1980–81 Rugby Football League season

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

Sources

• Fletcher, Raymond; Howes, David, eds. (1981). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1981-82. Rothmans Publications. ISBN 978-0-907574-07-1.
• 1980-81 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com