1938–39 Northern Rugby Football League season

League| Northern Rugby Football League
Teams| 28
Champions|  Salford
League Leaders|  Salford
Top point-scorer(s)|  Gus Risman 267
Top try-scorer(s)|  Ray Markham 39

← 1937–38

1939-40 →

The 1938–39 Rugby Football League season was the 44th season of rugby league football.

## Season summary[edit]

Salford won their fourth Championship when they defeated Castleford 8–6 in the play-off final. Salford had also ended the regular season as league leaders.

The Challenge Cup Winners were Halifax who defeated Salford 20–3 in the final.

Newcastle dropped out of the competition.[1]

Salford won the Lancashire League, and Castleford won the Yorkshire League. Wigan beat Salford 10–7 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Huddersfield beat Hull F.C. 18–10 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

## Championship[edit]

| Team  | Pld  | W  | D  | L  | Pts

|
|
|
|
|
|

1 | Salford | 40 | 30 | 3 | 7 | 63 |
2 | Castleford | 40 | 29 | 3 | 8 | 61 |
3 | Halifax | 40 | 28 | 3 | 9 | 59 |
4 | Huddersfield | 40 | 28 | 2 | 10 | 58 |
5 | Leeds | 40 | 25 | 4 | 11 | 54 |
6 | Swinton | 40 | 26 | 1 | 13 | 53 |
7 | Warrington | 40 | 26 | 0 | 14 | 52 |
8 | Barrow | 40 | 24 | 3 | 13 | 51 |
9 | Wigan | 40 | 25 | 0 | 15 | 50 |
10 | Widnes | 40 | 22 | 3 | 15 | 47 |
11 | Wakefield Trinity | 40 | 20 | 5 | 15 | 45 |
12 | Hull | 40 | 21 | 3 | 16 | 45 |
13 | Keighley | 40 | 21 | 1 | 18 | 43 |
14 | Oldham | 40 | 20 | 2 | 18 | 42 |
15 | Hunslet | 40 | 19 | 4 | 17 | 42 |
16 | Bradford Northern | 40 | 19 | 1 | 20 | 39 |
17 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 40 | 18 | 3 | 19 | 39 |
18 | York | 40 | 18 | 2 | 20 | 38 |
19 | Liverpool Stanley | 40 | 18 | 1 | 21 | 37 |
20 | Broughton Rangers | 40 | 18 | 1 | 21 | 37 |
21 | St. Helens | 40 | 17 | 0 | 23 | 34 |
22 | Featherstone Rovers | 40 | 13 | 2 | 25 | 28 |
23 | Batley | 40 | 11 | 1 | 28 | 23 |
24 | St Helens Recs | 40 | 11 | 0 | 29 | 22 |
25 | Bramley | 40 | 8 | 5 | 27 | 21 |
26 | Leigh | 40 | 7 | 3 | 30 | 17 |
27 | Dewsbury | 40 | 5 | 2 | 33 | 12 |
28 | Rochdale Hornets | 40 | 4 | 0 | 36 | 8 |

## Championship play-offs[edit]

| Semi-finals | | | Championship final |

|
|
|
|
|

|  |  |  | | |  |  |  |
| 1 | Salford | 15 | |
| 4 | Huddersfield | 0 |
| | Salford | 8 |
|  |
| | | Castleford | 6 |
| 2 | Castleford | 21 |

| 3 | Halifax | 4 |

## Challenge Cup[edit]

Main article: 1938–39 Challenge Cup

Halifax beat Salford 20–3 in the final played at Wembley on Saturday 6 May 1939 in front of a crowd of 55,453. There would be no Challenge Cup competition in 1939–40.

This was Halifax’s fourth Cup Final win in five Final appearances.

This was Salford’s fifth Final appearance and second in consecutive years, having won the Cup the previous season[2]

## European Championship[edit]

Main article: 1938–39 European Rugby League Championship

The tri-nation tournament was played between November 1938 and April 1939 as single round robin games between England, France and Wales. This was the fourth Rugby League European Championship, and was won by France.[3]
Match details

Date | Venue | Home team | Score | Away team

|
|
|
|

5 Nov 1938 | Llanelli | Wales | 17 - 9 | England
25 Feb 1939 | St Helens | England | 9 - 12 | France
2 Apr 1938 | Bordeaux | France | 16 - 10 | Wales

## References[edit]

1. ^ "1938–39 Season summary". Archived from the original on 2009-09-04. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
2. ^ Raymond Fletcher; David Howes (1995). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1995–1996. London: Headline Book Publishing. p. 191\. ISBN 0-7472-7817-2.
3. ^ Raymond Fletcher; David Howes (1995). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1995–1996. London: Headline Book Publishing. p. 424\. ISBN 0-7472-7817-2.

## Sources[edit]

* 1938–39 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com
* The Challenge Cup at The Rugby Football League website

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Rugby Football League seasons

Rugby Football League era
(1895–1996)|

|  | 1895–96 | 1896–97 | 1897–98 | 1898–99 | 1899–1900

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Salford Red Devils

* Founded in 1873
* Based in Salford, England

The Club|

* History
* Honours
* Players
* International representatives
* Coaches

Home grounds|

* New Barnes
* The Willows
* Salford Community Stadium

Hall of Fame|

* Gus Risman
* Martin Offiah

League|

* Super League

Championships (6)|

* 1913–14
* 1932–33
* 1936–37
* 1938–39
* 1973–74
* 1975–76

Challenge Cup (1)|

* 1937–38

Other honours|

* 4—time Rugby Football League Second Division Champions
* 1–time Divisional Champions
* 1—time BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Champions
* 5—time Lancashire County Cup Champions
* 5—time Lancashire League Champions
* 2—time Northern Rail Cup Champions

Seasons (102)|

* 1896–97
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* 1904–05
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Affiliation|

* Rugby Football League (1896)
* Salford Red Devils Women

* v
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* e

Challenge Cup

Years|

* 1890– · 1891–92 · 1892–93 · 1893–94 · 1894–95 · 1895–96
* 1896–97
* 1897–98
* 1898–99
* 1899–1900

* 1900–01
* 1901–02
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Related articles|

* Wembley Stadium
* Lance Todd Trophy
* Abide with Me
* Rugby Football League
* Challenge Cup records
* Women's Challenge Cup
* Wheelchair Challenge Cup

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