1939–40 Northern Rugby Football League Wartime Emergency League season
| 1939–40 Northern Rugby Football League Wartime Emergency League season | |
|---|---|
| League | Northern Rugby League Wartime Emergency League |
| 1939–40 Season | |
| Lancashire League Champions | Swinton |
| Yorkshire League Champions | Bradford Northern |
The 1939–40 Northern Rugby Football League season was the first season of the rugby league’s Wartime Emergency League necessitated by the Second World War. In this first Wartime season the clubs each played the same number of fixtures (with just a few exceptions), unlike the following seasons when the clubs played literally as and when they could, with more and more clubs withdrawing.
Prior to the declaration of war on 3 September 1939, most clubs had played three fixtures (on Saturday 26th, Thursday 31 August and Saturday 2 September).
During the following week, the Northern Rugby League decided, after publicity from the Government, to suspend the championship. They almost immediately inaugurated two regional (Lancashire and Yorkshire), Wartime Emergency Leagues, with the winner of each league meeting in a play-off final to decide the overall winner.
These competitions started (for most clubs) on 7 October 1939.
The Wartime Emergency Leagues did not count as an official league championship.
The Challenge Cup was suspended for season 1939–40.
The 1939–40 Wartime Emergency season began just a month after Britain had declared War on Germany following their invasion of Poland in early September.
Bradford Northern finished the regular season as clear leaders on top of the Yorkshire League while Swinton finished on top of the Lancashire League, beating Salford on points difference (+220 to +157). In a two legged play-off between the two. Bradford Northern took the title.
The Challenge Cup was suspended for the season.
Swinton beat Widnes by an aggregate score of 24-15 over two ties to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Featherstone Rovers beat Wakefield Trinity at Odsal, before a small crown of 7,077 by a score of 12-9 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.
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