The 1948–49 Rugby Football League season was the 54th season of rugby league football. This was Whitehaven's inaugural season in the League.
Season summary Warrington finished the regular season as the league leaders. However, Huddersfield won their sixth Championship when they beat Warrington 13–12 in the championship final. The game, played at Maine Road, Manchester, attracted a crowd of 75,194 and receipts of £11,073 setting new records for both attendances and receipts for a rugby league game played anywhere other than Wembley. Huddersfield's Australian fullback, Johnny Hunter scored 16 tries during the season, breaking the record for a fullback set by Jim Sullivan.
The Challenge Cup winners were Bradford who beat Halifax 12–0 in the final.
Warrington won the Lancashire League, and Huddersfield won the Yorkshire League. Wigan beat Warrington 14–8 to win the Lancashire Cup and Bradford Northern beat Castleford 18–9 to win the Yorkshire Cup.
Championship TeamPldWDLPts1Warrington363105622Wigan362817573Huddersfield362709544Barrow3625110515Widnes3624210506Batley3623013467Salford3620511458Workington Town3622113459Swinton36213124510Bradford Northern36220144411St. Helens36201154112Wakefield Trinity36191163913Hull36190173814Leeds36181173715Keighley36173163716Hunslet36170193417Hull Kingston Rovers36170193418Leigh36145173319Castleford36160203220Dewsbury36151203121Belle Vue Rangers36141212922Rochdale Hornets36123212723Oldham36123212724Bramley36122222625Halifax36113222526Featherstone Rovers3693242127Whitehaven3662281428York3652291229Liverpool Stanley3632318
Play-offs
Final
HuddersfieldNumberWarrington Teams Johnny Hunter1Les JonesJohn Anderson2Brian BevanArchie Ferguson3Albert PimblettPat Devery4Bill JacksonLionel Cooper5Roy FrancisRussell Pepperell6Jack FlemingBilly Banks7Gerry HelmeJohn Maiden8Bill DerbyshireMel Meek9Harold FishwickJohn Daly10Bill RileyIke Owens11Harry BathBob Nicholson12Jim FeatherstoneDave Valentine13Harold PalinCoachChris Brockbank
Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup tournament's final was to be played by Bradford and Halifax at Wembley Stadium. It was the first time tickets to the Challenge Cup final were sold out. Bradford won the game 12–0 in the final played in front of a world record rugby league crowd of 95,050. Trevor Foster and Eric Batten scored the tries for Bradford and Ernest Ward kicked three goals as well as winning the Lance Todd Trophy for man-of-the-match.
This was Bradford's fourth Cup Final win in seven Final appearances including one win and one loss during World War II.
County cups
Sources 1948-49 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com
References