1938–39 Northern Rugby Football League season


The 1938–39 Rugby Football League season was the 44th season of rugby league football.

Season summary

won their fourth Championship when they defeated Castleford 8-6 in the play-off final. Salford had also ended the regular season as league leaders.
The Challenge Cup Winners were Halifax who defeated Salford 20-3 in the final.
Newcastle dropped out of the competition.
Salford won the Lancashire League, and Castleford won the Yorkshire League. Wigan beat Salford 10–7 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Huddersfield beat Hull F.C. 18–10 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

Championship

TeamPldWDLPts-
1Salford40303763
2Castleford40293861
3Halifax40283959
4Huddersfield402821058
5Leeds402541154
6Swinton402611353
7Warrington402601452
8Barrow402431351
9Wigan402501550
10Widnes402231547
11Wakefield Trinity402051545
12Hull402131645
13Keighley402111843
14Oldham402021842
15Hunslet401941742
16Bradford Northern401912039
17Hull Kingston Rovers401831939
18York401822038
19Liverpool Stanley401812137
20Broughton Rangers401812137
21St. Helens401702334
22Featherstone Rovers401322528
23Batley401112823
24St Helens Recs401102922
25Bramley40852721
26Leigh40733017
27Dewsbury40523312
28Rochdale Hornets4040368

Championship Play-Offs

Challenge Cup

beat Salford 20-3 in the final played at Wembley on Saturday 6 May 1939 in front of a crowd of 55,453. There would be no Challenge Cup competition in 1939–40.
This was Halifax’s fourth Cup Final win in five Final appearances.
This was Salford’s fifth Final appearance and second in consecutive years, having won the Cup the previous season

European Championship

The tri-nation tournament was played between November 1938 and April 1939 as single round robin games between England, France and Wales. This was the fourth Rugby League European Championship, and was won by France.


Match Details


DateVenueHome TeamScoreAway Team
5 Nov 1938LlanelliWales17 - 9England
25 Feb 1939St HelensEngland9 - 12France
2 Apr 1938BordeauxFrance16 - 10Wales