1960–61 Northern Rugby Football League season


The 1960–61 Northern Rugby Football League season was the 66th season of rugby league football.

Season summary

won their first Championship when they defeated Warrington 25-10 in the play-off final.
The Challenge Cup winners were St. Helens who beat Wigan 12-6 in the final.
Swinton won the Lancashire League, and Leeds won the Yorkshire League. St. Helens beat Swinton 15–9 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Wakefield Trinity beat Huddersfield 16–10 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

Championship

TeamPldWDLPts
1Leeds36300660
2Warrington36271855
3Swinton36271855
4St. Helens36270954
5Wigan362601052
6Leigh362601052
7Wakefield Trinity362601052
8Oldham362511051
9Featherstone Rovers362311247
10Workington Town362101542
11Hull362011541
12Hull Kingston Rovers361921540
13Halifax361911639
14Huddersfield361821638
15Hunslet361801836
16Whitehaven361721736
17Castleford361621834
18York361621834
19Batley361611933
20Widnes361602032
21Blackpool Borough361431931
22Bramley361212325
23Salford361122324
24Bradford Northern361022422
25Keighley361012521
26Barrow36922520
27Dewsbury36832519
28Rochdale Hornets36902718
29Liverpool City36513011
30Doncaster3630336

Play-offs

Championship final

This match was Warrington loose forward Albert Naughton's last appearance.

Challenge Cup

St Helens reached the Challenge Cup Final by beating Widnes 29–10 on 16 Feb away in round one after a 5–5 draw at home on 11 Feb; Castleford 18–10 away in round two on 25 Feb; Swinton 17–9 at home in the quarter-finals on 11 Mar and Hull 26–9 on neutral ground in the semi-final on 15 Apr.
St Helens beat Wigan 12–6 in the Final played at Wembley Stadium in front of a crowd of 94,672 on 13 May 1961. St Helens’ points were scored by Alex Murphy, Tom van Vollenhoven and Austin Rhodes. The Lance Todd Trophy winner was St Helens' second-row forward, Dick Huddart.
This was St Helens’ second Challenge Cup Final win in six Final appearances.