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 a new knock-out competition, the Player's No.6 Trophy, as a major secondary competition to the Challenge 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.
Championship
Play-offs
Final The Championship final was played at Swinton.
LeedsNumberSt Helens Teams John Holmes1Geoff PimblettAlan Smith2Les JonesJohn Langley3Billy BenyonLes Dyl4John WalshJohn Atkinson5Frank WilsonAlan Hardisty6Ken KellyDavid Barham7Jeff HeatonTerry Clawson8Graham ReesDavid Ward9Les GreenallTony Fisher10John StephensPhil Cookson11John MantleGraham Eccles12Eric ChisnallRay Batten13Kel CoslettSubsDavid Hick (for Holmes)14Alan Whittle (for Jones)Fred Pickup (for Fisher)15Kelvin EarlDerek TurnerCoachJim Challinor
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.
Player's No.6 Trophy
Player's No.6 Trophy winners were Halifax who beat Wakefield Trinity 22-11 in the final.
County cups
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.
References
Sources
1971-72 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com The Challenge Cup at The Rugby Football League website