1987–88 Rugby Football League season

Rugby league season
  • Oldham
  • Featherstone Rovers
  • Wakefield Trinity
Relegated to Second Division
Second DivisionChampions OldhamTop point-scorer(s)Kevin Pape (Carlisle) 23

The 1987–88 Rugby Football League season was the 93rd season of rugby league football in Britain.

Season summary

During the summer of 1987, freedom of contract was introduced, replacing the retain and transfer system used in previous seasons. Players could now negotiate a move to another club at the end of their contract, with the new club paying compensation to the player's former club. An independent tribunal was created to rule on transfers where the two clubs were unable to agree on a fee.[1] The first case decided by the new tribunal was on 27 August 1987, setting a £40,000 fee for Ged Byrne's transfer from Salford to Wigan.[2]

During the season, defending champions Wigan hosted NSWRL champions, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the 1987 World Club Challenge match. Wigan were World Club Champions for the first time when they beat Manly-Warringah 8–2 at Central Park, Wigan on 7 Oct 1987 before a crowd of 36,895 [3]

The Stones Bitter League Champions were Widnes for the second time in their history, exactly ten years after their first. Leigh, Swinton and Hunslet were relegated.

The Challenge Cup winners were Wigan who beat Halifax 32–12 in the final.

John Player Special Trophy winners were St. Helens who beat Leeds 15–14 in the final.

Rugby League Premiership Trophy Winners were Widnes who beat St. Helens 38–14 in the final.

2nd Division Champions were Oldham. Featherstone Rovers and Wakefield Trinity were also promoted. Blackpool Borough changed their name to Springfield Borough.

Wigan beat Warrington 28–16 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Bradford Northern beat Castleford 12–12 (replay 11–2) to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

At the end of the season players from the League were selected to go on the 1988 Great Britain Lions tour.

League Tables

Championship final Standings

Team Pld W D L PF PA Pts
1 Widnes 26 20 0 6 641 311 40
2 St. Helens 26 18 0 8 672 337 36
3 Wigan 26 17 2 7 621 327 36
4 Bradford Northern 26 18 0 8 528 304 36
5 Leeds 26 15 3 8 577 450 33
6 Warrington 26 14 2 10 531 416 30
7 Castleford 26 13 0 13 505 559 26
8 Halifax 26 12 0 14 499 437 24
9 Hull Kingston Rovers 26 11 1 14 420 480 23
10 Hull 26 11 0 15 364 595 22
11 Salford 26 10 0 16 368 561 20
12 Leigh 26 9 0 17 416 559 18
13 Swinton 26 4 2 20 390 780 10
14 Hunslet 26 4 2 20 363 779 10
  Champions   Play-offs   Relegated

Second Division

Team Pld W D L PF PA Pts
1 Oldham 28 23 1 4 771 335 47
2 Featherstone Rovers 28 21 2 5 712 353 44
3 Wakefield Trinity 28 20 1 7 666 315 41
4 Springfield Borough 28 18 0 10 448 356 36
5 Sheffield Eagles 28 16 1 11 490 429 33
6 York 28 15 1 12 558 526 31
7 Mansfield Marksman 28 15 1 12 439 412 31
8 Keighley 28 15 0 13 497 428 30
9 Barrow 28 14 2 12 382 397 30
10 Workington Town 28 15 0 13 380 441 30
11 Carlisle 28 14 1 13 388 444 29
12 Runcorn Highfield 28 14 0 14 420 469 28
13 Whitehaven 28 10 1 17 417 452 21
14 Bramley 28 10 1 17 400 600 21
15 Dewsbury 28 10 0 18 417 519 20
16 Doncaster 28 9 2 17 406 512 20
17 Fulham 28 10 0 18 382 559 20
18 Rochdale Hornets 28 10 0 18 322 514 20
19 Huddersfield Barracudas 28 7 1 20 383 597 15
20 Batley 28 6 1 21 305 523 13
  Promoted

Challenge Cup

Wigan had reached the final by beating Bradford Northern 2–0 in Round One at home on 30 Jan; Leeds 30–14 in Round Two at home on 14 Feb; Widnes 10–1 in the Quarter Final at home on 27 Feb and Salford 34–4 in the semi-final played at Bolton on 12 Mar.

Wigan beat Halifax 32–12 in the final played at Wembley before a crowd of 94,273.[4]

This was Wigan's ninth Challenge Cup Final win in eighteen Final appearances. It was the start of their record breaking eight Challenge Cup Final wins in a row.

The Wigan scrum half, Andy Gregory, won the Lance Todd Trophy for his man-of-the-match performance.

  • v
  • t
  • e
Wigan squad – 1987–88 Challenge Cup Final winners
see also… 1987–88 season

John Player Special Trophy

County cups

Premiership

References

  1. ^ Fitzpatrick, Paul (27 June 1987). "Freedon from the murkier depths". The Guardian. London. p. 17. ProQuest 186698335.
  2. ^ "Sport In Brief". The Guardian. London. 28 August 1987. p. 21. ProQuest 186860056.
  3. ^ "1987-88 Season summary". Archived from the original on 2009-08-27. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  4. ^ "RFL Challenge Cup Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 2009-09-01. Retrieved 2009-08-07.

Sources

  • 1987-88 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com
  • The Challenge Cup at The Rugby Football League website
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