1966–67 Northern Rugby Football League season

{{Infobox rugby football league season

| title = 1966–67 Northern Rugby Football League season

| league = Northern Rugby Football League

| logo =

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| season_champs = {{leagueicon|wakefield|16}} Wakefield Trinity

| season_champ_name = Champions

| league_leaders = {{leagueicon|leeds|16}} Leeds

| league_leaders_name = League Leaders

| second_place =

| premiership_win =

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| MVP =

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| top_scorer = {{leagueicon|st helens|16}} Len Killeen 353

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| top try scorer = {{leagueicon|hull kr|16}} Chris Young 34
{{leagueicon|castleford|16}} Keith Howe 34

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| prevseason_link = 1965–66 Northern Rugby Football League season

| prevseason_year = 1965–66

| nextseason_link = 1967–68 Northern Rugby Football League season

| nextseason_year = 1967–68

}}

The 1966–67 Northern Rugby Football League season was the 72nd season of rugby league football in Britain. After Leeds had ended the regular season as league leaders, Wakefield Trinity won their first Championship when they beat St. Helens 21-9 in the Final replay, after a 7-7 draw. The Challenge Cup-winners were Featherstone Rovers who beat Barrow 17-12 in the Wembley final.

Rule changes

Limited tackles:

The Rugby Football League ended unlimited tackles, introducing a four-tackle rule.{{Citation | editor-last =de la Riviere | editor-first =Richard | publication-date =August 2009 | year =2009 | title =Top ten: Rugby league rules | periodical =Rugby League World | place =Brighouse, UK | publisher =League Publications | issue =340 | pages =61 | issn =1466-0105 }} The introduction of the "tackle count" in December 1966 meant a team now had a limited number of tackles in which to score before they must surrender possession to their opponents. The limit would remain four until an increase to six tackles in 1972.

Championship

=League table=

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
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
align=center style="background:#ccffcc;color:" \|1	Leeds	34	29	0	5	58
align=center style="background:#ccffcc;color:" \|2	Hull Kingston Rovers	34	26	2	6	54
align=center style="background:#FFD700;" \|3	Wakefield Trinity	34	27	0	7	54
align=center style="background:#ccffcc;color:" \|4	St. Helens	34	22	3	9	47
align=center style="background:#ccffcc;color:" \|5	Bradford Northern	34	22	2	10	46
align=center style="background:#ccffcc;color:" \|6	Workington Town	34	22	1	11	45
align=center style="background:#ccffcc;color:" \|7	Swinton	34	20	3	11	43
align=center style="background:#ccffcc;color:" \|8	Castleford	34	21	0	13	42
align=center style="background:#ccffcc;color:" \|9	Hull	34	18	3	13	39
align=center style="background:#ccffcc;color:" \|10	Oldham	34	18	2	14	38
align=center style="background:#ccffcc;color:" \|11	Halifax	34	18	2	14	38
align=center style="background:#ccffcc;color:" \|12	Warrington	34	18	1	15	37
align=center style="background:#ccffcc;color:" \|13	Leigh	34	17	3	14	37
align=center style="background:#ccffcc;color:" \|14	Salford	34	18	1	15	37
align=center style="background:#ccffcc;color:" \|15	Barrow	34	17	2	15	36
align=center style="background:#ccffcc;color:" \|16	Widnes	34	15	5	14	35
align=center style="background:" \|17	Wigan	34	17	0	17	34
align=center style="background:" \|18	Rochdale Hornets	34	15	4	15	34
align=center style="background:" \|19	Dewsbury	34	15	1	18	31
align=center style="background:" \|20	Featherstone Rovers	34	12	3	19	27
align=center style="background:" \|21	Huddersfield	34	13	0	21	26
align=center style="background:" \|22	York	34	13	0	21	26
align=center style="background:" \|23	Bramley	34	12	0	22	24
align=center style="background:" \|24	Keighley	34	11	1	22	23
align=center style="background:" \|25	Hunslet	34	9	2	23	20
align=center style="background:" \|26	Blackpool Borough	34	9	2	23	20
align=center style="background:" \|27	Whitehaven	34	10	0	24	20
align=center style="background:" \|28	Liverpool City	34	9	0	25	18
align=center style="background:" \|29	Doncaster	34	8	1	25	17
align=center style="background:" \|30	Batley	34	7	0	27	14

=Play-offs=

{{Round16|3rdplace=no

||Leeds|27|Widnes|18

||Castleford|21|Hull|7

||Bradford Northern|12|Warrington|6

||St Helens|37|Leigh|12

||Wakefield Trinity|48|Salford|8

||Workington Town|23|Halifax|14

||Swinton|12-15|Oldham|12-7

||Hull KR|17|Barrow|15

||Leeds|9|Castleford|13

||Bradford Northern|8|St Helens|15

||Wakefield Trinity|22|Workington Town|2

||Swinton|10|Hull KR|36

||Castleford|3|St Helens|14

||Wakefield Trinity|18|Hull KR|6

||Wakefield Trinity|7-21|St Helens|7-9

|||||

}}

=Final=

The 1966/67 Championship Final replay was played between Wakefield Trinity and St. Helens on Wednesday, 10 May 1967 at Station Road Ground before a crowd of 33,537.{{cite web|title=St Helens 9 lost to Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 21|url=http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/seasons/northern-rugby-league-1966/final/st-helens-vs-wakefield-trinity/summary.html|work=rugbyleagueproject.org|publisher=Shawn Dollin, Andrew Ferguson and Bill Bates|access-date=8 December 2012}} Wakefield Trinity won 21-9 with their try-scoring scrum half back, Ray Owen being awarded the Harry Sunderland Trophy as man-of-the-match.

Final

{{Rugbyleaguebox

|date = 6 May 1967

|time =

|team1 = Wakefield Trinity

|score = 7 – 7

|team2 = St Helens

|try1 = Owen

|goal1 = N. Fox (2)

|drop1 =

|try2 = Watson

|goal2 = Killeen (2)

|drop2 =

|stadium = Headingley, Leeds

|attendance = 20,161

|referee = J. Manley (Warrington)

|manofmatch =

|report =

}}

Replay

{{Rugbyleaguebox

|date = 10 May 1967

|time =

|team1 = Wakefield Trinity

|score = 21 – 9

|team2 = St Helens

|try1 = Brooke (2), Hirst, Poynton, Owen

|goal1 = N. Fox (3)

|drop1 =

|try2 = Van Vollenhoven

|goal2 = Killeen (2), Bishop

|drop2 =

|stadium = Station Road, Swinton

|attendance = 33,537

|referee = J. Manley (Warrington)

|manofmatch = Ray Owen

|report =

}}

Challenge Cup

In the Challenge Cup Final Featherstone Rovers faced Barrow, who were captain-coached by Jim Challinor at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 13 May 1967 in front of a crowd of 76,290.

Featherstone Rovers won 17-12 and it was their first Cup Final win in two 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 }}

County cups

St. Helens won the Lancashire League, and Leeds won the Yorkshire League. Wigan beat Oldham 16–13 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Hull Kingston Rovers beat Featherstone Rovers 25–12 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

The BBC2 Floodlit Trophy winners were Castleford who beat Swinton 7-2 in the final.{{cite web|url=http://wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/index.php?page_id=387 |title=1966-67 Season summary |access-date=2009-08-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090826202037/http://wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/index.php?page_id=387 |archive-date=2009-08-26 |url-status=live }}

References

Sources

{{cite book |editor-last=Saxton |editor-first=Irvin |title=History of Rugby League: No.72 1966–1967| publisher=League Publications}}
[http://wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/index.php?page_id=387 1966-67 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]

Category:1966 in English rugby league

Category:1967 in English rugby league

Category:Northern Rugby Football League seasons