1971–72 Northern Rugby Football League season
Introduction The '''1971–72 Northern Rugby Football League season''' was the 77th season of rugby league football. This season saw the entry of rugby league's first sponsors: Joshua Tetley and John Player.
Season summary This season saw the introduction of the League Cup competition as a major secondary competition to the Challenge Cup. Due to sponsorship it was never commonly known as the League Cup. It began in this year as the '''Player's No.6 Trophy''' and finished up as the '''Regal Trophy''' before being abandoned after 1995-96 when the sport switched to summer.Leeds won their third Championship when they beat St. Helens 9-5 in the Championship Final. Leeds also finished the regular season as league leaders.The Challenge Cup winners were St. Helens who beat Leeds 16-13 in the final.Player's No.6 Trophy winners were Halifax who beat Wakefield Trinity 22-11 in the final.Wigan beat Widnes 15–8 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Hull Kingston Rovers beat Castleford 11–7 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.
Championship TeamPldWDLPts1Leeds342824582Bradford Northern342626543St. Helens342617534Wigan342509505Salford342509506Swinton342329487Featherstone Rovers3423110478Rochdale Hornets3421112439Wakefield Trinity34210134210Castleford34201134111Widnes34193124112Dewsbury34182143813Oldham34181153714Hull Kingston Rovers34180163615Warrington34163153516Leigh34170173417Huddersfield34170173418Barrow34162163419Hull34160183220York34152173221Halifax34140202822Bramley34130212623Whitehaven34120222424Workington Town34112212425Blackpool Borough34110232226Keighley3480261627Huyton3471261528Batley3452271229Doncaster3450291030Hunslet3420324===Play-offs======Final===The Championship final was played at Swinton.Leeds scorers: John Atkinson (1 try), Terry Clawson (3 goals)St Helens scorers: Les Greenall (1 try), John Walsh (1 goal)
Challenge Cup The final was played between St. Helens and Leeds at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 13 May 1972, in front of a crowd of 89,495.After leading 12-6 at half time, St Helens beat Leeds 16-13.St Helens scorers were Les Jones (1 try), Graham Rees (1 try), and Kel Coslett (5 goals). St Helens forward Kel Coslett was the man of the match winning the Lance Todd Trophy.This was St Helens’ fourth Cup Final win in eight Final appearances.
League Cup
References
Sources *  1971-72 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com *  The Challenge Cup at The Rugby Football League website