The 1968–69 Rugby Football League season was the 74th season of rugby league football.
Season summary
Leeds had finished the regular season as League leaders for the third season in a row. They then won their second Championship when they beat Castleford 16-14 in the Championship Final. Bev Risman was awarded the Harry Sunderland Trophy as man-of-the-match.
The Challenge Cup winners were Castleford who beat Salford 11-6 in the final.
St. Helens won the Lancashire League, and Leeds won the Yorkshire League.
Championship
TeamPldWDLPts1Leeds342923602St. Helens342725563Wigan342527524Castleford342428505Swinton3423011466Salford3419510437Featherstone Rovers3421112438Workington Town3421013429Leigh34194114210Hull Kingston Rovers34200144011York34200144012Wakefield Trinity34191143913Hull34183133914Widnes34191143915Keighley34181153716Oldham34180163617Warrington34171163518Halifax34162163419Bradford Northern34160183220Barrow34131202721Rochdale Hornets34130212622Dewsbury34121212523Hunslet34110232224Doncaster34110232225Huddersfield3491241926Batley3481251727Huyton3480261628Bramley3470271429Blackpool Borough3470271430Whitehaven34612713
Champions Play-offs
Play-offs
Final
LeedsNumberCastleford Teams Bev Risman1Derek EdwardsRon Cowan2Trevor BriggsSyd Hynes3Keith HoweBernard Watson4Tony ThomasJohn Atkinson5Alan LowndesMick Shoebottom6Alan HardistyBarry Seabourne7Keith HepworthMick Clark8Dennis HartleyTony Crosby9Clive DickinsonKenny Eyre10Johnny WardMick Joyce11Mick RedfearnBill Ramsey12Brian LockwoodRay Batten13Mal ReillySubsJohn Langley (for Seabourne)14Trevor BedfordDavid Hick (for Clark)15Frank Fox (for Reilly)Joe WarhamCoachDerek Turner
Challenge Cup
Castleford beat Salford 11-6 in the final played at Wembley before a crowd of 97,939. Salford were captained by David Watkins.
This was Castleford’s second Cup Final win in two Final appearances.
This is Salford’s most recent appearance in a Challenge Cup Final.
County cups
St. Helens beat Oldham 30–2 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Leeds beat Castleford 22–11 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.
BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
The BBC2 Floodlit Trophy winners were Wigan who beat St. Helens 7-4 in the final.
References
Sources
1968-69 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com The Challenge Cup at The Rugby Football League website