being abandoned after 1995-96 when the sport switched to summer.
Leeds won their third Championship when they beat St. Helens 9-5 in the Championship Final. Leeds also finished the regular season as league leaders.
The Challenge Cup winners were St. Helens who beat Leeds 16-13 in the final.

## Championship

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PAv | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Leeds (L) | 34 | 28 | 2 | 4 | 750 | 325 | 2.308 | 58 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 2 | Bradford Northern | 34 | 26 | 2 | 6 | 724 | 357 | 2.028 | 54 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 3 | St Helens | 34 | 26 | 1 | 7 | 661 | 297 | 2.226 | 53 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 4 | Wigan | 34 | 25 | 0 | 9 | 702 | 314 | 2.236 | 50 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 5 | Salford | 34 | 25 | 0 | 9 | 720 | 338 | 2.130 | 50 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 6 | Swinton | 34 | 23 | 2 | 9 | 554 | 368 | 1.505 | 48 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 7 | Featherstone Rovers | 34 | 23 | 1 | 10 | 632 | 372 | 1.699 | 47 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 8 | Rochdale Hornets | 34 | 21 | 1 | 12 | 429 | 306 | 1.402 | 43 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 9 | Wakefield Trinity | 34 | 21 | 0 | 13 | 587 | 414 | 1.418 | 42 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 10 | Castleford | 34 | 20 | 1 | 13 | 488 | 368 | 1.326 | 41 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 11 | Widnes | 34 | 19 | 3 | 12 | 476 | 388 | 1.227 | 41 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 12 | Dewsbury | 34 | 18 | 2 | 14 | 431 | 352 | 1.224 | 38 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 13 | Oldham | 34 | 18 | 1 | 15 | 573 | 480 | 1.194 | 37 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 14 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 34 | 18 | 0 | 16 | 432 | 498 | 0.867 | 36 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 15 | Warrington | 34 | 16 | 3 | 15 | 537 | 397 | 1.353 | 35 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 16 | Leigh | 34 | 17 | 0 | 17 | 421 | 407 | 1.034 | 34 | Qualification for the Championship play-offs |
| 17 | Huddersfield | 34 | 17 | 0 | 17 | 394 | 435 | 0.906 | 34 | |
| 18 | Barrow | 34 | 16 | 2 | 16 | 375 | 508 | 0.738 | 34 | |
| 19 | Hull | 34 | 16 | 0 | 18 | 488 | 495 | 0.986 | 32 | |
| 20 | York | 34 | 15 | 2 | 17 | 465 | 498 | 0.934 | 32 | |
| 21 | Halifax | 34 | 14 | 0 | 20 | 398 | 564 | 0.706 | 28 | |
| 22 | Bramley | 34 | 13 | 0 | 21 | 333 | 542 | 0.614 | 26 | |
| 23 | Whitehaven | 34 | 12 | 0 | 22 | 394 | 523 | 0.753 | 24 | |
| 24 | Workington Town | 34 | 11 | 2 | 21 | 303 | 533 | 0.568 | 24 | |
| 25 | Blackpool Borough | 34 | 11 | 0 | 23 | 351 | 560 | 0.627 | 22 | |
| 26 | Keighley | 34 | 8 | 0 | 26 | 330 | 740 | 0.446 | 16 | |
| 27 | Huyton | 34 | 7 | 1 | 26 | 277 | 610 | 0.454 | 15 | |
| 28 | Batley | 34 | 5 | 2 | 27 | 249 | 628 | 0.396 | 12 | |
| 29 | Doncaster | 34 | 5 | 0 | 29 | 234 | 729 | 0.321 | 10 | |
| 30 | Hunslet | 34 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 300 | 662 | 0.453 | 4 | |

### Play-offs

| Round of 16 | Round of 16 | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| Leeds | 40 | | | | |
| Leigh | 2 | | | | |
| Leigh | 2 | Leeds | 20 | | |
| | | Widnes | 9 | | |
| Swinton | 11 | Widnes | 9 | | |
| Widnes | 15 | | | | |
| Widnes | 15 | | | Leeds | 10 |
| | | | | Salford | 0 |
| Salford | 23 | | | Salford | 0 |
| Dewsbury | 7 | | | | |
| Dewsbury | 7 | Salford | 21 | | |
| | | Wigan | 9 | | |
| Wigan | 18 | Wigan | 9 | | |
| Oldham | 8 | | | | | | |
| Oldham | 8 | | | | | Leeds | 9 |
| | | | | | | St Helens | 5 |
| St Helens | 25 | | | | | St Helens | 5 |
| Hull KR | 5 | | | | | | |
| Hull KR | 5 | St Helens | 17 | | | | |
| | | Rochdale Hornets | 5 | | | | |
| Rochdale Hornets | 18 | Rochdale Hornets | 5 | | | | |
| Wakefield Trinity | 13 | | | | | | |
| Wakefield Trinity | 13 | | | St Helens | 14 | | |
| | | | | Bradford Northern | 10 |
| Featherstone Rovers | 14 | | | Bradford Northern | 10 |
| Castleford | 18 | | | | |
| Castleford | 18 | Castleford | 12 | | |
| | | Bradford Northern | 22 | | |
| Bradford Northern | 37 | Bradford Northern | 22 | | |
| Warrington | 0 | | | | |

### Final

The Championship final was played at Swinton.
* 20 May 1972
| Leeds | 9 – 5 | St Helens |
| Tries: Atkinson Goals: Clawson (3) | | Tries: Greenall Goals: Walsh |
* Station Road, Swinton Attendance: 24,055 Referee: S. Shepherd (Oldham) Player of the Match: Terry Clawson

## Challenge Cup

The final was played between St. Helens and Leeds at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 13 May 1972, in front of a crowd of 89,495. After leading 12-6 at half time, St Helens beat Leeds 16-13. St Helens scorers were Les Jones (1 try), Graham Rees (1 try), and Kel Coslett (5 goals). St Helens forward Kel Coslett was the man of the match winning the Lance Todd Trophy. This was St Helens’ fourth Cup Final win in eight Final appearances.

## Player's No.6 Trophy

Player's No.6 Trophy winners were Halifax who beat Wakefield Trinity 22-11 in the final.

## County cups

Wigan beat Widnes 15–8 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Hull Kingston Rovers beat Castleford 11–7 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.