1956–57 Northern Rugby Football League season

Rugby league season

1956–57 Rugby Football League season

League| Northern Rugby Football League
Champions|  Oldham
League Leaders|  Oldham
Top point-scorer(s)|  Lewis Jones 496
Top try-scorer(s)|  Billy Boston 60

← 1955–56

1957–58 →

The 1956–57 Rugby Football League season was the 62nd season of rugby league football.

## Season summary

[edit]

Oldham finished the regular season as the league leaders and then won their fourth Rugby Football League Championship when they beat Hull F.C. 15-14 in the play-off final.

The Challenge Cup winners were Leeds who beat Barrow 9-7 in the final.[1]

Oldham won the Lancashire League, and Leeds won the Yorkshire League. Oldham beat St. Helens 10–3 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Wakefield Trinity beat Hunslet 23–5 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

## Championship

[edit]

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

|
|
|
|
|
|

1 | Oldham | 38 | 33 | 0 | 5 | 66
2 | Hull | 38 | 29 | 2 | 7 | 60
3 | Barrow | 38 | 29 | 0 | 9 | 58
4 | Leeds | 38 | 28 | 0 | 10 | 56
5 | St. Helens | 38 | 25 | 3 | 10 | 53
6 | Wigan | 38 | 26 | 0 | 12 | 52
7 | Hunslet | 38 | 26 | 0 | 12 | 52
8 | Wakefield Trinity | 38 | 23 | 1 | 14 | 47
9 | Huddersfield | 38 | 23 | 0 | 15 | 46
10 | Warrington | 38 | 21 | 1 | 16 | 43
11 | York | 38 | 21 | 0 | 17 | 42
12 | Halifax | 38 | 21 | 0 | 17 | 42
13 | Salford | 38 | 19 | 2 | 17 | 40
14 | Workington Town | 38 | 20 | 0 | 18 | 40
15 | Featherstone Rovers | 38 | 19 | 0 | 19 | 38
16 | Rochdale Hornets | 38 | 19 | 0 | 19 | 38
17 | Leigh | 38 | 18 | 1 | 19 | 37
18 | Whitehaven | 38 | 18 | 1 | 19 | 37
19 | Swinton | 38 | 18 | 0 | 20 | 36
20 | Keighley | 38 | 17 | 1 | 20 | 35
21 | Bradford Northern | 38 | 17 | 0 | 21 | 34
22 | Bramley | 38 | 14 | 2 | 22 | 30
23 | Widnes | 38 | 15 | 0 | 23 | 30
24 | Blackpool Borough | 38 | 14 | 0 | 24 | 28
25 | Castleford | 38 | 11 | 2 | 25 | 24
26 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 38 | 11 | 2 | 25 | 24
27 | Liverpool City | 38 | 9 | 1 | 28 | 19
28 | Batley | 38 | 8 | 0 | 30 | 16
29 | Dewsbury | 38 | 5 | 1 | 32 | 11
30 | Doncaster | 38 | 3 | 0 | 35 | 6
| Play-offs

|

### Play-offs

[edit]

| Semi-finals | | | Championship final |

|
|
|
|
|

|  |  |  | | |  |  |  |
| 1 | Oldham | 22 | |
| 4 | Leeds | 12 |
| | Oldham | 15 |
|  |
| | | Hull | 14 |
| 2 | Barrow | 14 |

| 3 | Hull | 45 |

## Challenge Cup

[edit]

Main article: 1956–57 Challenge Cup

Leeds beat Barrow 9-7 in the Challenge Cup Final played at Wembley Stadium before a crowd of 76,318.

This was Leeds’ eighth Challenge Cup Final win in ten Final appearances.[2][3] Jeff Stevenson, their scrum half back, was awarded the Lance Todd Trophy for his man-of-the-match performance.

## Kangaroo Tour

[edit]

Main article: 1956–57 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France

October until December also saw the appearance of the Australian team in England on their 1956–57 Kangaroo Tour. Other than the three test Ashes series against Great Britain (won 2–1 by Australia), The Kangaroos played 16 matches against club and county representative sides.[4]

The Kangaroos were captain-coached by St George Dragons hooker Ken Kearney.

game | Date | Result | Venue | Attendance

|
|
|
|

1 | 10 October |  Australia def. Liverpool City 40–12 | Knotty Ash Stadium, Liverpool | 4,712
2 | 13 October |  Leeds def.  Australia 18–13 | Headingley, Leeds | 24,459
3 | 15 October |  Australia def. Hull F.C. / Hull KR XIII 37–14 | The Boulevard, Hull | 17,172
4 | 18 October |  Australia def.  Barrow 25–11 | Craven Park, Barrow-in-Furness | 9,988
5 | 20 October |  Whitehaven def.  Australia 14–11 | Recreation Ground, Whitehaven | 10,840
6 | 24 October |  Australia def.  Bradford Northern 23–11 | Odsal Stadium, Bradford | 2,743
7 | 27 October |  Warrington def.  Australia 21–17 | Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington | 15,613
8 | 29 October |  Australia def.  English League XIII 19–15 | Hilton Park, Leigh | 7,811
9 | 3 November |  Australia def.  York 20–18 | Clarence Street, York | 6,842
10 | 7 November |  Oldham def.  Australia 15–2 | The Watersheddings, Oldham | 8,458
11 | 10 November |  Australia def.  Huddersfield 20–10 | Fartown Ground, Huddersfield | 12,127
12 | 17 November |  Great Britain def.  Australia 21–10 | Central Park, Wigan | 22,473
13 | 21 November |  Australia def.  Hunslet 27–11 | Parkside, Hunslet | 4,451
14 | 24 November |  St Helens def.  Australia 44–2 | Knowsley Road, St Helens | 15,579
15 | 1 December |  Australia def.  Great Britain 22–9 | Odsal Stadium, Bradford | 23,634
16 | 5 December |  Halifax def.  Australia 6–3 | Thrum Hall, Halifax | 2,254
17 | 8 December |  Australia def.  Wigan 32–4 | Central Park, Wigan | 15,854
18 | 10 December |  Wakefield Trinity def.  Australia 17–12 | Belle Vue, Wakefield | 3,381
19 | 15 December |  Great Britain def.  Australia 19–0 | Station Road, Swinton | 17,542

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "1956-57 season summary". Retrieved 2009-08-08.
2. ^ "RFL Challenge Cup Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
3. ^ "Leeds Cup Winning Line-up". Archived from the original on 2009-09-25. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
4. ^ 1956–57 Kangaroo Tour at Rugby League Project

## Sources

[edit]

* 1956-57 Rugby Football League season at Wigan.rlfans.com
* The Challenge Cup at The Rugby Football League website

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