1946–47 Northern Rugby Football League season


The 1946–47 Rugby Football League season was the 52nd season of rugby league football.

Season summary

1946-47 ended up being the longest season on record after a poor winter saw many matches postponed. Just as the country was recovering from post-World War II fuel and food shortages, it had to cope with prolonged frost and snow from 21 January to 16 March.
Wigan won their sixth Championship when they beat Dewsbury 13-4 in the play-off final at Maine Road, Manchester in front of a crowd of 40,599. Wigan scored three tries and two goals to Dewsbury's two goals. Wigan had also ended the regular season as league leaders.
The Challenge Cup winners were Bradford Northern who were 8-4 winners over Leeds.
Leigh returned following World War II. Broughton Rangers relocated, and were renamed Belle Vue Rangers.
Wigan won the Lancashire League, and Dewsbury won the Yorkshire League. Wigan beat Belle Vue Rangers 9–3 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Wakefield Trinity beat Hull F.C. 10–0 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

Championship

TeamPldWDLPts
1Wigan36291659
2Dewsbury36271855
3Widnes36262854
4Leeds36252952
5Warrington362601052
6Bradford Northern36243951
7Huddersfield362421050
8Oldham362221246
9Leigh362101542
10Wakefield Trinity362021442
11Workington Town361921540
12Barrow361841440
13Castleford361911639
14Hunslet361721736
15Hull361701934
16Hull Kingston Rovers361531833
17Batley361512031
18Belle Vue Rangers361431931
19St. Helens361412129
20Halifax361322128
21York361222226
22Salford361122324
23Liverpool Stanley361112423
24Swinton361112423
25Keighley361012521
26Featherstone Rovers36912619
27Rochdale Hornets36902718
28Bramley36503110

Play-offs

Challenge Cup

Leeds reached the Wembley final for the second time, doing so without conceding a single point in the final five rounds of the tournament. However Bradford Northern beat Leeds 8-4 in the final in front of a crowd of 77,605. Trevor Foster and Emlyn Walters scored Bradford's tries and were converted by Ernest Ward. Willie Davies, Bradford Northern's stand-off half back, won the Lance Todd Trophy for man of the match.
This was Bradford’s third Cup Final win in five Final appearances including one win and one loss during World War II.