Wednesday 9 May 2018

UK Elite Teams By Season : 1988-89

The new teams in the league this season were Featherstone, Oldham and Wakefield. They replaced Hunslet, Leigh and Swinton. Leigh had been up for two years and the other two sides only one year.

The League. Widnes won the league with 41 points, with Wigan second with 38. Leeds procured 36, Hull FC 34 and Castleford 32. This was Widnes' second consecutive league title but second placed Wigan went on to win the next seven league titles in a row.

At the end of the year, Oldham, Hailfax and Hull KR were relegated.

The Challenge Cup. The quarter final games were Oldham 4-12 Wigan, Hull KR 4-30 Warrington, Leeds 4-24 Widnes, St Helens 32-3 Featherstone.

The semi finals had Saints knocking out Widnes 16-14 and Wigan overcoming Warrington 13-6. The final was at it's home of Wembley Stadium where 78,000 came along to watch and cheer. It was all Wigan, to the tune of 27-0.



The video above is the second half of the Challenge Cup semi final between St Helens and Widnes. You may want to watch it in full screen.

The League Cup. This year's quarter final went as follows: Widnes 16-7 Warrington, Bradford 6-0 Leigh, Hull KR 16-16 & 0-30 Wigan, St Helens 34-18 Wakefield.

Widnes defeated Saints 20-18 in the semi final, the opposite result to the CC semi final. Both games had a two point margin. Wigan took the other final spot in defeating Bradford 16-5. Nearly 21,000 went to Bolton to see Wigan edge out Widnes 12-6.

Lancashire Cup: The semi final match ups had Salford defeating Warrington 15-2. Then fierce rivals of the time Wigan and Widnes clashed, the former prevailing 14-10. The final held at Saints ground (Knowsley Rd) was attended by 19,000 where Wigan got home 22-17 over Salford.

Yorkshire Cup: This county was having little success against Lancashire sides at the time, but at least they had their own cup to win. In the semis, Halifax lost to Castleford 8-12 and Leeds managed to beat Hull FC 12-8. 23,000 went to Elland Road, Leeds to see Leeds win convincingly 33-12 against Castleford.

The Premiership Finals. The top eight league teams contested this competition. The quarter finals were: Hull FC 32-6 Castleford, Leeds 12-15 Featherstone, Widnes 30-18 Bradford and Wigan went down to St Helens 2-4.

The semi finals were Hull FC 23-0 Featherstone and Widnes 38-14 St Helens. The final at Old Trafford, Manchester had 40,000 in attendance. There Widnes defeated Hull FC 18-10.

Summary: This is the point where I hand out points to see how the clubs fared. Wigan won neither the league nor Premiership Grand Final yet finished on top with 72 points. By winning the Challenge, League and Lancashire Cups plus coming secong in the league made it the best side. Widnes came in with 68 points, with the league and Premiership Grand Final but no other final's placings cost it. St Helens were solid for 46 points and Leeds secured 40 points with the Yorkshire Cup.


Rk Team Lge Fnl CC LC Y/L Total

1 Wigan 18 6 20 16 12 72

2 Widnes 20 20 12 12 4 68

3 St Helens 10 12 16 8
46

4 Leeds 16 6 6
12 40

5 Hull FC 14 16

4 34

6 Featherstone 11 12 6

29

7 Castleford 12 6

8 26

7 Warrington 6
12 4 4 26

9 Bradford 9 6
8
23

10 Salford 7


8 15

11 Hull KR 3
6 4
13

12 Wakefield 8

4
12

13 Oldham 5
6

11

14 Halifax 4


4 8

15 Leigh


4
4


Total 143 84 84 60 56 427

For the 1987-88 season, simply click here.
To see the season 1989-90, just click here.

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