1995–96 Rugby Football League season

Rugby league season

1995–96 Rugby Football League season
League	Centenary Championship
Duration	20 Rounds
Teams	First Division: 11 Second Division: 11 Third Division: 11
Highest attendance	19,526 Wigan vs St. Helens (26 Dec 95)
Lowest attendance	761 London Broncos vs Sheffield Eagles (17 Dec 95)
Broadcast partners	Sky Sports
First Division
Champions	Wigan
Top point-scorer(s)	Bobbie Goulding (285)
Top try-scorer(s)	Martin Offiah (28) David Plange (28)
New franchise
Awarded to	Paris Saint-Germain
Second Division
Champions	Salford
Third Division
Champions	Hull Kingston Rovers
← 1994–95 1996 →

The 1995–96 Rugby Football League season was the 101st season of rugby league football. Eleven English teams competed from August 1995 until January 1996 for the Stones Bitter Centenary Championship. The season was kept brief to accommodate the first season of the forthcoming new Super League competition, which would see top-level rugby league in the UK changed to a summer sport. It was also punctuated by the 1995 World Cup which took place in Britain throughout October. The 1996 Challenge Cup rounds started immediately after the Centenary Championship and the final was played in summer, during Super League I.

Season summary

Stones Bitter Centenary League Champions: Wigan (17th title)
Silk Cut Challenge Cup Winners: Final played in 1996 summer season.
Regal Trophy Winners: Wigan (8 - 25-16 v St Helens)
1st Division Champions: Salford
2nd Division Champions: Hull Kingston Rovers

Personnel

During pre-season, Kath Hetherington of Sheffield was elected as president of the Rugby Football League, succeeding Batley's Ronnie Teeman. Eleven years after becoming the first female member of the league's board of directors, she became the first woman to ascend to the presidency.

Rules

Prior to the signing of the agreement paving the way for the Super League, the RFL had voted in February on an wage cap, limiting player salaries to 50 percent of a team's income.

Format

The 1995–96 First Division season served as a trial run of sorts for the Super League's inaugural season, which would follow it in the spring of 1996, and its format changes were largely made in anticipation of the latter's launch. Following intense negotiations, it was decided that only the top ten teams from the 1994–95 season, joined by second-tier capital representatives London Broncos (all the projected British entrants in the Super League), would participate in a condensed 1995–96 First Division. There would be no promotion or relegation between it and the inaugural Super League campaign (only the purpose-built Paris team would be added). The lower league clubs were split between a Second and a Third Division, marking a return to the three-tier professional pyramid last used in 1993.

While the new setup was generally considered an appropriate compromise, 1994–95 second-tier champion Keighley and Widnes, a traditionally strong team which had missed the 10-team cutoff after an uncharacteristically poor season, launched legal proceedings after being left out. Hoping for a compromise, Widnes proposed a one-off 1995–96 schedule consisting of a 16-team, dual conference setup where the top five clubs within each conference would advance to the Super League. While some agreed that the plan would make the transitional season more meaningful, it did not come to pass, and their legal challenges were ultimately unsuccessful as well.

Highlights

The absence of relegation was blamed for a sizeable dip in attendance. Combined with a salary hike resulting from the announcement of the Super League, the season was a financial failure for many clubs, and powerhouse Wigan reported losses of about £450,000 at the end of the shortened campaign.

Standings

First Division

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Wigan	20	18	0	2	810	316	+494	36
2	Leeds	20	14	0	6	552	405	+147	28
3	Halifax	20	12	1	7	456	463	-7	25
4	St. Helens	20	12	0	8	732	508	+224	24
5	Sheffield Eagles	20	10	0	10	482	528	-46	20
6	Castleford	20	9	1	10	448	566	-118	19
7	Bradford Northern	20	8	0	12	418	476	-58	16
8	Oldham	20	8	0	12	382	535	-153	16
9	Warrington	20	7	0	13	443	514	-71	14
10	London Broncos	20	7	0	13	466	585	-119	14
11	Workington Town	20	4	0	16	317	610	-293	8

Champions

Second Division

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	Pts
1	Salford Reds	20	17	1	2	661	278	35
2	Keighley Cougars	20	13	2	5	491	255	28
3	Widnes	20	13	1	6	475	334	27
4	Hull	20	11	0	9	571	420	22
5	Featherstone Rovers	20	11	0	9	420	431	22
6	Whitehaven	20	10	2	8	345	435	22
7	Wakefield Trinity	20	10	0	10	346	422	20
8	Rochdale Hornets	20	8	1	11	365	483	17
9	Huddersfield	20	6	0	14	395	485	14
10	Batley	20	5	1	14	302	492	11
11	Dewsbury	20	2	0	18	261	597	4

Third Division

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	Pts
1	Hull Kingston Rovers	20	18	0	2	744	231	36
2	Leigh Centurions	20	16	0	4	592	335	32
3	Hunslet Hawks	20	14	0	6	514	315	28
4	Swinton	20	13	0	7	521	331	26
5	Carlisle	20	12	0	8	600	309	24
6	Ryedale-York	20	10	1	9	442	415	21
7	Bramley	20	9	1	10	400	434	19
8	Barrow Braves	20	6	0	14	342	488	12
9	Chorley Chieftains	20	5	1	14	324	608	11
10	Doncaster Dragons	20	5	0	15	348	646	10
11	Highfield	20	0	1	19	249	964	1

Regal Trophy

Main article: 1995–96 Regal Trophy

Statistics

The following are the top points scorers in the 1995–96 season.

Most tries

Player	Team	Tries
Martin Offiah	Wigan	28
David Plange	Hull Kingston Rovers	28
Anthony Sullivan	St. Helens	24
Va'aiga Tuigamala	Wigan	22
Jason Robinson	Wigan	21
Simon Ashcroft	Swinton	20
Joey Hayes	St. Helens	18
Jason Viller	Hunslet Hawks	18
Gary Atkins	Hull Kingston Rovers	18
Jason Roach	Swinton	17
Nathan McAvoy	Salford Reds	17

Most goals (including drop goals)

Player	Team	Goals
Bobbie Goulding	St. Helens	135
Mike Fletcher	Hull Kingston Rovers	117
Steve McNamara	Hull F.C.	101
Paul Cook	Bradford Bulls	99
Willie Richardson	Carlisle	96
Steve Blakeley	Salford Reds	93
Andy Farrell	Wigan	92
Martin Pearson	Featherstone Rovers	86
Simon Irving	Keighley Cougars	81
Chris Wilkinson	Leigh Centurions	81

References

Roberts, Chris (June 29, 1995). "Green light for King". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. p. 22 – via newspapers.com (subscription required) .
Whalley, John (February 21, 1995). "Tough policing needed to make wage cap work". The Daily Telegraph. London. p. 33 – via newspapers.com (subscription required) .
Roberts, Chris (May 1, 1995). "Super league critics force RL re-think". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. p. 3 – via newspapers.com (subscription required) .
Fitzpatrick, Paul (May 9, 1995). "Widnes offer a deal". The Guardian. London. p. 19 – via newspapers.com (subscription required) .
Tingle, Richard (10 February 1996). "'Centenary season has been a disaster'". Hull Daily Mail. p. 15 – via newspapers.com (subscription required) .
Fletcher, Raymond; Howes, David (27 March 1997). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1997. London: Headline. pp. 163–7. ISBN 978-0-7472-7764-4.

Sources

1995–96 Rugby Football League season at rlhalloffame.org.uk
1995–96 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com
Great Britain Competitions 1995-1996 at hunterlink.net.au
Championship 1995/96 at rugbyleagueproject.org

Rugby Football League seasons

Rugby Football League era
(1895–1996)

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Super League era
(1996–present)

					1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
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v t e Wigan Warriors
Est. 1872 in Wigan, England
The Club	History Players Seasons Internationals
Home grounds	Folly Field (1872–1877; 1879–1886) Prescott Street (1877–1879; 1886–1901) Springfield Park (1901–1902) Central Park (1902–1999) Brick Community Stadium (1999–present)
Titles	RFL/Super League Championship: 1908–09 1921–22 1925–26 1933–34 1945–46 1946–47 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1995–96 1998 2010 2013 2016 2018 2023 World Club Challenge (4): 1987 1991 1994 2017 2024 Challenge Cup: 1924 1929 1944 1948 1951 1958 1959 1965 1985 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 2002 2011 2013 2022 2024
Seasons	1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Culture	Clash of the Codes Rivalries Leeds St Helens Warrington Wolves
Affiliation	Wigan Warriors Women Wigan Warriors Wheelchair

1996 in rugby league

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International Rugby League

British Rugby League

Competitions	RFL Championship Super League Division One Division Two Challenge Cup Final Regal Trophy
SL Teams	Bradford Bulls Castleford Tigers Halifax Blue Sox Leeds London Broncos Oldham Bears Paris Saint-Germain Sheffield Eagles St Helens Warrington Wolves Wigan Clash of the Codes Workington Town

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