1980–81 Rugby Football League season

The 1980–81 Rugby Football League season was the 86th season of professional rugby league football in Britain. Sixteen teams competed from August 1980 until May 1981 for the Slalom Lager Championship.

1980–81 Rugby Football League season
League	Slalom Lager Championship
Teams	16
Champions	Bradford Northern
Premiership winners	Hull Kingston Rovers
Man of Steel Award	Ken Kelly
Top point-scorer(s)	Steve Hesford 310
Top try-scorer(s)	Terry Richardson 28
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from Second Division	York Wigan Fulham Whitehaven
Relegated to Second Division	Halifax Salford Workington Town Oldham
Second Division
Champions	York
Top try-scorer(s)	John Crossley Jr. 35
← 1979–80 1981–82 →

Season summary

• Slalom Lager League Champions: Bradford Northern
• Challenge Cup Winners: Widnes (18-9 v Hull Kingston Rovers)
• Slalom Lager Premiership Trophy Winners: Hull Kingston Rovers (11-7 v Hull)
• John Player Special Trophy Winners: Warrington (12-5 v Barrow)
• 2nd Division Champions: York

For the only time in their history, Wigan competed outside the top flight of Rugby League in this season. Fulham RLFC joined the competition in Division Two, later becoming the London Crusaders, London Broncos (twice), and Harlequins Rugby League.

Bradford Northern finished on top of the First Division table to claim their second championship, and Hull Kingston Rovers won the Rugby League Premiership competition.

League Tables

Championship Final Standings Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts 1 Bradford Northern 30 20 1 9 447 345 +102 41 2 Warrington 30 19 1 10 459 330 +129 39 3 Hull Kingston Rovers 30 18 2 10 509 408 +101 38 4 Wakefield Trinity 30 18 2 10 544 454 +90 38 5 Castleford 30 18 2 10 526 459 +67 38 6 Widnes 30 16 2 12 428 356 +72 34 7 Hull 30 17 0 13 442 450 -8 34 8 St Helens 30 15 1 14 465 370 +95 31 9 Leigh 30 14 1 15 416 414 +2 29 10 Leeds 30 14 0 16 388 468 -80 28 11 Barrow 30 13 0 17 405 498 -93 26 12 Featherstone Rovers 30 12 0 18 467 446 +21 24 13 Halifax 30 11 0 19 385 450 -65 22 14 Salford 30 10 1 19 473 583 -110 21 15 Workington Town 30 9 3 18 335 457 -122 21 16 Oldham 30 7 2 21 362 563 -201 16

Second Division Club P W D L PF PA Pts 1 York 28 23 0 5 649 331 46 2 Wigan 28 20 3 5 597 293 43 3 Fulham 28 20 0 8 447 237 40 4 Whitehaven 28 19 1 8 409 250 39 5 Huddersfield 28 18 1 9 429 310 37 6 Swinton 28 18 1 9 440 302 36 7 Keighley 28 14 1 13 445 501 29 8 Hunslet 28 13 1 14 447 430 27 9 Bramley 28 13 1 14 433 418 27 10 Rochdale Hornets 28 13 0 15 406 418 26 11 Batley 28 12 0 16 386 432 24 12 Dewsbury 28 11 1 16 346 364 23 13 Doncaster 28 5 0 23 250 562 10 14 Blackpool Borough 28 4 1 23 212 419 9 15 Huyton 28 2 0 26 211 796 4   Champions   Play-offs   Promoted   Relegated

Cups

Challenge Cup

Main article: 1980–81 Challenge Cup

The 1980–81 State Express Challenge Cup was won by Widnes after defeating Hull Kingston Rovers 18–9 in the final.

The Final was played at Wembley before a crowd of 92,496.

John Player Trophy

Main article: 1980–81 John Player Trophy

Warrington won the John Player Trophy for the third time in their history, beating Barrow 12–5 at Central Park, Wigan.

County cups

Main article: 1980–81 Lancashire Cup

Main article: 1980–81 Yorkshire Cup

Warrington beat Wigan 26–10 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Leeds beat Hull Kingston Rovers 8–7 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.

Premiership

Main article: 1980–81 Rugby League Premiership

Hull Kingston Rovers won the Premiership competition for the first time, defeating local rivals Hull 11–7 at Headingley, Leeds.

New Zealand Kiwis Tour

Main article: 1980 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain and France

September until November also saw the appearance of the New Zealand team in England on their 1980 tour. Other than the three test series against Great Britain, The Kiwis played matches club and county sides.

The 1980 Kiwis were coached by Ces Mountford and were captained by Mark Graham.

Dane O'Hara, who would join Hull F.C. following the tour was the leading try scorer with 6. Scrum half Gordon Smith (who would join Hull Kingston Rovers in 1982) was the tours leading point scorer with 33 from 1 try and 15 goals.

game	Date	Result	Venue	Attendance
1	28 September	New Zealand def. Blackpool Borough 23–5	Borough Park, Blackpool	1,312
2	5 October	New Zealand def. Hull F.C. 33–10	Boothferry Park, Kingston upon Hull	15,945
3	8 October	Cumbria def. New Zealand 9–3	Recreation Ground, Whitehaven	4,070
4	12 October	St Helens def. New Zealand 11–6	Knowsley Road, St Helens	6,000
5	14 October	Bradford Northern def. New Zealand 15–10	Odsal Stadium, Bradford	4,553
6	18 October	Great Britain drew with  New Zealand 14–14	Central Park, Wigan	7,031
7	22 October	New Zealand def. Hull Kingston Rovers 20–12	Craven Park, Kingston upon Hull	9,516
8	26 October	New Zealand def. Leeds 25–5	Headingley, Leeds	5,662
9	29 October	Warrington def. New Zealand 13–6	Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington	5,680
10	2 November	New Zealand def.  Great Britain 12–8	Odsal Stadium, Bradford	10,946
11	5 November	New Zealand def. Great Britain U/24 18–14	Craven Cottage, London	2,397
12	9 November	Widnes def. New Zealand 13–7	Naughton Park, Widnes	6,416
13	11 November	New Zealand def. Leigh 22–5	Hilton Park, Leigh	3,166
14	15 November	Great Britain def.  New Zealand 10–2	Elland Road, Leeds	8,210

Statistics

The following are the top points scorers in all competitions in the 1980–81 season.^[1]

Most tries Player Team Tries John Crossley York 35 Terry Richardson Castleford 28 Steve Hubbard Hull Kingston Rovers 25 Steve Hartley Hull Kingston Rovers 23 Paul McDermott York 23 Ian Slater Huddersfield 23 Des Drummond Leigh 20 Ian Ball Barrow 19 John Bevan Warrington 19 Peter Cramp Huddersfield 19 Gary Hyde Castleford 19 Dennis Ramsdale Wigan 19

Most goals (including drop goals) Player Team Goals Steve Hesford Warrington 186 Steve Quinn Featherstone Rovers 158 Steve Diamond Wakefield Trinity 152 Mick Burke Widnes 150 Steve Hubbard Hull Kingston Rovers 144 Ian Ball Barrow 142 Jimmy Birts Halifax 135 Graham Beale Keighley 131 Mick Parrish Oldham 127 George Fairbairn Wigan 126