1941–42 Northern Rugby Football League Wartime Emergency League season

League

Northern Rugby Football League Wartime Emergency League

1941–42 Season

Dewsbury

Runner-up

< 1940–41	Seasons	1942–43 >

The 1941–42 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the third season of the rugby league’s Wartime Emergency League necessitated by the Second World War.
As in the previous (second) Wartime season, the clubs each played a different number of games and several clubs dropped out . In fact as only 17 of the original clubs remained (and only Oldham, St Helens and Wigan from west of the Pennines) the leagues were amalgamated into one single Championship.

General Comments

Season summary

The 1941–42 season began on Saturday 6 September 1941.
As there are now only three Lancashire clubs who have not had to close down and withdraw from the League, the Northern Rugby League decided to unite all the 17 remaining clubs into one single Competition. As the clubs are still playing different number of marches, the league positions and the title would be decided on a percentage basis..
At the completion of the regular season Dewsbury were on top of the league both on points scored (39 points) and percentage success (81.25%). Bradford Northern were second and the highest Lancashire team were sixth place Wigan.
Dewsbury went on to defeat Bradford Northern 13-0 in the play-off final.^[1] and win the Championship (for the second consecutive season)
The Wartime Emergency Leagues did not count as an official league championship.
In the Challenge Cup Final the same two clubs as last season contested the tie, with the same result, Leeds beat Halifax 15-10 at Odsal.
The Lancashire Cup, suspended for season 1940–41 remained so for the rest of the war and again Wigan competed in the Yorkshire Cup.
Bradford Northern beat Halifax 24-0 at Fartown in front of a 5,989 (receipts were £635.0.0).
This was Bradford Northern second consecutive victory in this trophy

Change in Club participation

Previous withdrawals

The following clubs had withdrawn from the League, before this 1941–42 season began :-
St Helens Recs – who folded before the war started
Barrow – withdrew after the end of the first (1939–40) ‘season finished and did not rejoin until the 1943–44 season.
Hull Kingston Rovers – withdrew after the end of the first (1939–40) ‘season finished and did not rejoin until the 1945–46 season.
Rochdale Hornets – As Hull Kingston Rovers.
Widnes – As Hull Kingston Rovers.

New withdrawals

Broughton Rangers – withdrew prior to this season 1941–42 commencing and not re-joining until the 1945–46 season.
Leigh - During the Second World War, the club was forced to leave its ground as the adjacent cable factory extended onto the land. The townsfolk of Leigh, acting on chairman James Hilton's inspiration, cleared some fields on the edge of the town, and built a new stadium, including moving and rebuilding the old grandstand from the original ground. In 1941–42, Leigh quit the wartime Lancashire league and would not return to the league until 1946–47 when they played as a temporary measure at the Athletic Ground, Holden Road before moving to Kirkhall Lane (which was later officially renamed Hilton Park after James Hilton.
Liverpool Stanley – As Broughton Rangers.
Salford - Salford had continued to function, but it was a struggle. At the beginning of January 1941, the club decided to cease playing, due to poor gates. As Broughton Rangers, the club withdrew prior to this season 1941–42 commencing and not re-joining until the 1945–46 season. In November 1942, manager Lance Todd was killed in a car crash.
Swinton - As Broughton Rangers.
Warrington - During the War, it was difficult to play matches and therefore pay the bills. To help out the club committee decided that a Limited Company of 10,000 £1 shares was to be created. The Warrington Football Club Limited became a reality. But times were still hard and like Broughton Rangers, the club withdrew prior to this season 1941–42 commencing and not re-joining until the 1945–46 season.

Dewsbury had a relatively successful time during the war years. Managed by Eddie Waring, and with the side boosted by the inclusion of a number of big-name guest players, the club won the Wartime Emergency League in 1941–42 and again the following season 1942–43 (though that championship was declared null and void when it was discovered they had played an ineligible player). They were also runners-up in the Championship in 1943–44, Challenge Cup winners in 1943 and Yorkshire Cup final appearances in this season 1940–41 and winners in 1942–43.

Records

Bramley joined the ranks of the clubs with the unenviable record of losing every league match during the season.
Bramley withdrew from competitions for the following seasons.
A full list to date of all clubs with this record is as follows :-

Lost all league matches in a season
	Club	season	League	Cup	Notes	Ref
	Bramley	1941–42	19 War Emergency League	4 Cup-ties		^[2]
Other clubs with the same equal record
	Liverpool City	1906-07	30** League	2 Cup-ties	**	^[2]
	Broughton Rangers	1940–41	10 War Lancashire League	1 Cup-tie		^[2]
	Leigh	1940–41	13 War Lancashire League	1 Cup-tie		^[2]
	Runcorn Highfield	1989-90	28 Division Two	3 Cup-ties		^[2]
	Nottingham City	1991-92	26 Division Three	3 Cup-ties		^[2]
**	Also lost to Pontefract, but this match was expunged from League records after Pontefract disbanded					^[2]
**	Also drew against Bramley but this was expunged from the records as the return match was cancelled					^[2]

Championship

	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	diff	%
1	Dewsbury	24	19	1	4	431	172	259	39
2	Bradford Northern	17	13	1	3	318	130	188	27
3	Halifax	17	13	0	4	262	139	123	26
4	Hull	18	12	0	6	265	146	119	24
5	Hunslet	18	10	0	8	212	177	35	20
6	Wigan	20	11	0	9	241	207	34	22
7	Oldham	20	11	0	9	209	209	0	22
8	Leeds	23	12	1	10	245	213	32	25
9	Huddersfield	23	12	0	11	355	276	79	24
10	Keighley	23	12	0	11	224	306	-82	24
11	Wakefield Trinity	19	9	0	10	195	215	-20	18
12	Featherstone Rovers	18	8	0	10	166	181	-15	16
13	St Helens	19	8	0	11	217	270	-53	16
14	Castleford	20	8	0	12	195	253	-58	16
15	York	22	6	0	16	231	386	-155	12
16	Batley	18	3	1	14	133	269	-136	7
17	Bramley	19	0	0	19	104	454	-350	0

Heading Abbreviations
RL = Single Division; Pl = Games Played: W = Win; D = Draw; L = Lose; PF = Points For; PA = Points Against; Diff = Points Difference (+ or -); Pts = League Points
% Pts = A percentage system was used to determine league positions due to clubs playing varying number of fixtures and against different opponents
League points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.

Championship Play-Off

Semi-finals			Championship Final


1	Dewsbury	32

4	Hull	18
			Dewsbury	13

			Bradford Northern	0
2	Bradford Northern	15

3	Halifax	8

The final was played at Headingley, the attendance was 18,000 and receipts £1,121.0.0

Trophies

Challenge Cup

Below are given some of the fixtures and results from this year’s Challenge Cup competition. ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8]
Swinton, who had not entered the League programme, took part in this competition.

Date	Stage	Home Team	score	Away Team	Venue	agg	att	rcts	ref
1st Round
CC R1 1st leg	Sat 25-04-1942	Hull	34-0	Bramley	The Boulevard				^[5]
CC R1 1st leg	Sat 25-04-1942	Wigan	6-4	Dewsbury	Central Park				^[4]
CC R1 1st Leg	Sat 25-04-1942	Keighley	Lost to	Bradford Northern	Lawkholme Ln
CC R1 2nd leg	Sat 02-05-1942	Bramley	8-17	Hull	Barley Mow	8-51			^[5]
CC R1 2nd leg	Sat 02-05-1942	Dewsbury	12-14	Wigan	Crown Flatt	16-20			^[4]
CC R1 2nd Leg	Sat 02-05-1942	Bradford Northern	beat	Keighley	Odsal	Won
2nd Round
CC R2 1st leg	Sat 09-05-1942	Leeds	22-8	Hull	Headingley				^[5]
CC R2 1st leg	Sat 09-05-1942	Swinton	0-9	Wigan	Station Rd				^[4]
CC R2 2nd leg	Sat 16-05-1942	Hull	12-7	Leeds	The Boulevard	20-29			^[5]
CC R2 2nd leg	Sat 16-05-1942	Wigan	12-17	Swinton	Central Park	21-17			^[4]
Semi-Final
CC SF 1st leg	Sat 23-05-1942	Halifax	10-0	Wigan	Thrum Hall				^[4]
CC SF 2nd leg	Sat 30-05-1942	Wigan	16-16	Halifax	Central Park	16-26			^[4]
Final
CC F	--??	Leeds	15-10	Halifax	Odsal		15,250	£1,276.0.0
Leeds are winners of the Challenge Cup

In the Final of the Yorkshire County Cup, Leeds beat Halifax 15-10 at Odsal in front of a crowd of 15,250 and with receipts of £1,276.0.0.
This is the second year running that these two teams contested the Final, in each case Leeds winning.

Lancashire Cup

The Lancashire Cup, suspended for season 1940–41 remained so for the rest of the war and again Wigan competed in the Yorkshire Cup.

Yorkshire Cup

Below are given some of the fixtures and results from this year’s Yorkshire Cup competition.

Date	Stage	Home Team	score	Away Team	Venue	agg	att	rcts	ref
1st Round
YC R1 1st leg	Sat 25-10-1941	Hull	3-20	Huddersfield	The Boulevard				^[5]
YC R1 1st leg	Sat 25-10-1941	Keighley	2-14	Wigan	Lawkholme Ln				^[4]
YC R1 2nd leg	Sat 01-11-1941	Huddersfield	13-5	Hull	Fartown	33-8			^[5]
YC R1 2nd leg	Sat 01-11-1941	Wigan	19-0	Keighley	Central Park	33-2			^[4]
2nd Round
YC R2 1st leg	Sat 08-11-1941	Hunslet	3-8	Wigan	Parkside				^[4]
YC R2 2nd leg	Sat 15-11-1941	Wigan	10-4	Hunslet	Central Park	18-7			^[4]
Semi-Final
YC SF 1st leg	Sat 22-11-1941	Halifax	11-8	Wigan	Thrum Hall				^[4]
YC SF 2nd leg	Sat 29-11-1941	Wigan	2-2	Halifax	Central Park	10-13			^[4]
Final
YC F	--??	Bradford Northern	24-0	Halifax	Fartown		5989	£635.0.0
Bradford Northern are winners of Yorkshire Cup

References

↑ "Wigan Warriors Rugby League Fan Site". Retrieved 5 November 2011.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "RFL all time records".
↑ "Saints Heritage Society".
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Cherry and white".
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 <"Hull&Proud".
↑ "Widnes Vikings - One team, one passion Season In Review".
↑ "Warrington History".
↑ Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1990). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-91. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0-356-17851-X.

External links

Saints Heritage Society
Cherry and white
Hull&Proud
Widnes Vikings - One team, one passion Season In Review
Warrington History
[Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990-91 by Raymond Fletcher and David Howes]

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