UK Top Teams : 1981-1990

This is part of a series where top results are scored and tallied up. The Championship is the top 4 teams, scored 6-3-2-1. Then the Premiership again top 4 sides, 6-4-2-2. Challenge Cup finalists, 4-2. League Cup 4-2, Lancashire & Yorkshire Cups 3-1.

A break down of competitions shows who were the big hitters in this decade.

The League: Wigan 24 points, Hull KR 18, Widnes 16.
Finals: Widnes 30, Hull KR 20, St Helens and Hull FC 18 each.
Challenge Cup: Wigan 27 points, Widnes 15 and Hull FC 12.
Lancashire/Yorkshire Cups: Wigan 14 / Castleford/Hull FC 10 each.
League Cup: Wigan 20 points and daylight second.

In the previous decade, St Helens Leeds and Widnes were best. For the 1980's after a slow start it was all Wigan. Widnes was well behind, while the two Hull sides were 3rd and 4th most successful. Saints and Warrington made up the top six.

In the World Club Challenge with Australia, Wigan won the first to be held this decade. In 1987, they defeated Manly 8-2 in a tryless encounter at Central Park, Wigan. In the other match in this period, Widnes overcame Canberra 30-18 after trailing 0-12 early on. The Match was played at Old Trafford, Manchester. These results are not incorporated in the points chart below.

The Hull sides were strong early on but faded as the decade progressed. Widnes started and finished well but stalled in the middle. From 1985 to 1990, the Wigan team was almost unstoppable, winning two league titles, two grand finals, four Challenge Cups, four Lancashire Cups and four League Cups. They were the cup specialists. Could they maintain that through the next decade. We shall see.

For the first in the series, simply click here.
For the next in the series, just click here.

Rk	Club / Year	Tot	90	89	88	87	86	85	84	83	82	81
1	Wigan Warriors	97	18	16	11	19	12	11	3	6		1
2	Widnes Vikings	67	8	14	12				9	6	12	6
3	Hull FC	59		5		1		8	8	16	17	4
4	Hull KR	57					8	15	12	5	5	12
5	St Helens RFC	44		5	11	8	2	12	2	2		2
6	Warrington Wolves	42	6		3	8	8		2	3	2	10
7	Leeds Rhinos	28	5	5	2		2	3	4	4		3
8	Castleford Tigers	24		1	1	4	7		6		3	2
9	Halifax RLFC	23	2		3	8	10
10	Bradford Bulls	22	8		6					1	1	6
11	Leigh Centurions	9									9
12	Featherstone Rov	9	1	2						6
13	Barrow Raiders	5							3			2
14	Oldham Roughyeds	2	1			1
15	Wakefield Trinity	1										1
16	Salford Red Devils	1		1
		490	49	49	49	49	49	49	49	49	49	49

Nordic/ Lowlands Cups : 2011-2016

The Nordic Cup is between Denmark, Norway and Sweden. It has been held each year from 2011 to 2016. Each nation has won it at least once, with Denmark doing best overall. Unfortunately, Denmark had a temporary halt to the game there and the 2017 series will not go ahead.

There was a game between Norway and Denmark in 2017, played in Norway. They came away triumphant 38-18. I guess that could count as the Nordic winners for 2017 but I'm not sure that even the participants viewed it that way or not. Denmark is getting back again to playing RL so hopefully a 2018 three team version will take place.

	NORDIC CUP
	YEAR	1st	2nd	3rd
	2011	Denmark	Norway	Sweden
	2012	Norway	Denmark	Sweden
	2013	Sweden	Denmark	Norway
	2014	Denmark	Sweden	Norway
	2015	Denmark	Norway	Sweden
	2016	Norway	Denmark	Sweden

In another tournament, the lowland countries of Belgium and the Netherlands were joined by Germany for a triangular series. It was won by Belgium, with the Dutch in third. I'm not sure this will be held again but I would have thought the relative closeness in distance of the three participants would have made it viable. Hopefully it's not the last.

	LOW LANDS TRI-SERIES
	YEAR	1st	2nd	3rd
	2016	Belgium	Germany	Nederland

UK Top Teams : 1971-1980

This is part of a series where top results are scored and tallied up. The Championship is the top 4 teams, scored 6-3-2-1. Then the Premiership again top 4 sides, 6-4-2-2. Challenge Cup finalists, 4-2. League Cup 4-2 (from 1972) Lancashire & Yorkshire Cups, BBC Floodlit Trophy finalists, 3-1.

A break down of competitions shows where the performances shined through.

The League: St Helens got 21 points and Leeds 17.
Finals: St Helens 34 and Leeds 30.
Challenge Cup: Leeds and Widnes with 18 points each.
Lancashire/Yorkshire Cups: Widnes 16 and Leeds 18 respectively.
League Cup: Widnes 14 points and Warrington 10.
BBC Trophy: St Helens 9 points.

In the previous decade, St Helens romped away with the best team award, with Wakefield 2nd. Leeds, Wigan and Castleford came in next as the top five sides. However, things were quite different this time. Saints again were the best side initially but were hunted down by Leeds and had to settle for second best. Widnes, Warrington and Bradford made up the remaining top five places.

For the first in the series, simply click here.
For the next in the series, just click here.

Rk	Team / Year	Tot	80	79	78	77	76	75	74	73	72	71
1	Leeds Rhinos	90	5	7	6	9	7	8	7	13	15	13
2	St Helens RFC	80		1	8	9	16	10	7	3	15	11
3	Widnes Vikings	75	14	18	12	6	10	11	2	1	1
4	Warrington Wolves	43		7	4	4		4	16	8
5	Bradford Bulls	42	14	7	9			4		3	5
6	Salford Red Devils	30	1				11	4	7	5	2
7	Featherstone Rovers	27			1	9	3	1	3	9		1
8	Hull KR	26	7	6	3	1	1	5			3
9	Wigan Warriors	25		2	1			5	3		4	10
10	Leigh Centurions	16	2			1				3		10
11	Castleford Tigers	15			3	11					1
12	Wakefield Trinity	13		3			2	1	3		2	2
13	Dewsbury Rams	11			3		1			7
14	Hull FC	10	8				2
15	Workington Town	6	1	1	3	1
16	Halifax RLFC	5	1								4
17	Rochdale Hornets	3							2		1
18	Bramley Buffaloes	3							3
19	Blackpool Borough	2				2
20	Swinton Lions	1								1
21	York City Knights	1		1
	Total	524	53	53	53	53	53	53	53	53	53	47