1969–70 Northern Rugby Football League season
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The 1969–70 Northern Rugby Football League season was the 75th season of rugby league football in Britain.
| 1969–70 Northern Rugby Football League season | |
|---|---|
| League | Northern Rugby Football League |
| Champions |  St. Helens |
| League Leaders |  Leeds |
| Top point-scorer |  Colin Tyrer 385 |
| Top try-scorer | John Atkinson 38 |
Rule change
- Tactical substitutions were now allowed to occur after half time during a game, they had been permitted before half time since 1964.[1]
Season summary
Leeds had ended the regular season as league leaders for the fourth successive season. St. Helens won their fifth Rugby Football League Championship when they beat Leeds 24-12 in the final. Frank Myler was awarded the Harry Sunderland Trophy as man-of-the-match.
The Challenge Cup winners were Castleford who beat Wigan 7-2 in the final.
Wigan won the Lancashire League, and Leeds won the Yorkshire League. This was the last season in which the Lancashire League and Yorkshire League titles were awarded, as the competitions were abolished following a vote on fixture reform during the season.[2]
Championship
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leeds | 34 | 30 | 0 | 4 | 60 |
| 2 | Castleford | 34 | 25 | 1 | 8 | 51 |
| 3 | St. Helens | 34 | 23 | 1 | 10 | 47 |
| 4 | Wigan | 34 | 23 | 0 | 11 | 46 |
| 5 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 34 | 22 | 2 | 10 | 46 |
| 6 | Salford | 34 | 22 | 1 | 11 | 45 |
| 7 | Leigh | 34 | 21 | 3 | 10 | 45 |
| 8 | Featherstone Rovers | 34 | 22 | 1 | 11 | 45 |
| 9 | Swinton | 34 | 20 | 4 | 10 | 44 |
| 10 | Widnes | 34 | 21 | 2 | 11 | 44 |
| 11 | Hull | 34 | 20 | 2 | 12 | 42 |
| 12 | Bradford Northern | 34 | 19 | 0 | 15 | 38 |
| 13 | Whitehaven | 34 | 18 | 2 | 14 | 38 |
| 14 | Warrington | 34 | 17 | 2 | 15 | 36 |
| 15 | Huddersfield | 34 | 17 | 1 | 16 | 35 |
| 16 | Halifax | 34 | 16 | 0 | 18 | 32 |
| 17 | Batley | 34 | 15 | 1 | 18 | 31 |
| 18 | Bramley | 34 | 14 | 1 | 19 | 29 |
| 19 | Barrow | 34 | 14 | 1 | 19 | 29 |
| 20 | Rochdale Hornets | 34 | 13 | 3 | 18 | 29 |
| 21 | Wakefield Trinity | 34 | 13 | 2 | 19 | 28 |
| 22 | Dewsbury | 34 | 13 | 1 | 20 | 27 |
| 23 | Hunslet | 34 | 13 | 1 | 20 | 27 |
| 24 | Workington Town | 34 | 12 | 2 | 20 | 26 |
| 25 | Keighley | 34 | 13 | 0 | 21 | 26 |
| 26 | York | 34 | 11 | 1 | 22 | 23 |
| 27 | Doncaster | 34 | 7 | 0 | 27 | 14 |
| 28 | Huyton | 34 | 5 | 3 | 26 | 13 |
| 29 | Oldham | 34 | 6 | 0 | 28 | 12 |
| 30 | Blackpool Borough | 34 | 6 | 0 | 28 | 12 |
| Champions | Play-offs |
Play-offs
| Round of 16 | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||||
| Leeds | 26 | |||||||||||||||
 Halifax | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| Leeds | 45 | |||||||||||||||
 Whitehaven | 10 | |||||||||||||||
| Wigan | 20 | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Whitehaven | 20 | 9 | ||||||||||||||
| Leeds | 47 | |||||||||||||||
 Hull KR | 5 | |||||||||||||||
| Hull KR | 26 | |||||||||||||||
 Bradford Northern | 13 | |||||||||||||||
| Hull KR | 27 | |||||||||||||||
 Salford | 16 | |||||||||||||||
| Salford | 11 | |||||||||||||||
 Hull | 4 | |||||||||||||||
| Leeds | 12 | |||||||||||||||
| St Helens | 24 | |||||||||||||||
 Featherstone Rovers | 24 | |||||||||||||||
 Swinton | 18 | |||||||||||||||
| Featherstone Rovers | 3 | |||||||||||||||
 Castleford | 15 | |||||||||||||||
| Castleford | 17 | |||||||||||||||
 Huddersfield | 7 | |||||||||||||||
| Castleford | 9 | 12 | ||||||||||||||
| St Helens | 9 | 21 | ||||||||||||||
| St Helens | 36 | |||||||||||||||
 Warrington | 8 | |||||||||||||||
| St Helens | 16 | |||||||||||||||
 Leigh | 5 | |||||||||||||||
| Leigh | 21 | |||||||||||||||
 Widnes | 10 | |||||||||||||||
Final
16 May 1970 |
Odsal Stadium, Bradford Attendance: 26,358 Referee: Billy Thompson (Huddersfield) Player of the Match: Frank Myler |
| St Helens | Number | Leeds |
|---|---|---|
| Teams | ||
| Frank Barrow | 1 | John Holmes |
| Les Jones | 2 | Alan Smith |
| Billy Benyon | 3 | Syd Hynes |
| John Walsh | 4 | Ron Cowan |
| Eric Prescott | 5 | John Atkinson |
| Frank Myler | 6 | Mick Shoebottom |
| Jeff Heaton | 7 | Barry Seabourne (c) |
| Albert Halsall | 8 | John Burke |
| Bill Sayer | 9 | Tony Crosby |
| Cliff Watson (c) | 10 | Albert Eyre |
| John Mantle | 11 | Graham Eccles |
| Eric Chisnall | 12 | Bill Ramsey |
| Kel Coslett | 13 | Ray Batten |
| Subs | ||
| Alan Whittle | 14 | John Langley |
| Graham Rees | 15 | David Hick (for Ramsey) |
| Cliff Evans | Coach | Derek Turner |
Challenge Cup
Castleford beat Wigan 7-2 in the final played at Wembley in front of a crowd of 95,255.
This was Castleford’s third Cup Final win in three Final appearances and their second in successive years. It was also the lowest winning score in a Challenge Cup Final at Wembley.[5]
County cups
Swinton beat Leigh 11–2 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Hull F.C. beat Featherstone Rovers 12–9 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.
BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
The BBC2 Floodlit Trophy winners were Leigh who beat Wigan 11-6 in the final.[6]