The 1959–60 Rugby Football League season was the 65th season of rugby league football played in England. The championship, which involved thirty teams, started in August 1959 and culminated in a finals play-off series in May 1960 which resulted in a championship final between Wigan and Wakefield Trinity.
Season summary League Champions: Wigan (27–3 v Wakefield Trinity) Challenge Cup Winners: Wakefield Trinity (38–5 v Hull)
A number of clubs complained to the Rugby Football League over BBC televising rugby league matches live on TV, stating that it was affecting attendances.
St. Helens won the Lancashire League, and Wakefield Trinity won the Yorkshire League.
Championship Final Standings TeamPldWDLPFPAPDPts1St. Helens383413947343+604692Wakefield Trinity383206831348+483643Hull382819758474+284574Wigan382729828390+438565Featherstone Rovers3827011730437+293546Whitehaven3822313594533+61477Warrington3822214650482+168468Swinton3822214654503+151469Oldham3822115744461+2834510Hunslet3821314595488+1074511Leigh3820414600502+984412Huddersfield3821116603510+934313Hull Kingston Rovers3820117517575−584114Leeds3820018641573+684015Salford3819217629583+464016Batley3818317476506−303917Widnes3818119598519+793718Castleford3818020561630−693619Workington Town3818020448530−823620Keighley3817120575659−843521York3817021579698−1193422Halifax3815221627561+663223Rochdale Hornets3815023435519−843024Barrow3813124422562−1402725Bramley3810226393673−2802226Bradford Northern389326450645−1952127Liverpool City389326383720−3372128Blackpool Borough389128400819−4191929Dewsbury384133337982−645930Doncaster3821352841,084−8005
Play-offs
Final The Championship Final was played between Joe Egan' Wigan outfit against Wakefield Trinity at 3 o'clock on a warm afternoon on Saturday, 21 May 1960 at Odsal Stadium, Bradford. A crowd of 83,190 turned out for the game which was refereed by Eric Clay (Leeds).
WiganNumberWakefield Trinity Teams Fred Griffiths1Gerry RoundFrank Halliwell2Fred SmithBilly Boston3Alan SkeneKeith Holden4Neil FoxSyd Fenton5John EttyEric Ashton6Ken RollinDave Bolton7Keith HollidayJohn Barton8Jack WilkinsonBill Sayer9Geoff OakesFrank Collier10Don VinesBrian McTigue11Albert FirthGeoff Lyon12Les ChamberlainRoy Evans13Derek TurnerJoe EganCoachKen Traill
Challenge Cup
The 1959–60 Challenge Cup tournament ended in a final between Wakefield Trinity and Hull F.C. The match was played at Wembley Stadium before a crowd of 79,773, with Wakefield Trinity winning 38 – 5. Despite being on the losing team, Hull's hooker, Tommy Harris was awarded the Lance Todd Trophy for his man-of-the-match performance.
Neil Fox of Wakefield Trinity scored a Cup Final record 20 points (two tries and seven goals) in the final for Wakefield, a feat that would not be repeated for another 39 years 1999.
County cups
Warrington beat St. Helens 5–4 to win the Lancashire Cup, and Featherstone Rovers beat Hull F.C. 15–14 to win the Yorkshire Cup.
Kangaroo Tour
September until December also saw the appearance of the Australian team in England on their 1959–60 Kangaroo Tour. Other than the three test Ashes series against Great Britain (won 2–1 by Australia), the Kangaroos played 21 matches against club and county representative sides.
The Kangaroos were coached by "The Little Master" Clive Churchill and were captained by Welsh born Balmain Tigers fullback Keith Barnes.
As of 2017, this remains the last time that Great Britain or England won The Ashes on home soil.
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