The 1997 Rugby League Divisional Premiership was the 11th and final end of season Rugby League Divisional Premiership competition and the second in the Super League era. Following this season, the competition was replaced by a play-off system which would be used to decide the second Division championship and promotion to the Super League.

The competition was completely restructured for the 1997 season. With the exception of the bottom two Division Two clubs, Doncaster Dragons and Prescot Panthers, it was expanded to include all Division One and Division Two clubs. A group stage was added, which consisted of four pools of five teams based on region, although some team were assigned to another pool to keep the group sizes even (Yorkshire-based Keighley Cougars were placed in the Lancashire pool, and Lancashire Lynx competed in the Cumbrian group). The top two teams in each group then progressed to the knockout stage of the competition.

The winners were Huddersfield Giants.

Regional pools

Cumbria

Lancashire

East Yorkshire

West Yorkshire

Quarter-finals DateTeam oneScoreTeam two14 September 1997 Huddersfield Giants 37–12 Featherstone Rovers14 September 1997 Hull Sharks 52–10 Hunslet Hawks14 September 1997 Leigh Centurions 25–48 Whitehaven Warriors14 September 1997 Workington Town 10–36 Keighley Cougars

Semi-finals DateTeam oneScoreTeam two21 September 1997 Hull Sharks 45–18 Whitehaven21 September 1997 Keighley Cougars 8–18 Huddersfield Giants

Final

1 Phil Veivers (c)2 Paul Cook3 James Bunyan4 Dean Hanger5 Andy Cheetham6 Craig Weston7 Ali Davys8 Neil Harmon9 Danny Russell10 Nick Fozzard11 Tony Bowes12 Dave King13 Matt SturmSubstitutions:14 Steve Booth15 Joe Berry16 Paul Dixon17 Basil RichardsCoach: Steve Ferres 1 Steve Holmes2 Graeme Hallas3 Kevin Gray4 Tevita Vaikona5 Mark Johnson6 Rob Nolan7 Mark Hewitt8 Richard Wilson9 Mike Dixon10 Andy Ireland11 David Boyd (c)12 Matt Schultz13 Brad HepiSubstitutions:14 Rob Danby15 Logan Campbell16 Chico Jackson17 Maea DavidCoach: Peter Walsh

See also 1997 RFL Division One 1997 RFL Division Two

Notes

References