The 1939–40 Northern Rugby Football League season was an emergency season of English rugby league fixtures necessitated by the outbreak of the Second World War. The regular league season had started at the end of August 1939, but on the outbreak of war all sport was suspended. When government permission for sport to be resumed was given, the league was reorganised into two regional competitions, Yorkshire and Lancashire. The winners of each league playing against each other to decide the overall champions. The Yorkshire competition was won by Bradford Northern who beat Swinton, winners of the Lancashire competition, in the two-legged league final.
The season also saw the resumption of County Cup competition, as well as some representative matches arranged to raise funds for the British Red Cross. The Challenge Cup competition, traditionally run alongside the league, was not played for the first time since 1919.
Planned season The planned 1939–40 season had begun as scheduled on Saturday 26 August 1939 with 27 clubs starting the season. This was one less than the previous season as St Helens Recs had disbanded at the end of the 1938–39 season. The withdrawal of St Helens Recs required a change in the way fixtures were organised. With 28 clubs in the league, each club was a member of the 14 team Lancashire League or the 14 team Yorkshire League. The actual geographical split of clubs was 15 clubs based in Yorkshire and 13 in Lancashire, so Halifax played as a member of the Lancashire League. Each teams' fixture list comprised a home and away fixture against all the teams in their county league (26), as well as home and away fixtures against seven teams in the other county league (14) for a total of 40 games.
With only 27 clubs the League's secretary, John Wilson, proposed a 36-game season for each club with Halifax remaining in the Lancashire league, and Dewsbury, who were the lowest finishing Yorkshire team in the previous season, playing as a member of neither county league. For the purposes of determining fixture lists Dewsbury would be considered the 14th team of both county leagues. Excepting Dewsbury, each team's fixture list would comprise the other teams in their own county league (24 games) together with six teams from the other county (12 games). Dewsbury's opponents would be nine clubs from each county.
At the League's annual general meeting on 7 June 1939 the clubs accepted Wilson's proposal regarding the positions of Halifax and Dewsbury, but voted for a 40-game fixture list instead of Wilson's 36 game proposal. The fixture lists were issued later in June. Each team, except Dewsbury, had home and away fixtures against all the teams in their own county league (24 games). They also had home and away fixtures against eight teams in the other county league (16 games). Dewsbury's fixture list comprised home and away fixtures against 10 teams from each county league.
A full programme of games was played up to Saturday 2 September. By that date most clubs had played two or three games as some clubs had played midweek matches.
International tour
The touring side had played one match of their tour before the declaration of war. The tour was cancelled on 5 September and the team returned home shortly afterwards, although they did manage to play a hastily arranged fixture against Dewsbury on 9 September.
Suspension of the League On Monday 4 September the day after the declaration of war, all rugby league games and all other spectator sports and public entertainments were suspended by provisions of the Prohibition of Public Entertainments (Defence) Order, one of numerous orders made following the enactment of the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939. As a result, some clubs like Wigan and Salford announced they were closing for the duration of the war and that their players were released.
One issue clubs had to consider was what to do with the monies paid for season-tickets, the holders of which may have only seen one or two games. Barrow, for one, resolved to repay season-ticket holders less a deduction for games seen, while Oldham decided not to give any refunds stating, "We are up against it and must appeal to our members to make this sacrifice".
Under the defence regulations and air raid precautions, all areas of the country were designated as evacuation, neutral or reception areas depending on the assessment of an area as an enemy target and its ability to receive people from the evacuation areas. The defence regulations allowed for the resumption of sporting events within reception or neutral areas and on 9 September the Home Secretary issued the Public Entertainments (Restriction) Order allowing events to go ahead outside evacuation areas. Attendances were limited to 8,000 or 15,000 at grounds with a capacity over 60,000.
On 11 September the Rugby League Council agreed to clubs playing friendlies on the following two Saturdays, while the League Secretary, John Wilson, arranged a programme of games. Players were to be paid 10s per match and their travelling expenses, while the minimum entrance fee was set at 6d. The meeting also appointed a wartime committee to run the league for the duration of the war.
Seven games were played on 16 September and eleven on 23 September. A further change in the defence orders allowed games to go ahead in evacuation areas as long as the consent of the local chief constable had been obtained.
County competitions Wilson's proposal, which was accepted on 11 September, was for the league to run as two parallel county competitions, a Yorkshire Competition and a Lancashire Competition under the umbrella name of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Emergency Period League. The leagues would be played on a simple home and away basis; gate money was to be split equally between the two clubs after deducting player expenses and travel expenses for 15 players of the away club. Players' expenses were limited to 10s per game plus meal expenses if they had to travel more than to an away game. These allowances replaced any previous contractual arrangements between the players and the clubs and in effect removed the professional status from the players. Referees were to be allowed 10s plus travel expenses and touch judges 5s plus travel expenses. Players were also allowed to play for another club if that club was closer to home or work, subject to agreement of their first club. This was to alleviate travelling for players who worked away.
No inter-competition games were planned, but in January 1940 it was proposed and agreed that there should be a two-legged final between the winner of each competition to decide the overall league champions. Clubs were asked to notify Wilson as soon as possible if they intended to play in the competitions. In the end all 27 clubs, including those like Salford and Wigan who had previously decided to cease operating, had entered when the fixture list was issued.
The rules also allowed alternative venues to be used if a club's home ground was unavailable, either temporarily or permanently. Broughton Rangers home ground, Belle Vue was unavailable to them all season so they played at a variety of other grounds, while Salford and Swinton shared Swinton's Station Road.
Player protest Even before the season started players at Bradford Northern, Halifax and Huddersfield protested that the expense limit of 10s per game was insufficient and that they would not play unless the expenses were increased. The Lord Mayor of Bradford, T. J. Robinson had anticipated the players' stance. At a lunch for the wartime committee, he was reported as saying "the committee members would have difficulty in getting first-class footballers, used to getting £4 or £5 to accept remuneration of 10s per match, but no doubt the difficulties would be surmounted". The players most opposed to the expense limit were those of Bradford Northern who were unanimous in their opposition and had made it clear to the club secretary that they were not prepared to play for 10s per game. The secretary had informed Wilson of this asking for a special meeting of the clubs to discuss the issue. At this stage Wilson did not consider discussion appropriate unless 20 or more of the clubs requested it. The Huddersfield players also informed their club committee that they were not prepared to play on the following Saturday. At Halifax the secretary stated reports of a strike were exaggerated and that the "players were quite willing, indeed they were anxious to play but they were not prepared to run the risk of losing the jobs they had got, or of being off work, for the small amount they were permitted to receive".
The chairman of the Rugby League Council, G.F. Hutchins, responded by asking all players to give the 10s expenses a month's trial after which the issue would be reviewed. While players at St. Helens accepted the 10s limit, at Barrow team selection for Saturday was delayed because of the issue; while some clubs, including Halifax, Dewsbury and Batley, called for an increase in the limit.
On Friday 29 September the Halifax players agreed to play but remained dissatisfied by the expense allowance; the Bradford players remained adamant leaving the club no alternative but to inform their opponents for Saturday, Hull Kingston Rovers that the game could not go ahead. Players from many clubs met on 2 October and agreed to continue to press the issue with the Rugby Football League, but they would play "on Saturday in order to keep faith with the public". After the second weekend of the competitions, the Rugby League Council met to discuss the expenses issue and agreed a doubling of the expenses limit to £1. Expenses for referees were also increased to £1, but touch judges' expenses remained unchanged at 5s. Also, clubs could make an additional payment of 5s to each player for away games played in Barrow or Hull due to the extra travelling time needed. To increase the likelihood that gates would be adequate, the minimum entry for a game was increased to 1s but remained at 6d for women, children and any uniformed members of the armed forces. The players responded by welcoming the rise but asked the Rugby League Council to consider changing the system to a payment of 25s to players on the winning team and 15s to the members of the losing team. The players felt this would increase competitiveness in the games. The wartime committee met the following week but made no response to the player's suggestion. Bonuses were not discussed further except at the end of the season when the league awarded monetary prizes rather than medals.
Yorkshire competition