1987–88 Rugby Football League season

none 1987–88 Rugby Football League season Stones Bitter Championship First Division: 14 Second Division: 20 First Division Widnes (2nd title) Champions Widnes Premiership ENG Martin Offiah Man of Steel Award ENG John Woods (351) ENG Martin Offiah (44) Oldham Featherstone Rovers Wakefield Trinity Second Division Leigh Swinton Hunslet Second Division Second Division Oldham Champions Featherstone Rovers Kevin Pape (23) 1986–87 Rugby Football League season 1986–87 1988–89 Rugby Football League season 1988–89 The 1987–88 Rugby Football League season was the 93rd season of rugby league football in Britain. Season summary During the summer of 1987, freedom of contract was introduced, replacing the retain and transfer system used in previous seasons. Players could now negotiate a move to another club at the end of their contract, with the new club paying compensation to the player's former club. An independent tribunal was created to rule on transfers where the two clubs were unable to agree on a fee.Fitzpatrick Paul Freedon from the murkier depths The Guardian 27 June 1987 London 17 186698335 The first case decided by the new tribunal was on 27 August 1987, setting a £40,000 fee for Ged Byrne's transfer from Salford to Wigan.Sport In Brief The Guardian 28 August 1987 London 21 186860056 During the season, defending champions Wigan hosted NSWRL champions, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the 1987 World Club Challenge match. Wigan were World Club Champions for the first time when they beat Manly-Warringah 8–2 at Central Park, Wigan on 7 Oct 1987 before a crowd of 36,895 http://wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/index.php?page_id=407 1987-88 Season summary 2009-08-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20090827030042/http://wigan.rlfans.com/fusion_pages/index.php?page_id=407 2009-08-27 live The Stones Bitter League Champions were Widnes for the second time in their history, exactly ten years after their first. Leigh, Swinton and Hunslet were relegated. The Challenge Cup winners were Wigan who beat Halifax 32–12 in the final. John Player Special Trophy winners were St. Helens who beat Leeds 15–14 in the final. Rugby League Premiership Trophy Winners were Widnes who beat St. Helens 38–14 in the final. 2nd Division Champions were Oldham. Featherstone Rovers and Wakefield Trinity were also promoted. Blackpool Borough changed their name to Springfield Borough. Wigan beat Warrington 28–16 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Bradford Northern beat Castleford 12–12 (replay 11–2) to win the Yorkshire County Cup. At the end of the season players from the League were selected to go on the 1988 Great Britain Lions tour. First Division main WDL WID STH WIG BRA LEE WAR CAS HFX HKR HUL SAL LEI SWI HUN PRM PRM PRM PRM PRM PRM PRM PRM REL REL REL 20 0 6 641 311 18 0 8 672 337 17 2 7 621 327 18 0 8 528 304 15 3 8 577 450 14 2 10 531 416 13 0 13 505 559 12 0 14 499 437 11 1 14 420 480 11 0 15 364 595 10 0 16 368 561 9 0 17 416 559 4 2 20 390 780 4 2 20 363 779 C R R R Widnes St Helens Wigan Bradford Northern Leeds Warrington Castleford Halifax Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Salford Leigh Swinton Hunslet 1) Points; 2) Points scored percentage (points scored divided by points conceded) yes points complete https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/seasons/championship-1987-88/summary.html Championship 1987/88 Rugby League Project 19 March 2026 2 1 0 QR yellow2 Qualification for Premiership first round red2 Relegated to Second Division Second Division main WDL OLD FEV WAK SPB SHE MAN YOR KEI BAR WOR CAR RUN WHI BRM DEW DON FUL ROC HUD BAT PRO PRO PRO PRM PRM PRM PRM PRM 23 1 4 771 335 21 2 5 712 353 20 1 7 666 315 18 0 10 448 356 16 1 11 490 429 15 1 12 558 526 15 1 12 439 412 15 0 13 495 428 14 2 12 382 397 15 0 13 380 441 14 1 13 388 444 14 0 14 420 469 10 1 17 417 452 10 1 17 400 600 10 0 18 417 519 9 2 17 406 512 10 0 18 382 559 10 0 18 322 514 7 1 20 383 597 6 1 21 305 523 CP P P Oldham Featherstone Rovers Wakefield Trinity Springfield Borough Sheffield Eagles York Mansfield Marksman Keighley Barrow Workington Town Carlisle Runcorn Highfield Whitehaven Bramley Dewsbury Doncaster Fulham Rochdale Hornets Huddersfield Barracudas Batley 1) Points; 2) Points scored percentage (points scored divided by points conceded) yes points complete https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/seasons/second-division-1987-88/summary.html Second Division 1987/88 Rugby League Project 19 March 2026 2 1 0 PQ green2 Promoted to First Division Qualification for Divisional Premiership first round yellow2 Qualification for Divisional Premiership first round Premiership First Division Premiership 1987–88 Rugby League Premiership 15 May 1988 Widnes (1) 38-14 St Helens (2) T-Tait, D Wright, D Hulme (2), Sorensen, McKenzie G-Platt, Currier(4) T-Ledger, Haggerty G-Loughlin (3) Old Trafford 35,252 John Holdsworth David Hulme Divisional Premiership 1987–88 Rugby League Divisional Premiership 15 May 1988 Oldham (1) 28 – 26 Fletcher Howes 1988 161 Featherstone Rovers (2) Foy (2), Flanagan, Walsh, Meadows McAlister (4) Steadman (2), Bannister, Sykes Quinn (5) Old Trafford, Manchester Robin Whitfield (Widnes) Des Foy References Sources 1987-88 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com The Challenge Cup at The Rugby Football League website Fletcher Raymond Howes David Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1988-89 1988 Queen Anne Press London 978-0-356-15882-2 Category:1987 in English rugby league Category:1988 in English rugby league Category:Rugby Football League seasons