1897-98 Northern Rugby Football Union season

The 1897–98 Northern Rugby Football Union

Rugby Football League

The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league football in England. Based at Red Hall in Leeds, it administers the England national rugby league team, the Challenge Cup, Super League and the Rugby League Championships...

season was the third season of rugby league football

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

Summary

The leading try scorer this season was Hoskins of Salford, who crossed the line 30 times. The leading goal scorer was Goldthorpe of Hunslet who was successful 66 times. The leading points scorer was also Goldthorpe who scored 135 points in the season.

Oldham won the Lancashire Senior Competition and Hunslet won in Yorkshire, but only after winning a play-off with Bradford.

Rule changes

The line-out was abolished and replaced with the punt-out.
The value of all goals was reduced to two points.

Lancashire Senior Competition

Oldham won the Lancashire competition outright. Although participating in the Lancashire Senior Competition, Runcorn and Stockport were from Cheshire. Warrington

Warrington Wolves

Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league football club based in Warrington, England that competes in Super League. They play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2003....

, and Widnes

Widnes Vikings

Widnes Vikings RLFC are an English professional rugby league club based in Widnes, Cheshire. They currently play in the Engage Super League, the top tier of European rugby league, after being awarded a license to compete in the top-flight Super League from 2012 onward...

were from parts of Lancashire now administered as Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

201
Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD
1	Oldham Oldham Roughyeds Oldham Roughyeds is an English professional rugby league club based in Oldham, Greater Manchester. They currently play in the Championship One. Oldham is one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895....	26	22	1	2	295	94
47
2	Swinton Swinton Lions Swinton Lions is an English professional rugby league club from Swinton, Greater Manchester. The club has won the Championship six times and three Challenge Cups. They currently play in the Championship.-Early years:...	26	20	3	3	321	83
43
3	Widnes Widnes Vikings Widnes Vikings RLFC are an English professional rugby league club based in Widnes, Cheshire. They currently play in the Engage Super League, the top tier of European rugby league, after being awarded a license to compete in the top-flight Super League from 2012 onward...	26	19	1	6	251	114
39
4	Salford Salford City Reds Salford City Reds are an English rugby league club based in Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1873, they currently play in the Super League. They have won six Rugby Football League Championships and one Challenge Cup...	26	16	3	7	275	182
33
5	Broughton Rangers Broughton Rangers Broughton Rangers was a British rugby football, and subsequently a rugby league club. It was based in Broughton, Salford.-History:Broughton Rangers was founded in 1877 as Broughton and added Rangers for its second season...	26	13	4	9	183	108
30
6	Wigan Wigan Warriors Wigan Warriors is an English rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club's first team squad competes in the engage Super League and the team are the current Challenge Cup holders as of the 27th August 2011....	26	11	1	14	124	173
23
7	Leigh Leigh Centurions Leigh Centurions is an English professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester who play in the Co-operative Championship.The club was founded in 1878 as Leigh Rugby Football Club and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in...	26	11	2	13	176	170
22
8	St Helens	26	10	2	14	161	192
22
9	Warrington Warrington Wolves Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league football club based in Warrington, England that competes in Super League. They play at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2003....	26	10	2	14	131	178
22
10	Runcorn	26	9	2	15	142	184
20
11	Stockport	26	8	2	16	154	253
18
12	Tyldesley	26	8	1	17	111	281
17
13	Rochdale Hornets Rochdale Hornets Rochdale Hornets RLFC is an English professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. They currently play in Championship One...	26	7	0	19	146	247
14
14	Morecambe Morecambe (Rugby League) Morecambe was a professional rugby league club.The club was based in Morecambe , a resort town within the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England. Together with adjoining small port of Heysham the population is approx. 51,000....	26	4	2	20	74	285
10

Champions

League points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.

Pld = Games played; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; PF = Match points scored; PA = Match points conceded; PD = Points difference; Pts = League points.

Summary

Rule changes

Lancashire Senior Competition

Yorkshire Senior Competition

Yorkshire Senior Competition Play Off

General

Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD
1	Hunslet Hunslet Hawks Hunslet Hawks is a professional rugby league club based in Hunslet, West Yorkshire, England. The club, sometimes known as 'the Parksiders' after their former stadium, are currently champions of Championship One.-History:-Early years:...	30	22	4	4	327	117
48
2	Bradford	30	23	2	5	319	139
48
3	Batley Batley Bulldogs Batley Bulldogs are an English professional rugby league club from Batley, West Yorkshire. They currently play in the Co-operative Championship. Batley is one of the original twenty-two rugby football clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895...	30	17	3	10	234	111
37
4	Halifax Halifax RLFC Halifax RLFC is one of the most historic rugby league clubs in the game, formed over a century ago, in 1873 in the Yorkshire town of Halifax. Known as 'Fax', the official club colours are blue and white hoops, blue shorts and blue socks . They share The Shay stadium with football club FC Halifax Town...	30	16	3	11	193	164
35
5	Manningham	30	15	4	11	276	181
34
6	Castleford	30	16	1	13	256	208
33
7	Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wakefield Trinity Wildcats are a professional rugby league club that plays in the European Super League and is based in Wakefield. They achieved promotion in 1999 and have remained in the League since. They are known to their fans as Wakey, Trinity, Wildcats, or historically The Dreadnoughts...	30	16	1	13	248	214
33
8	Leeds Parish Church Leeds Parish Church RFC (Rugby League) Leeds Parish Church RFC was a professional rugby league club.The club was based in Leeds , a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England....	30	15	1	14	187	213
31
9	Leeds Leeds Rhinos Leeds Rhinos is an English professional rugby league football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The club won the 2011 Super League and became the most successful club in the Super League era, beating St Helens 32-16 on 8th October 2011. Formed in 1890, Leeds competes in Europe's Super League...	30	13	4	13	186	171
30
10	Huddersfield Huddersfield Giants Huddersfield Giants are a professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire who play in the European Super League competition. They play their home games at the Galpharm Stadium which is shared with Huddersfield Town F.C....	30	12	3	15	208	170
27
11	Hull	30	11	4	15	192	187
26
12	Bramley Bramley Buffaloes Bramley Buffaloes is a rugby league club from the Bramley area of West Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. Previously known simply as Bramley RLFC, the club is a famous name in rugby league, having existed prior to the formation of the Northern Union in 1895...	30	11	4	15	156	199
26
13	Brighouse Rovers	30	9	5	16	143	172
23
14	Holbeck	30	11	0	19	171	310
22
15	Heckmondwike Heckmondwike Heckmondwike is a small town in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees, which is located geographically at the centre of West Yorkshire, England, south west of Leeds. Close to Cleckheaton and Liversedge, it is part of Cleckheckmondsedge, a name invented by J.B. Priestley to represent a West Riding...	30	9	2	19	148	315
20
16	Liversedge	30	3	1	26	76	449
7