The 1970–71 Rugby Football League season was the 76th season of rugby league football.
Season summary
Sunday afternoon rugby was allowed for the first time by the RFL on 17 December 1967. Initially most clubs chose not to switch away from Saturday's despite competition from association football. The first ever Sunday fixtures were Bradford Northern v York, and Leigh v Dewsbury.
St. Helens won their sixth Championship when they beat Wigan 16–12 in the Championship Final. Wigan had ended the regular season as the league leaders.
The Challenge Cup Winners were Leigh when they beat Leeds 24–7 in the final.
There was no county league competition this season, other than a break between the 1902–03 and 1906–07 seasons, and breaks for World War I and World War II, this was the first season in which the Lancashire League and Yorkshire League titles were no longer awarded.
Championship
TeamPldWDLPts1Wigan343004602St. Helens342905583Leeds342806564Leigh342608525Wakefield Trinity342419496Keighley3421013427Salford3420113418Hull3420113419Workington Town34201134110Halifax34200144011Dewsbury34173143712Castleford34180163613Hull Kingston Rovers34180163614Batley34162163415Huddersfield34162163416Oldham34127153117Bramley34151183118Widnes34142183019York34141192920Featherstone Rovers34141192921Barrow34140202822Warrington34132192823Swinton34130212624Huyton34112212425Rochdale Hornets3493222126Blackpool Borough34101232127Bradford Northern3482241828Doncaster3473241729Whitehaven3481251730Hunslet34612713
Champions Play-offs
Play-offs
Round 1:
Hull 14 beat Workington Town 3.
Dewsbury 20 beat Keighley 7.
Leeds 28 beat Batley 0.
Leigh 10 beat Hull Kingston Rovers 5.
Salford 33 beat Halifax 3.
St Helens 28 beat Huddersfield 5.
Wakefield Trinity 10 beat Castleford 4.
Wigan 12 beat Oldham 7.
Round 2:
Leeds 37 beat Salford 22.
Wakefield Trinity 8 beat Leigh 5.
St Helens 30 beat Hull 5.
Wigan 36 beat Dewsbury 12.
Semi-finals:
St Helens 22 beat Leeds 7.
Wigan 49 beat Wakefield Trinity 15.
Final
St HelensNumberWigan Teams Geoff Pimblett1Colin TyrerLes Jones2Kevin O'LoughlinBilly Benyon3Bill FrancisJohn Walsh4Peter RoweBob Blackwood5Stuart WrightAlan Whittle6David HillJeff Heaton7Warren AyresJohn Stephens8Brian HoganTony Karalius9Colin ClarkeGraham Rees10Geoff FletcherJohn Mantle11Bill AshurstEric Chisnall12Dave RobinsonKel Coslett13Doug LaughtonSubsKen Kelly (for Benyon)14Dave GandyBobby Wanbon (for Rees)15Eddie Cunningham (for Robinson)Jim ChallinorCoachEric Ashton
Challenge Cup
Leigh beat Leeds 24–7 in the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 15 May 1971, in front of a crowd of 85,514.
This was Leigh's second Cup final win in two final appearances. To date it was also their last appearance in a Challenge Cup final.
In the final, Lance Todd Trophy winner, Leigh's captain-coach, Alex Murphy, was stretchered off after a clash with Leeds player, Syd Hynes. For his part in the "clash", Hynes was sent off.
County cups
Leigh beat St. Helens 7–4 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Leeds beat Featherstone Rovers 23–7 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.
References
Sources
1970-71 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com The Challenge Cup at The Rugby Football League website