1933–34 Northern Rugby Football League season

First rugby club in London

Rugby league season

1933–34 Northern Rugby Football League season

League| Championship
Duration| 38 Rounds
Teams| 28
Champions|  Wigan (4th title)
League Leaders|  Salford
Runners-up|  Salford
Top point-scorer(s)|  Jim Sullivan ( Wigan) (406)
Top try-scorer(s)| Brown ( Salford) (45)

← 1932–33

1934–35 →

The 1933–34 Rugby Football League season was the 39th season of rugby league football. The first rugby league club in London, London Highfield competed in its inaugural season.[1]

## Season summary

[edit]

Wigan won their fourth Championship when they beat Salford 15-3 in the play-off final.

Salford had ended the regular season as league leaders.[2]

The Challenge Cup winners were Hunslet who beat Widnes 11-5.

Work begins at a former quarry that was being used as a waste dump at Odsal Top in Bradford after Bradford Northern sign a ten-year lease with the local council. This was to become the site of their current home ground, Odsal Stadium.[3]

Salford won the Lancashire League, and Leeds won the Yorkshire League. Oldham beat St Helens Recs 12–0 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and York beat Hull Kingston Rovers 10–4 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

## Championship

[edit]

| Team  | Pld  | W  | D  | L  | PF  | PA  | Pts

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1 | Salford | 38 | 31 | 1 | 6 | 715 | 281 | 63
2 | Wigan | 38 | 26 | 0 | 12 | 739 | 334 | 52
3 | Leeds | 38 | 26 | 0 | 12 | 597 | 376 | 52
4 | Halifax | 38 | 26 | 0 | 12 | 457 | 340 | 52
5 | York | 38 | 24 | 1 | 13 | 481 | 370 | 49
6 | Hunslet | 38 | 23 | 1 | 14 | 608 | 441 | 47
7 | Widnes | 38 | 21 | 4 | 13 | 393 | 324 | 46
8 | Warrington | 38 | 22 | 1 | 15 | 508 | 370 | 45
9 | Swinton | 38 | 22 | 1 | 15 | 418 | 322 | 45
10 | Hull | 38 | 21 | 3 | 14 | 553 | 438 | 45
11 | Keighley | 38 | 22 | 1 | 15 | 429 | 367 | 45
12 | Huddersfield | 38 | 20 | 1 | 17 | 500 | 330 | 41
13 | St. Helens | 38 | 20 | 0 | 18 | 550 | 500 | 40
14 | London Highfield | 38 | 20 | 0 | 18 | 509 | 489 | 40
15 | Oldham | 38 | 17 | 3 | 18 | 400 | 520 | 37
16 | Castleford | 38 | 17 | 1 | 20 | 476 | 468 | 35
17 | Rochdale Hornets | 38 | 17 | 0 | 21 | 442 | 524 | 34
18 | St Helens Recs | 38 | 16 | 1 | 21 | 455 | 477 | 33
19 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 38 | 16 | 1 | 21 | 444 | 482 | 33
20 | Batley | 38 | 16 | 1 | 21 | 390 | 436 | 33
21 | Leigh | 38 | 15 | 2 | 21 | 479 | 537 | 32
22 | Wakefield Trinity | 38 | 15 | 2 | 21 | 332 | 404 | 32
23 | Broughton Rangers | 38 | 15 | 1 | 22 | 415 | 495 | 31
24 | Barrow | 38 | 15 | 0 | 23 | 375 | 464 | 30
25 | Dewsbury | 38 | 12 | 1 | 25 | 313 | 587 | 25
26 | Bramley | 38 | 11 | 1 | 26 | 367 | 790 | 23
27 | Bradford Northern | 38 | 8 | 0 | 30 | 337 | 714 | 16
28 | Featherstone Rovers | 38 | 4 | 0 | 34 | 232 | 734 | 8

## Championship play-off

[edit]

| Semi-finals | | | Championship final |

|
|
|
|
|

|  |  |  | | |  |  |  |
| 1 | Salford | 28 | |
| 4 | Halifax | 3 |
| | Salford | 3 |
|  |
| | | Wigan | 15 |
| 2 | Wigan | 14 |

| 3 | Leeds | 10 |

## Challenge Cup

[edit]

Main article: 1933–34 Challenge Cup

Hunslet's winning team posing with the Challenge Cup.

Hunslet defeated Widnes 11-5 in the final at Wembley before a crowd of 41,280.

This was Hunslet’s second Cup Final win, the first being in 1907–08, in their third Cup Final appearance.[4]

## Kangaroo Tour

[edit]

Main article: 1933–34 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain

August until December also saw the appearance of the Australian team in England on their 1933–34 Kangaroo Tour. Other than the three test Ashes series against Great Britain (who played under the name of England), The Kangaroos played matches against club and county representative sides as well as a non-test international against Wales and two internationals against England, the first of which was held at the Stade Pershing in Paris, the first rugby league match played in France.

The Kangaroos were captain-coach by Frank McMillan.

game | Date | Result | Venue | Attendance

|
|
|
|

1 | 26 August |  Australia def.  St Helens Recs 13–9 | City Road, St. Helens | 8,880
2 | 30 August |  Australia def.  Leigh 16–7 | Mather Lane, Leigh | 4,590
3 | 2 September |  Australia def.  Hull Kingston Rovers 20–0 | Craven Park, Hull | 7,831
4 | 6 September |  Australia def.  Bramley RLFC 53–6 | Barley Mow, Bramley | 1,902
5 | 9 September |  Australia def.  Oldham 38–6 | The Watersheddings, Oldham | 15,281
6 | 13 September |  Yorkshire def.  Australia 13–0 | Headingley, Leeds | 10,309
7 | 16 September |  Australia def.  Barrow 24–5 | Craven Park, Barrow-in-Furness | 12,221
8 | 20 September |  Australia def.  Lancashire 33–7 | Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington | 16,576
9 | 23 September |  Australia def.  Wigan 18–17 | Central Park, Wigan | 15,712
10 | 27 September |  Australia def.  Castleford 15–2 | Wheldon Road, Castleford | 4,250
11 | 30 September |  Australia def.  Halifax 16–5 | Thrum Hall, Halifax | 10,358
12 | 7 October |  England def.  Australia 22–14 | Station Road, Swinton | 34,000
13 | 11 October |  Australia def.  Bradford Northern 7–5 | Birch Lane, Bradford | 3,328
14 | 14 October |  Australia def.  Warrington 15–2 | Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington | 16,431
15 | 18 October |  Australia def.  Hunslet 22–18 | Parkside, Hunslet | 6,227
16 | 21 October |  Salford def.  Australia 16–9 | The Willows, Salford | 15,761
17 | 26 October |  Australia def.  Widnes 31–0 | Naughton Park, Widnes | 6,691
18 | 28 October |  Australia def.  Wakefield Trinity 17–6 | Belle Vue, Wakefield | 5,596
19 | 30 October |  Australia def.  Bradford Northern 10–7 | Birch Lane, Bradford | 3,328
20 | 1 November |  English League XIII def.  Australia 16–9 | Clarence Street, York | 3,158
21 | 4 November |  Swinton def.  Australia 10–4 | Station Road, Swinton | 13,341
22 | 11 November |  England def.  Australia 7–5 | Headingley, Leeds | 29,618
23 | 14 November |  Australia def.  Keighley 10–7 | Lawkholme Lane, Keighley | 3,800
24 | 18 November |  Australia def.  Huddersfield 13–5 | Fartown Ground, Huddersfield | 7,522
25 | 22 November |  Australia def.  London Highfield 20–5 | White City Stadium, London | 10,541
26 | 25 November |  Australia def.  Broughton Rangers 19–0 | Belle Vue Zoological Gardens, Manchester | 5,527
27 | 29 November |  Australia def.  Leeds 15–7 | Headingley, Leeds | 5,295
28 | 2 December |  Australia def.  St Helens 20–11 | Knowsley Road, St. Helens | 5,735
29 | 2 December |  Australia def.  Rochdale Hornets 26–4 | Athletic Grounds, Rochdale | 3,603
30 | 9 December |  Cumberland def.  Australia 17–16 | Recreation Ground, Whitehaven | 5,800
31 | 16 December |  England def.  Australia 19–16 | Station Road, Swinton | 10,900
32 | 23 December |  Australia def.  York 15–7 | Clarence Street, York | 6,500
33 | 25 December |  Australia def.  Hull F.C. 9–5 | The Boulevard, Hull | 16,341
34 | 30 December |  Australia def.  Wales 51–19 | Wembley Stadium, London | 10,000
35 | 31 December |  Australia def.  England 63–13 | Stade Pershing, Paris | 5,000
36 | 10 January |  Australia def.  Oldham 38–5 | The Watersheddings, Oldham | 4,000
37 | 13 January |  England def.  Australia 19–14 | Redheugh Park, Gateshead | 15,576

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "The History Of Rugby League". Rugby League Information. napit.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
2. ^ "1933-34 Season summary". Retrieved 2009-08-08.
3. ^ "Bradford Bulls History". Retrieved 2009-10-24.
4. ^ "RFL Challenge Cup Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-08-07.

## Sources

[edit]

* 1933-34 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com
* The Challenge Cup at The Rugby Football League website

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Wigan squad – 1933–34 Championship Final winners

* 1 Jim Sullivan
* 2 Jack Morley
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* 7 Hector Gee

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