1963–64 Northern Rugby Football League season#Challenge Cup
{{Short description|none}}
{{Infobox rugby football league season
| title = 1963–64 Rugby Football League season
| league = Championship
| logo =
| pixels =
| caption =
| duration =
| no_of_teams =
| attendance =
| TV =
| season = First Division
| season_champs = {{leagueicon|swinton|16}} Swinton
| season_champ_name = Champions
| league_leaders =
| league_leaders_name =
| second_place = {{leagueicon|wigan|16}} Wigan
| premiership_win =
| premiership_win_name=
| MVP =
| MVP_link =
| top_scorer = {{leagueicon|wakefield|16}} Neil Fox 313
| top_scorer_link =
| top try scorer = {{leagueicon|swinton|16}} John Stopford 45
| top try scorer_link =
| membership_type =
| join =
| join_method =
| leave =
| leave_reason =
| promote =
| promoted_from =
| relegate =
| relegate_to =
| licence_period =
| awarded =
| removed =
| season2 = Second Division
| season_champs2 = {{leagueicon|oldham|16}} Oldham
| season_champ_name2 = Second Division Champions
| league_leaders2 =
| league_leaders_name2=
| second_place2 = {{leagueicon|leigh|16}} Leigh
| MVP2 =
| MVP_link2 =
| top_scorer2 =
| top_scorer_link2 =
| top try scorer2 =
| top try scorer_link2=
| promote2 =
| promoted_from2 =
| relegate2 =
| relegate_to2 =
| season3 =
| season_champs3 =
| season_champ_name3 =
| league_leaders3 =
| league_leaders_name3=
| second_place3 =
| MVP3 =
| MVP_link3 =
| top_scorer3 =
| top_scorer_link3 =
| top try scorer3 =
| top try scorer_link3=
| membership_type3 =
| join3 =
| join_method3 =
| leave3 = {{leagueicon|bradford|16}} Bradford Northern
| leave_reason3 = Disbanded
| prevseason_link = 1962–63 Northern Rugby Football League season
| prevseason_year = 1962–63
| nextseason_link = 1964–65 Northern Rugby Football League season
| nextseason_year = 1964–65
}}
The 1963–64 Northern Rugby Football League season was the 69th season of rugby league football.
Season summary
The 1963–64 season saw the league continue to be split into two divisions with each team playing each other team home and away and no playoffs.
Swinton won their sixth Championship.
The Challenge Cup winners were Widnes who beat Hull Kingston Rovers 13–5 in the final.
The 2nd Division Champions were Oldham
Bradford Northern disbanded on 10 December 1963 after playing 13 matches which were then declared null and void, and expunged from the 1963–64 season's records. They had won 1 and lost 12. Their last match on 23 November attracted a club record lowest crowd of just 324 against Barrow.{{cite web|url=http://www.bradfordbulls.co.uk/content/History/3560/1951%20-%201963:%20Decline%20&%20Fall|title=1963-64 Season summary|access-date=2009-10-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425162738/http://www.bradfordbulls.co.uk/content/History/3560/1951%20-%201963%3A%20Decline%20%26%20Fall|archive-date=2009-04-25|url-status=dead}}
There was no promotion or relegation as the League returned to one division in 1964–65.{{cite web|url=http://wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/index.php?page_id=384 |title=1963-64 Season summary |access-date=2009-08-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090826222141/http://wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/index.php?page_id=384 |archive-date=2009-08-26 |url-status=live }}
Brian Bevan ended his career with Warrington and Blackpool Borough as the all-time record try scorer with 796.
St. Helens won the Lancashire League and Halifax won the Yorkshire League. St. Helens beat Leigh 15–4 to win the Lancashire County Cup and Halifax beat Featherstone Rovers 10–0 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.
Championship
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | ||||||
| width=20 abbr="Position" |
!width=175 |Team !width=20 abbr="Played" |Pld !width=20 abbr="Won" |W !width=20 abbr="Drawn" |D !width=20 abbr="Lost" |L !width=20 abbr="Points" |Pts | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center style="background:#FFD700;"
|1 | Swinton | 30 | 25 | 0 | 5 | 50 |
| align=center style="background:"
|2 | Wigan | 30 | 21 | 2 | 7 | 44 |
| align=center style="background:"
|3 | St. Helens | 30 | 20 | 1 | 9 | 41 |
| align=center style="background:"
|4 | Featherstone Rovers | 30 | 18 | 1 | 11 | 37 |
| align=center style="background:"
|5 | Workington Town | 30 | 18 | 1 | 11 | 37 |
| align=center style="background:"
|6 | Castleford | 30 | 18 | 0 | 12 | 36 |
| align=center style="background:"
|7 | Wakefield Trinity | 30 | 16 | 0 | 14 | 36 |
| align=center style="background:"
|8 | Halifax | 30 | 15 | 1 | 14 | 31 |
| align=center style="background:"
|9 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 30 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 30 |
| align=center style="background:"
|10 | Warrington | 30 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 30 |
| align=center style="background:"
|11 | Hunslet | 30 | 14 | 0 | 16 | 28 |
| align=center style="background:"
|12 | Widnes | 30 | 13 | 0 | 17 | 26 |
| align=center style="background:"
|13 | Leeds | 30 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 20 |
| align=center style="background:"
|14 | Huddersfield | 30 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 20 |
| align=center style="background:"
|15 | Keighley | 30 | 5 | 0 | 25 | 10 |
| align=center style="background:"
|16 | Hull | 30 | 4 | 0 | 24 | 8 |
Second Division
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | ||||||||
| width=20 abbr="Position" |
!width=175 |Team !width=20 abbr="Played" |Pld !width=20 abbr="Won" |W !width=20 abbr="Drawn" |D !width=20 abbr="Lost" |L !width=20 abbr="F" |F !width=20 abbr="A" |A !width=20 abbr="Points" |Pts | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center style="background:#FFD700;"
|1 | Oldham | 24 | 21 | 1 | 2 | 508 | 168 | 43 |
| align=center style="background:"
|2 | Leigh | 24 | 16 | 2 | 6 | 411 | 224 | 34 |
| align=center style="background:"
|3 | Dewsbury | 24 | 15 | 2 | 7 | 239 | 220 | 32 |
| align=center style="background:"
|4 | Barrow | 24 | 14 | 1 | 9 | 351 | 280 | 29 |
| align=center style="background:"
|5 | Bramley | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 300 | 256 | 28 |
| align=center style="background:"
|6 | Blackpool Borough | 24 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 299 | 303 | 25 |
| align=center style="background:"
|7 | York | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 317 | 250 | 24 |
| align=center style="background:"
|8 | Rochdale Hornets | 24 | 8 | 1 | 15 | 209 | 271 | 17 |
| align=center style="background:"
|9 | Liverpool City | 24 | 8 | 1 | 15 | 200 | 261 | 17 |
| align=center style="background:"
|10 | Batley | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 174 | 304 | 16 |
| align=center style="background:"
|11 | Whitehaven | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 173 | 341 | 16 |
| align=center style="background:"
|12 | Salford | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 218 | 392 | 16 |
| align=center style="background:"
|13 | Doncaster | 24 | 7 | 1 | 16 | 182 | 311 | 15 |
Challenge Cup
{{main|1963–64 Challenge Cup}}
Widnes beat Hull Kingston Rovers 13–5 in the Challenge Cup played at Wembley Stadium on 9 May before a crowd of 84,488.
This was Widnes’ third Challenge Cup Final win in five Final appearances.{{cite web|url=http://www.therfl.co.uk/challengecup/page.php?areaid=65 |title=RFL Challenge Cup Roll of Honour |access-date=2009-08-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403144113/http://www.therfl.co.uk/challengecup/page.php?areaid=65 |archive-date=2009-04-03 |url-status=dead }} Frank Collier, their prop forward, was awarded the Lance Todd Trophy for his man-of-the-match performance.
County championships
=Western Division=
{{#invoke:sports table|main|style=WDL
|res_col_header=Q
|winpoints=2
|use_goal_average=yes
|for_against_style=p
|update=complete
|win_SWI=8 |draw_SWI=0 |loss_SWI=0 |pf_SWI=190 |pa_SWI=34 |team1=SWI |name_SWI=Swinton
|win_STH=8 |draw_STH=0 |loss_STH=0 |pf_STH=173 |pa_STH=57 |team2=STH |name_STH=St Helens
|win_OLD=7 |draw_OLD=0 |loss_OLD=1 |pf_OLD=119 |pa_OLD=52 |team3=OLD |name_OLD=Oldham
|win_WID=6 |draw_WID=1 |loss_WID=1 |pf_WID=101 |pa_WID=68 |team4=WID |name_WID=Widnes
|win_WOR=5 |draw_WOR=2 |loss_WOR=1 |pf_WOR=141 |pa_WOR=63 |team5=WOR |name_WOR=Workington Town
|win_WIG=6 |draw_WIG=0 |loss_WIG=2 |pf_WIG=201 |pa_WIG=95 |team6=WIG |name_WIG=Wigan
|win_WAR=5 |draw_WAR=0 |loss_WAR=3 |pf_WAR=143 |pa_WAR=84 |team7=WAR |name_WAR=Warrington
|win_BAR=2 |draw_BAR=0 |loss_BAR=6 |pf_BAR=103 |pa_BAR=143 |team8=BAR |name_BAR=Barrow
|win_LEI=2 |draw_LEI=0 |loss_LEI=6 |pf_LEI=59 |pa_LEI=93 |team9=LEI |name_LEI=Leigh
|win_BLB=2 |draw_BLB=0 |loss_BLB=6 |pf_BLB=90 |pa_BLB=222 |team10=BLB |name_BLB=Blackpool Borough
|win_WHI=1 |draw_WHI=2 |loss_WHI=5 |pf_WHI=40 |pa_WHI=128 |team11=WHI |name_WHI=Whitehaven
|win_ROC=1 |draw_ROC=1 |loss_ROC=6 |pf_ROC=61 |pa_ROC=149 |team12=ROC |name_ROC=Rochdale Hornets
|win_SAL=0 |draw_SAL=0 |loss_SAL=8 |pf_SAL=59 |pa_SAL=190 |team13=SAL |name_SAL=Salford
|win_LIC=0 |draw_LIC=0 |loss_LIC=8 |pf_LIC=41 |pa_LIC=143 |team14=LIC |name_LIC=Liverpool City
|result1=PO |result2=PO |result3=PO |result4=PO
|col_PO=yellow1
|text_PO=Qualification for the play-offs
}}
==Final==
=Eastern Division=
Due to Bradford's withdrawal from the league, not all teams played the same number of games, so league position was determined by win percentage.
{{#invoke:sports table|main|style=WDL
|res_col_header=Q
|winpoints=2
|ranking_style=percentage
|pct_style=notratio
|use_goal_average=yes
|for_against_style=p
|update=complete
|win_CAS=6 |draw_CAS=0 |loss_CAS=0 |pf_CAS=145 |pa_CAS=44 |team1=CAS |name_CAS=Castleford
|win_HFX=7 |draw_HFX=0 |loss_HFX=1 |pf_HFX=153 |pa_HFX=65 |team2=HFX |name_HFX=Halifax
|win_WAK=5 |draw_WAK=0 |loss_WAK=1 |pf_WAK=159 |pa_WAK=37 |team3=WAK |name_WAK=Wakefield Trinity
|win_BRM=6 |draw_BRM=0 |loss_BRM=2 |pf_BRM=80 |pa_BRM=61 |team4=BRM |name_BRM=Bramley
|win_LEE=4 |draw_LEE=0 |loss_LEE=2 |pf_LEE=72 |pa_LEE=60 |team5=LEE |name_LEE=Leeds
|win_FEV=4 |draw_FEV=1 |loss_FEV=3 |pf_FEV=126 |pa_FEV=90 |team6=FEV |name_FEV=Featherstone Rovers
|win_HUD=3 |draw_HUD=0 |loss_HUD=3 |pf_HUD=84 |pa_HUD=51 |team7=HUD |name_HUD=Huddersfield
|win_HKR=4 |draw_HKR=0 |loss_HKR=4 |pf_HKR=105 |pa_HKR=86 |team8=HKR |name_HKR=Hull Kingston Rovers
|win_HUL=4 |draw_HUL=0 |loss_HUL=4 |pf_HUL=92 |pa_HUL=89 |team9=HUL |name_HUL=Hull
|win_HUN=4 |draw_HUN=0 |loss_HUN=4 |pf_HUN=101 |pa_HUN=130 |team10=HUN |name_HUN=Hunslet
|win_DEW=3 |draw_DEW=0 |loss_DEW=5 |pf_DEW=56 |pa_DEW=90 |team11=DEW |name_DEW=Dewsbury
|win_DON=2 |draw_DON=0 |loss_DON=6 |pf_DON=56 |pa_DON=162 |team12=DON |name_DON=Doncaster
|win_YOR=1 |draw_YOR=1 |loss_YOR=6 |pf_YOR=85 |pa_YOR=162 |team13=YOR |name_YOR=York
|win_KEI=1 |draw_KEI=0 |loss_KEI=7 |pf_KEI=64 |pa_KEI=123 |team14=KEI |name_KEI=Keighley
|win_BAT=1 |draw_BAT=0 |loss_BAT=7 |pf_BAT=80 |pa_BAT=208 |team15=BAT |name_BAT=Batley
|win_BRA=0 |draw_BRA=0 |loss_BRA=0 |pf_BRA=0 |pa_BRA=0 |team16=BRA |name_BRA=Bradford Northern |note_BRA=Withdrew from the league mid-season.
|result1=PO |result2=PO |result3=PO |result4=PO
|col_PO=yellow1
|text_PO=Qualification for the play-offs
}}
==Final==
{{rugbyleaguebox
|date = 23 May 1964
|time =
|team1 = Halifax
|score = 20 – 12
|report =
|team2 = Castleford
|try1 = Jackson (2), Robinson, Dixon
|goal1 = James (4)
|try2 = Howe, Dickinson
|goal2 = Clark (3)
|stadium = Fartown, Huddersfield
|attendance = 10,798
|referee = R. L. Thomas (Oldham)
|manofmatch =
}}
County cups
{{main|1963–64 Lancashire Cup}}
{{main|1963–64 Yorkshire Cup}}
Kangaroo tour
{{main|1963–64 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France}}
The months from September until November also saw the appearance of the Australian team in England on their 1963–64 Kangaroo Tour. Other than the three test Ashes series against Great Britain (won 2–1 by Australia), The Kangaroos played 19 matches against Rugby Football League clubs and county representative sides.
References
{{Reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite book |editor-last=Saxton |editor-first=Irvin |title=History of Rugby League: No.69 1963–1964| publisher=League Publications}}
- [http://wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/index.php?page_id=384 1963-64 Rugby Football League season] at wigan.rlfans.com
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090403144113/http://www.therfl.co.uk/challengecup/page.php?areaid=65 The Challenge Cup] at The Rugby Football League website
{{Rugby Football League seasons}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rugby Football League season, 1963-64}}
Category:1963 in English rugby league