1992–93 Rugby Football League season

1992–93 Rugby Football League season
League	Championship
Duration	26 Rounds
Teams	First Division: 14 Second Division: 8 Third Division: 13
Broadcast partners	Sky Sports
First Division
Champions	Wigan
Premiership winners	St. Helens
Man of Steel Award	Andy Platt
Second Division
Champions	Featherstone Rovers
Promotion and relegation
Promoted from Second Division	Featherstone Rovers Oldham
Third Division
Champions	Keighley Cougars
Promotion and Relegation
Promoted to Second Division	Keighley Cougars Workington Town Dewsbury Ryedale-York Whitehaven Batley Doncaster Hunslet Highfield Barrow
Relegated to National Conference League	Chorley Borough Blackpool Gladiators Nottingham City

The 1992–93 Rugby Football League season was the 98th ever season of professional rugby league football in Britain. Sixteen teams competed from August, 1992 until May, 1993 for the Stones Bitter Championship, Premiership Trophy and Silk Cut Challenge Cup.

Season summary

• Stones Bitter League Champions: Wigan
• Silk Cut Challenge Cup Winners: Wigan (20-14 v Widnes)
• Stones Bitter Premiership Trophy Winners: St. Helens (10-4 v Wigan)
  • Harry Sunderland Trophy: Chris Joynt
• 1992–93 Regal Trophy Winners: Wigan (15-8 v Bradford Northern)
• 2nd Division Champions: Featherstone Rovers

The 1993 Man of Steel Award for player of the season went to Wigan's Andy Platt.

In March 1993, clubs voted to return to a two-division structure from the start of the 1993–94 season, which also included the scrapping of the county cup competitions.^[1] The vote also controversially meant that the bottom three Third Division clubs would be expelled from the League, with several clubs threatening legal action against the decision.^[2] The three relegated teams (Chorley Borough, Blackpool Gladiators and Nottingham City) were accepted into the National Conference League.^[3]

League Tables

First Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Wigan (C)	26	20	1	5	744	327	+417	41	Qualification for the Premiership first round
2	St Helens	26	20	1	5	632	345	+287	41
3	Bradford Northern	26	15	0	11	553	434	+119	30
4	Widnes	26	15	0	11	549	446	+103	30
5	Leeds	26	14	2	10	595	523	+72	30
6	Castleford	26	14	1	11	544	401	+143	29
7	Warrington	26	12	1	13	487	450	+37	25
8	Halifax	26	13	0	13	557	505	+52	26
9	Hull F.C.	26	10	1	15	381	535	−154	21
10	Sheffield Eagles	26	10	1	15	405	627	−222	21
11	Leigh	26	9	2	15	410	630	−220	20
12	Wakefield Trinity	26	8	2	16	405	535	−130	18
13	Salford	26	9	0	17	498	725	−227	18
14	Hull Kingston Rovers	26	7	0	19	321	599	−278	14

Source: [1]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;
(C) Champions

Second Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Featherstone Rovers (C, P)	28	24	1	3	966	352	+614	49	Promoted to First Division Qualified for Divisional Premiership second round
2	Oldham (P)	28	20	1	7	753	503	+250	41
3	Huddersfield	28	15	0	13	565	548	+17	30	Qualified for Divisional Premiership second round
4	Rochdale Hornets	28	14	0	14	622	607	+15	28
5	London Crusaders	28	12	2	14	534	562	−28	26
6	Swinton	28	10	0	18	409	636	−227	20
7	Carlisle	28	6	3	19	454	721	−267	15
8	Bramley	28	7	1	20	328	732	−404	15

Source: ^[4][5]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Third Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Keighley Cougars (C, P)	24	21	0	3	917	288	+629	42	Promoted to Second Division Qualified for Divisional Premiership first round
2	Workington Town (P)	24	19	0	5	835	237	+598	38
3	Dewsbury (P)	24	18	0	6	718	291	+427	36
4	Ryedale-York (P)	24	17	0	7	747	335	+412	34
5	Whitehaven (P)	24	16	0	8	696	328	+368	32
6	Batley (P)	24	16	0	8	508	268	+240	32
7	Doncaster (P)	24	14	0	10	564	469	+95	28
8	Hunslet (P)	24	14	0	10	554	498	+56	28
9	Highfield (P)	24	6	0	18	310	915	−605	12	Promoted to Second Division
10	Barrow (P)	24	5	0	19	476	625	−149	10
11	Chorley Borough (R)	24	5	0	19	317	781	−464	10	Relegation to National Conference League
12	Blackpool Gladiators (R)	24	4	0	20	302	958	−656	8
13	Nottingham City (R)	24	1	0	23	181	1132	−951	2

Source: ^[4][5]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points difference; 3) Number of points scored;
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Challenge Cup

Main article: 1992–93 Challenge Cup

The 1993 Silk Cut Challenge Cup Final was played by Wigan and Widnes on 2:30 on a warm and sunny Saturday afternoon, 1 May 1993 at Wembley Stadium, London in front of 77,684. By coming on as a substitute in this game at 17 years and 11 months of age, Andy Farrell become the youngest player to win a Challenge Cup final.^[6] The winner of the Lance Todd Trophy was Wigan's Dean Bell.

Regal Trophy

Main article: 1992–93 Regal Trophy

Premiership

Main article: 1992–93 Rugby League Premiership

County cups

Main article: 1992–93 Lancashire Cup

Main article: 1992–93 Yorkshire Cup

Wigan beat St. Helens 5–4 to win the 1992 Lancashire Cup, and Wakefield Trinity beat Sheffield Eagles 29–16 to win the Yorkshire Cup. To date this was final season of the Lancashire Cup and Yorkshire Cup competitions that, except for the break for World War I and World War II (Lancashire Cup only), had taken place annually since their inaugural 1905–06 season.

Rugby League World Cup final

Main article: 1992 Rugby League World Cup final

On 24 October, the Final of the 1989-92 Rugby League World Cup took place at Wembley Stadium between Great Britain and Australia. In front of a record international attendance of 73,631, The Kangaroos triumphed 10–6.^[7]

Prior to the Final, the Australian team embarked on a mini 3 game tour as a warm up and selection trial.^[8]

game	Date	Result	Venue	Attendance
1	9 October	Australia def. Huddersfield 66–2	Leeds Road, Huddersfield	4,716
2	14 October	Australia def. Sheffield 52–22	Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield	5,500
3	18 October	Australia def. Cumbria 44–0	Derwent Park, Workington	5,156

24 October 1992 2:30PM (GMT)

Great Britain	6 – 10	Australia
Tries: Goals: Deryck Fox (3/4)	Report^[usurped]	Tries: Steve Renouf Goals: Mal Meninga (3/4)

Wembley Stadium, London Attendance: 73,631 Referee: Dennis Hale Player of the Match: Steve Walters

References

1. Hadfield, Dave (11 March 1993). "Rugby League: League votes for two divisions". The Independent. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
2. Hadfield, Dave (17 March 1993). "Rugby League: Pilgrim promoted by Leeds". The Independent. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
3. Hadfield, Dave (1 June 1993). "Rugby League: League losers look ahead to brighter future". The Independent. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
4. Fletcher, Raymond; Howes, David, eds. (1995). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1995-96. London: Headline Publishing Group. p. 302. ISBN 978-0-7472-7817-7.
5. Raymond Fletcher; David Howes (1995). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1995-1996. London: Headline Book Publishing. p. 303. ISBN 0-7472-7817-2.
6. "Farrell switches codes". Telegraph.co.uk. UK: Telegraph Media Group Limited. 2005-03-23. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
7. 1992 Rugby League World Cup final
8. Kangaroos World Cup Tour 1992

Sources

• 1992–93 Rugby Football League season at rlhalloffame.org.uk
• 1992–93 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com
• Wigan's record Cup run at news.bbc.co.uk
• Great Britain Competitions 1992-1993 at hunterlink.net.au
• Championship 1992/93 at rugbyleagueproject.org