UK Elite Teams By Season : 1983-84

The previous season had four teams being relegated from the top flight, Barrow, Workington, Halifax and Carlisle. Up a division came Fulham, Wakefield, Salford and Whitehaven.

The League. Hull KR won with 46 points from Hull FC (45), Warrington (40), Castleford and Widnes (39), St Helens (37) Bradford (36) and Leeds (33). They made up the Premiership Finals series teams.

Relegated were Fulham, Wakefield, Salford and Whitehaven. In other words, the four promoted teams went straight back down again.

The Challenge Cup. The third round went this way: Widnes 21-10 Hull KR, Leeds 13-13 & 12-10 Bradford, St Helens 7-16 Wigan and York 14-12 Castleford. The semi finals had Wigan just getting past York 14-8 and Widnes beating Leeds 15-4. 80,000 went to Wembley Stadium, London to see Widnes defeat Wigan 19-6 in the final.

The League Cup. The quarter finals went accordingly: Widnes 20-15 Wigan, Leigh 12-8 Cardiff City, St Helens 16-12 Featherstone and Swinton 12-16 Leeds. The next round of four teams saw Leigh lose to Leeds 11-18 and Widnes defeating Saints 18-4.

The final at Central Park, Wigan had just 9,500 show up. Those that came saw Leeds take the silverware 18-10 at Widnes' expense.

Lancashire Cup: The first semi final pitted Swinton against Widnes, the latter running out winners 8-22. Meanwhile, Warrington were pipped by Barrow 18-19. Barrow then took the final 12-8 against Widnes. Only 7,000 were at Central Park, Wigan for the match.

Yorkshire Cup: In the first semi final, Wakefield lost to Castleford 12-34 and Leeds likewise in their match with Hull FC 16-20. The final was at Elland Rd, Leeds in front of 14,000 fans. Hull FC were too good, taking the trophy with a 13-2 victory over Cas'.

The Premiership Finals. In the first round, the results were: Castleford 36-4 Widnes, Hull FC 42-12 Bradford, Hull KR 21-16 Leeds and Warrington 13-19 St Helens. On to the last four where Hull KR was too good for Saints, winning 21-16 but Hull FC couldn't make it two Hull clubs in the final, going down 12-22 to Castleford. The final was held at Headingley, Leeds with 12,500 in attendance. Hull KR took the title with an 18-10 victory over Cas'


Summary: I thought this was going to be Hull KR's year but while they won the League and Premiership Final, they did nothing else and ended third with 46 points, according to my points system. The winner was Widnes, who while only winning the Challenge cup were competing to a high standard in everything. Leeds took just the League Cup but again were consistently challenging for honours so came second with 47 points.

Barrow took the Lancashire Cup and 12 points but were nowhere to be seen otherwise. Hull FC were the other trophy winner with the Yorkshire Cup taking pride of place back at the club.

	Rk	Team	Lge	Fnl	CC	LC	Y/L	Total
	1	Widnes	12	6	20	12	8	58
	2	Leeds	9	6	12	16	4	47
	3	Hull KR	20	20	6			46
	4	Castleford	14	16	6		8	44
	5	Hull FC	18	12			12	42
	6	St Helens	11	12	6	8		37
	7	Wigan	8		16	4		28
	8	Warrington	16	6			4	26
	9	Bradford	10	6	6			22
	10	Leigh	6			8		14
	11	Barrow					12	12
	11	York			12			12
	13	Featherstone	5			4		9
	14	Swinton				4	4	8
	15	Oldham	7					7
	15	Wakefield	3				4	7
	17	Fulham	4					4
	17	Cardiff				4		4
	19	Salford	2					2
	20	Whitehaven	1					1
		Total	146	84	84	60	56	430

For the 1982-83 season, simply click here.
To see the 1984-85 season, just click here.