1990–91 Rugby Football League season

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1990–91 Rugby Football League season
LeagueChampionship
TeamsFirst Division: 14
Second Division: 21
First Division
ChampionsFile:Wigancolours.svg Wigan
Premiership winnersFile:Hullcolours.svg Hull
Man of Steel AwardFile:Rhinoscolours.svg Garry Schofield
Promotion and relegation
Relegated to Second Division
Second Division
ChampionsFile:Redscolours.svg Salford
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from Second Division
Relegated to New Third Division

The 1990–91 Rugby Football League season was the 96th ever season of professional rugby league football in Britain. Fourteen teams competed from August, 1990 until May, 1991 for the Stones Bitter Championship, Premiership Trophy and Silk Cut Challenge Cup.

Season summary

Overview

Summary

Bradford Northern player Simon Tuffs tested positive for amphetamines, and was the first time a failed drugs test involving a rugby league player had been made public since random testing had been introduced by the RFL in 1987.[1] He received a two-year suspension,[2] but the ban was lifted following an appeal.[3] Due to a fixture backlog, Wigan, who were challenging for the league championship title, were forced to play their final eight league games within 19 days, a task described as "Mission Impossible" by coach John Monie.[4] The club managed to win seven out of eight games to retain the title. In April 1991, clubs approved a new three division format to be used from the start of the 1991–92 season. The Championship would remain a 14 team league, while the Second Division would consist of eight teams and the new Third Division would have 14 teams.[5]

League tables

Wigan retained their title this season, relegated were Oldham, Sheffield Eagles and Rochdale Hornets, to date this is Rochdale Hornets's last appearance in the top flight.

First Division

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 File:Wigancolours.svg Wigan (C) 26 20 2 4 652 313 +339 42 Qualification for Premiership first round
2 File:Widnes colours.svg Widnes 26 20 0 6 635 340 +295 40
3 File:Hullcolours.svg Hull F.C. 26 17 0 9 513 367 +146 34
4 File:Castleford colours.svg Castleford 26 17 0 9 578 442 +136 34
5 File:Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds 26 14 2 10 602 448 +154 30
6 File:Saintscolours.svg St Helens 26 14 1 11 628 533 +95 29
7 File:Bullscolours.svg Bradford Northern 26 13 1 12 434 492 −58 27
8 File:Fevcolours.svg Featherstone Rovers 26 12 1 13 533 592 −59 25
9 File:Wolvescolours.svg Warrington 26 10 2 14 404 436 −32 22
10 File:Wcatscolours.svg Wakefield Trinity 26 10 2 14 356 409 −53 22
11 File:HKRcolours.svg Hull Kingston Rovers 26 9 3 14 452 615 −163 21
12 File:Oldhamcolours.svg Oldham (R) 26 10 0 16 481 562 −81 20 Relegated to Second Division
13 File:Sheffeagles colours.svg Sheffield Eagles (R) 26 7 2 17 459 583 −124 16
14 File:Rochdale colours.svg Rochdale Hornets (R) 26 1 0 25 317 912 −595 2
Source: [6]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Second Division

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 File:Redscolours.svg Salford (C, P) 28 26 1 1 856 219 +637 53 Promoted to First Division
Qualified for Divisional Premiership first round
2 File:Faxcolours.svg Halifax (P) 28 24 0 4 941 311 +630 48
3 File:Swintoncolours.svg Swinton (P) 28 21 2 5 523 370 +153 44
4 File:YorkRLFCcolours.png Ryedale-York 28 20 2 6 559 294 +265 42 Qualified for Divisional Premiership first round
5 File:Leigh colours.svg Leigh 28 18 1 9 698 372 +326 37
6 File:Workingtoncolours.svg Workington Town 28 18 1 9 497 323 +174 37
7 File:Broncoscolours.png Fulham 28 17 2 9 450 338 +112 36
8 File:France colours.svg Carlisle 28 16 2 10 613 425 +188 34
9 File:Doncaster colours.svg Doncaster (R) 28 16 0 12 507 434 +73 32 Relegated to Third Division
10 File:Hunsletcolours.svg Hunslet (R) 28 13 2 13 519 438 +81 28
11 File:Giantscolours.svg Huddersfield (R) 28 13 1 14 493 477 +16 27
12 File:Haven colours.svg Whitehaven (R) 28 13 0 15 412 592 −180 26
13 File:Cougscolours.svg Keighley (R) 28 12 0 16 456 588 −132 24
14 File:Ramscolours.svg Dewsbury (R) 28 10 1 17 410 455 −45 21
15 File:Wests Tigers colours.svg Trafford Borough (R) 28 10 0 18 508 618 −110 20
16 File:Batley colours.svg Batley (R) 28 10 0 18 337 466 −129 20
17 File:Barrowcolours.svg Barrow (R) 28 8 2 18 415 705 −290 18
18 File:Blackpoolcolours.svg Chorley Borough (R) 28 7 1 20 388 721 −333 15
19 File:Cruscolours.svg Bramley (R) 28 7 1 20 379 726 −347 15
20 Runcorn Highfield 28 3 1 24 351 779 −428 7
21 Nottingham City (R) 28 2 0 26 284 945 −661 4
Source: [6]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Kangaroo Tour

Main article: 1990 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France

The months of October and November also saw the appearance of the Australian team in England on their 1990 Kangaroo Tour. Other than the three test Ashes series against Great Britain (won 2–1 by Australia), The Kangaroos played and won matches against 8 Championship teams (St Helens, Wakefield Trinity, Wigan, Leeds, Warrington, Castleford, Hull and Widnes), 1 Second Division side (Halifax) and one county side (Cumbria). The team was coached by 1973 tourist and 1978 tour captain Bob Fulton and was captained by Mal Meninga who was making his third Kangaroo Tour as a player. Penrith Panthers halfback Greg Alexander (who played most of the tour as the backup fullback to Gary Belcher), was the leading point scorer on the tour with 156 from 14 tries and 50 goals. Like Terry Lamb on the 1986 tour, Alexander was selected for every match on the tour, but he did not get off the bench in the 2nd Ashes Test at Old Trafford. Cronulla-Sutherland outside back Andrew Ettingshausen was the leading try scorer with 15 including hat-tricks against St Helens in the tour opener and Wigan a week later. Great Britain's win in the first test at Wembley was the Lions first test win on home soil over Australia since 5 November 1978. It was the Kangaroos only loss of the tour. Wembley also saw the largest ever rugby league test attendance in Great Britain with 54,569 on hand. This beat the opening test of the 1986 Tour at Old Trafford that had attracted a crowd of 50,523.

game Date Result Venue Attendance
1 7 October File:Australian colours.svg Australia def. File:Saintscolours.svg St Helens 34–4 Knowsley Road, St Helens 15,219
2 10 October File:Australian colours.svg Australia def. File:Wcatscolours.svg Wakefield Trinity 36–18 Belle Vue, Wakefield 7,724
3 14 October File:Australian colours.svg Australia def. File:Wigancolours.svg Wigan 34–6 Central Park, Wigan 24,814
4 17 October File:Australian colours.svg Australia def. Cumbria Cumbria 42–10 Derwent Park, Workington 6,750
5 21 October File:Australian colours.svg Australia def. File:Rhinoscolours.svg Leeds 22–10 Headingley, Leeds 16,037
6 27 October File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Great Britain def. File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia 19–12 Wembley Stadium, London 54,569
7 31 October File:Australian colours.svg Australia def. File:Wolvescolours.svg Warrington 26–6 Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington 10,200
8 4 November File:Australian colours.svg Australia def. File:Castleford colours.svg Castleford 28–8 Wheldon Road, Castleford 9,033
9 6 November File:Australian colours.svg Australia def. File:Faxcolours.svg Halifax 36–18 Thrum Hall, Halifax 8,730
10 10 November File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia def. File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Great Britain 14–10 Old Trafford, Manchester 46,615
11 14 November File:Australian colours.svg Australia def. File:Hullcolours.svg Hull F.C. 34–4 The Boulevard, Hull 13,081
12 18 November File:Australian colours.svg Australia def. File:Widnes colours.svg Widnes 15–8 Naughton Park, Widnes 14,666
13 24 November File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia def. File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Great Britain 14–0 Elland Road, Leeds 32,500

References

  1. ↑ Fletcher, Raymond; Howes, David, eds. (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-92. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-356-17852-3.
  2. ↑ Fitzpatrick, Paul (27 February 1991). "Tuffs given two-year ban for drug-taking". The Guardian. London. p. 17. ProQuest 187070161.
  3. ↑ Macklin, Keith (17 April 1991). "Ban on Tuffs removed after appeal". The Times. No. 63995. p. 40.
  4. ↑ "1990-2 Mission Impossible". Wigan Warriors. 25 April 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  5. ↑ Fitzpatrick, Paul (18 April 1991). "Three divisions agreed". The Guardian. London. p. 17. ProQuest 187316602.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Fletcher, Raymond; Howes, David, eds. (1995). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1995-96. London: Headline Publishing Group. p. 302. ISBN 978-0-7472-7817-7.

Sources

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