1966–67 Northern Rugby Football League season

The 1966–67 Northern Rugby Football League season was the 72nd season of rugby league football in Britain. After Leeds had ended the regular season as league leaders, Wakefield Trinity won their first Championship when they beat St. Helens 21-9 in the Final replay, after a 7-7 draw. The Challenge Cup-winners were Featherstone Rovers who beat Barrow 17-12 in the Wembley final.

1966–67 Northern Rugby Football League season
League	Northern Rugby Football League
Champions	Wakefield Trinity
League Leaders	Leeds
Top point-scorer(s)	Len Killeen 353
Top try-scorer(s)	Chris Young 34 Keith Howe 34
← 1965–66 1967–68 →

Rule changes

Limited tackles:

• The Rugby Football League ended unlimited tackles, introducing a four-tackle rule.^[1] The introduction of the "tackle count" in December 1966 meant a team now had a limited number of tackles in which to score before they must surrender possession to their opponents. The limit would remain four until an increase to six tackles in 1972.^[1]

Championship

League table

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts
1	Leeds	34	29	0	5	58
2	Hull Kingston Rovers	34	26	2	6	54
3	Wakefield Trinity	34	27	0	7	54
4	St. Helens	34	22	3	9	47
5	Bradford Northern	34	22	2	10	46
6	Workington Town	34	22	1	11	45
7	Swinton	34	20	3	11	43
8	Castleford	34	21	0	13	42
9	Hull	34	18	3	13	39
10	Oldham	34	18	2	14	38
11	Halifax	34	18	2	14	38
12	Warrington	34	18	1	15	37
13	Leigh	34	17	3	14	37
14	Salford	34	18	1	15	37
15	Barrow	34	17	2	15	36
16	Widnes	34	15	5	14	35
17	Wigan	34	17	0	17	34
18	Rochdale Hornets	34	15	4	15	34
19	Dewsbury	34	15	1	18	31
20	Featherstone Rovers	34	12	3	19	27
21	Huddersfield	34	13	0	21	26
22	York	34	13	0	21	26
23	Bramley	34	12	0	22	24
24	Keighley	34	11	1	22	23
25	Hunslet	34	9	2	23	20
26	Blackpool Borough	34	9	2	23	20
27	Whitehaven	34	10	0	24	20
28	Liverpool City	34	9	0	25	18
29	Doncaster	34	8	1	25	17
30	Batley	34	7	0	27	14

Play-offs

	Round of 16				Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	Leeds	27
	Widnes	18
					Leeds	9
					Castleford	13
	Castleford	21
	Hull	7
									Castleford	3
									St Helens	14
	Bradford Northern	12
	Warrington	6
					Bradford Northern	8
					St Helens	15
	St Helens	37
	Leigh	12
													Wakefield Trinity	7-21
													St Helens	7-9
	Wakefield Trinity	48
	Salford	8
					Wakefield Trinity	22
					Workington Town	2
	Workington Town	23
	Halifax	14
									Wakefield Trinity	18
									Hull KR	6
	Swinton	12-15
	Oldham	12-7
					Swinton	10
					Hull KR	36
	Hull KR	17
	Barrow	15

Final

The 1966/67 Championship Final replay was played between Wakefield Trinity and St. Helens on Wednesday, 10 May 1967 at Station Road Ground before a crowd of 33,537.^[2] Wakefield Trinity won 21-9 with their try-scoring scrum half back, Ray Owen being awarded the Harry Sunderland Trophy as man-of-the-match.

Final

6 May 1967

Wakefield Trinity	7 – 7	St Helens
Tries: Owen Goals: N. Fox (2)	[3]	Tries: Watson Goals: Killeen (2)

Headingley, Leeds Attendance: 20,161 Referee: J. Manley (Warrington)

Wakefield Trinity	Number	St Helens
	Teams
Gary Cooper	1	Frank Barrow
Kenneth Hirst	2	Tom van Vollenhoven
Ian Brooke	3	Tony Barrow
Neil Fox	4	Wilf Smith
Gert Coetzer	5	Len Killeen
Harold Poynton	6	Peter Douglas
Ray Owen	7	Tommy Bishop
John Bath	8	John Warlow
Bernard Prior	9	Bill Sayer
Edward Campbell	10	Cliff Watson
Geoff Clarkson	11	Ray French
Bob Haigh	12	Brian Hogan
Don Fox	13	John Mantle
	Subs
Kenneth Batty	14	John Houghton
David Hawley	15	Joe Robinson (for Hogan)
	0
Ken Traill	Coach	Joe Coan

Replay

10 May 1967

Wakefield Trinity	21 – 9	St Helens
Tries: Brooke (2), Hirst, Poynton, Owen Goals: N. Fox (3)	[4]	Tries: Van Vollenhoven Goals: Killeen (2), Bishop

Station Road, Swinton Attendance: 33,537 Referee: J. Manley (Warrington) Player of the Match: Ray Owen

Wakefield Trinity	Number	St Helens
	Teams
Gary Cooper	1	Frank Barrow
Kenneth Hirst	2	Tom van Vollenhoven
Ian Brooke	3	Tony Barrow
Neil Fox	4	Wilf Smith
Gert Coetzer	5	Len Killeen
Harold Poynton	6	Peter Douglas
Ray Owen	7	Tommy Bishop
John Bath	8	John Warlow
Bernard Prior	9	Bill Sayer
Edward Campbell	10	Cliff Watson
Geoff Clarkson	11	Ray French
Bob Haigh	12	Brian Hogan
Don Fox	13	John Mantle
	Subs
	14	John Houghton
	15	Joe Robinson
	0
Ken Traill	Coach	Joe Coan

Challenge Cup

Main article: 1966–67 Challenge Cup

In the Challenge Cup Final Featherstone Rovers faced Barrow, who were captain-coached by Jim Challinor at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 13 May 1967 in front of a crowd of 76,290.

Featherstone Rovers won 17-12 and it was their first Cup Final win in two Final appearances.^[5]

County cups

Main article: 1966–67 Lancashire Cup

Main article: 1966–67 Yorkshire Cup

St. Helens won the Lancashire League, and Leeds won the Yorkshire League. Wigan beat Oldham 16–13 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Hull Kingston Rovers beat Featherstone Rovers 25–12 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

Main article: 1966–67 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy

The BBC2 Floodlit Trophy winners were Castleford who beat Swinton 7-2 in the final.^[6]