UK Elite Teams By Season : 1987-88

For this season the number of sides in the top flight dropped from 16 to 14. The two new teams were Hunslet and Swinton. The four dropped from the previous season were Oldham, Featherstone, Barrow and Wakefield. They didn't mind giving things a shake up back then.

The League. Widnes were the best in the Championship that year with 40 points, followed by St Helens with 36. Wigan also received 36, with Bradford (36) there too, with Leeds (33), Warrington (30), Castleford (26) and Halifax (24) making up the Premiership finalists. Only three teams were neither in that competition nor relegated.

The Challenge Cup. Going to the quarter finalists as per usual, the results were Wigan 10-1 Widnes, Hull FC 27-12 Doncaster, Hull KR 4-26 Halifax, Salford 22-18 St Helens.

The semis had Wigan overpowering Salford 34-4 and Halifax playing twice 0-0 and 4-3 Hull FC. A seven point combined score over two games must be the lowest ever! The final at Wembley had an amazing 94,000 plus in attendance. There Wigan took the silverware with a 32-12 victory over Halifax.

The League Cup. Again at the quarter finals, the results were Warrington 10-14 Oldham, St Helens 20-16 Hull FC, Salford 12-16 Wigan and Springfield Borough 12-22 Leeds. The semi finals had Leeds beating Wigan 19-6 and St Helens too good for Oldham 18-8.

The final at Wigan in very muddy conditions (see video) had 17,000 spectators. Oh, the joys of winter Rugby. There Saints prevailed 15-14 over Leeds in appalling conditions..

Lancashire Cup: The semi final scores were Warrington 44-6 Swinton and Widnes lost to Wigan 12-20. The final at St Helens ground attracted 20,000 attendees. For the match Wigan took the cup 22-16 against Warrington.

Yorkshire Cup: At least this cup gave the Yorkshire sides something to win. In the semi final stage, Bradford were too good for Leeds, winning 16-5. In the other fixture, Featherstone were over run by Castleford 8-36. The final at Leeds had 11,000 fans to watch and 8,000 for the replay. The scores were Bradford 12-12 & 11-2 over Castleford.

The Premiership Finals. The eight best from the league came together for this trophy. The first games were Bradford 32-18 Leeds, , St Helens 40-8 Castleford, Widnes 36-26 Halifax and Widnes 20-10 Warrington.

Then Saints overcame Bradford 24-10 Widnes defeated Warrington 20-10. the final had 35,000 at Old Trafford, Manchester where Widnes won 38-14 against St Helens.

Summary: Applying my points system, we see who did best in the season. Wigan were top with 62 points. That included included the Challenge and Lancashire Cups. Saints took the league Cup and scored 56 points. Widnes were next on 50 points With the league title and Grand final but did little otherwise, which affected the ranking.

	Rk	Team	Lge	Fnl	CC	LC	Y/L	Total
	1	Wigan	16	6	20	8	12	62
	2	St Helens	18	16	6	16		56
	3	Widnes	20	20	6		4	50
	4	Bradford	14	12			12	38
	5	Warrington	11	12		4	8	35
	6	Leeds	12	6		12	4	34
	7	Halifax	8	6	16			30
	8	Castleford	10	6			8	24
	9	Hull FC	6		12	4		22
	10	Salford	5		12	4		21
	11	Hull KR	7		6			13
	12	Oldham				8		8
	13	Swinton	3				4	7
	14	Doncaster			6			6
	15	Featherstone					4	4
	15	Leigh	4					4
	15	Springfield				4		4
	18	Hunslet	2					2
		Total	143	84	84	60	56	427

To see the 1986-87 season, simply click here.
To see the 1988-89 season , just click here.