1979–80 Northern Rugby Football League season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1979–80 Northern Rugby Football League season was the 85th season of rugby league football. Sixteen English clubs competed for the Northern Rugby Football League's First Division, with Bradford Northern claiming the title by for the first time.
| 1979–80 Rugby Football League season | |
|---|---|
| League | Northern Rugby Football League |
| Teams | First Division: 16 Second Division: 14 |
| First Division | |
| Champions | Bradford Northern (1st title) |
| Premiership | Widnes |
| Man of Steel Award |  George Fairbairn |
| Top point-scorer | Steve Quinn (375) |
| Top try-scorers |
|
| Promotion and relegation | |
| Promoted from Second Division | |
| Relegated to Second Division | |
| Second Division | |
| Winners | Featherstone Rovers |
| Runners-up | Halifax |
Season summary
- Bradford Northern won their first ever Championship this season. Wigan, Hunslet (having dropped the prefix of 'New' from New Hunslet), York and Blackpool Borough were relegated.
- Second Division Champions were Featherstone Rovers, Halifax, Oldham and Barrow were also promoted.[1]
- Second place Widnes beat league champions Bradford Northern in the Premiership final.
First Division
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PP | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bradford Northern (C) | 30 | 23 | 0 | 7 | 448 | 272 | 164.7 | 46 | Qualification for Premiership first round |
| 2 | Widnes | 30 | 22 | 1 | 7 | 546 | 293 | 186.3 | 45 | |
| 3 | Hull | 30 | 18 | 3 | 9 | 454 | 326 | 139.3 | 39 | |
| 4 | Salford | 30 | 19 | 1 | 10 | 495 | 374 | 132.4 | 39 | |
| 5 | Leeds | 30 | 19 | 0 | 11 | 590 | 390 | 151.3 | 38 | |
| 6 | Leigh | 30 | 16 | 1 | 13 | 451 | 354 | 127.4 | 33 | |
| 7 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 30 | 16 | 1 | 13 | 539 | 445 | 121.1 | 33 | |
| 8 | St. Helens | 30 | 15 | 2 | 13 | 505 | 410 | 123.2 | 32 | |
| 9 | Warrington | 30 | 15 | 2 | 13 | 362 | 357 | 101.4 | 32 | |
| 10 | Wakefield Trinity | 30 | 14 | 2 | 14 | 435 | 466 | 93.3 | 30 | |
| 11 | Castleford | 30 | 13 | 2 | 15 | 466 | 475 | 98.1 | 28 | |
| 12 | Workington Town | 30 | 12 | 2 | 16 | 348 | 483 | 72.0 | 26 | |
| 13 | Wigan (R) | 30 | 9 | 3 | 18 | 366 | 523 | 70.0 | 21 | Relegated to Second Dibision |
| 14 | Hunslet (R) | 30 | 7 | 1 | 22 | 346 | 528 | 65.5 | 15 | |
| 15 | York (R) | 30 | 6 | 1 | 23 | 375 | 647 | 58.0 | 13 | |
| 16 | Blackpool Borough (R) | 30 | 5 | 0 | 25 | 230 | 613 | 37.5 | 10 |
Source: [2]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points scored percentage (points scored divided by points conceded)
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points scored percentage (points scored divided by points conceded)
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Second Division
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PP | Pts | Promotion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Featherstone Rovers (C, P) | 26 | 21 | 2 | 3 | 724 | 280 | 258.6 | 44 | Promoted to First Division |
| 2 | Halifax (P) | 26 | 19 | 3 | 4 | 463 | 213 | 217.4 | 41 | |
| 3 | Oldham (P) | 26 | 19 | 3 | 4 | 513 | 276 | 185.9 | 41 | |
| 4 | Barrow (P) | 26 | 18 | 1 | 7 | 582 | 280 | 207.9 | 37 | |
| 5 | Whitehaven | 26 | 15 | 1 | 10 | 397 | 276 | 143.8 | 31 | |
| 6 | Dewsbury | 26 | 13 | 2 | 11 | 408 | 343 | 119.0 | 28 | |
| 7 | Rochdale Hornets | 26 | 9 | 5 | 12 | 315 | 373 | 84.5 | 23 | |
| 8 | Swinton | 26 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 331 | 436 | 75.9 | 23 | |
| 9 | Batley | 26 | 10 | 2 | 14 | 232 | 370 | 62.7 | 22 | |
| 10 | Bramley | 26 | 10 | 1 | 15 | 330 | 451 | 73.2 | 21 | |
| 11 | Keighley | 26 | 10 | 0 | 16 | 342 | 396 | 86.4 | 20 | |
| 12 | Huddersfield | 26 | 10 | 0 | 16 | 363 | 423 | 85.8 | 20 | |
| 13 | Huyton | 26 | 5 | 0 | 21 | 209 | 555 | 37.7 | 10 | |
| 14 | Doncaster | 26 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 196 | 733 | 26.7 | 3 |
Source: [3]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points scored percentage (points scored divided by points conceded)
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points scored percentage (points scored divided by points conceded)
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted
Premiership
17 May 1980 |
| Widnes (2) | 19-5 | Bradford Northern (1) |
|---|---|---|
| T-Wright, Aspey, Bentley, Elwell, Gorley G-Burke; DG-Eckersley, Elwell |
T-Redfearn DG-Mumby |
Station Road, Swinton Attendance: 10,215 |
Statistics
The following are the top points scorers in the 1979–80 season.[4]
|
Most tries
|
Most goals (including drop goals)
|