1985–86 Rugby Football League season

none 1985–86 Rugby Football League season Slalom Lager Championship First Division: 16 Second Division: 18 First Division Halifax (4th title) Champions Warrington Premiership winners AUS Gavin Miller Man of Steel Award ENG Ellery Hanley (63) Leigh Barrow Wakefield Trinity Second Division York Swinton Dewsbury Second Division Second Division Leigh Champions Barrow ENG Chris Johnson (400) ENG John Henderson (27) Bridgend Blue Dragons Southend Invicta Left league 1984–85 Rugby Football League season 1984–85 1986–87 Rugby Football League season 1986–87 The 1985–86 Rugby Football League season was the 91st ever season of professional rugby league football in Britain. Sixteen teams competed from August, 1985 until May, 1986 for the Slalom Lager Championship. Season summary Slalom Lager League Champions were Halifax.Halifax finished on top of the First Division table to claim their fourth championship, but Warrington defeated them in the Rugby League Premiership competition.Paul Bishop of Warrington scored a record equalling 5 drop goals in the Premiership semi-final against Wigan on 11 May 1986. Castleford were 15–14 winners over Hull Kingston Rovers in the Silk Cut Challenge Cup. Wigan were 11–8 winners over Hull Kingston Rovers in the final for the John Player Special Trophy. Warrington were 38–10 winners over Halifax in the Premiership Trophy. Warrington's Australian forward Les Boyd was awarded the Harry Sunderland Trophy as man-of-the-match. 2nd Division Champions were Leigh.Bridgend Blue Dragons and Southend Invicta dropped out of the competition. The promotion scheme was changed to 3-up 3-down. Wigan beat Warrington 34–8 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Hull Kingston Rovers beat Castleford 22–18 to win the Yorkshire County Cup. First Division main WDL HFX WIG STH WAR WID LEE HKR HUL OLD SAL CAS BRA FEA YOR SWI DEW PO PO PO PO PO PO PO PO R R R 19 6 5 499 365 20 3 7 776 300 20 2 8 729 503 20 1 9 665 393 19 3 8 520 454 15 3 12 554 518 16 1 13 507 500 15 2 13 616 508 13 4 13 524 549 14 0 16 508 561 12 1 17 551 585 11 1 18 447 473 9 3 18 419 616 9 0 21 413 592 8 0 22 371 648 5 0 25 313 847 C R R R Halifax Wigan St Helens Warrington Widnes Leeds Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Oldham Salford Castleford Bradford Northern Featherstone Rovers York Swinton Dewsbury 1) Points; 2) Points scored percentage (points scored divided by points conceded) yes points https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/seasons/championship-1985-86/summary.html Championship 1985/86 Rugby League Project 19 March 2026 complete 2 1 0 QR yellow2 Qualification for Premiership first round red2 Relegated to Second Division Second Division main WDL LEI BAR WAK WHI ROC BLA BAT BRA FUL DON CAR SHE WOR HUN HUD RUN KEI MAN P P P 33 0 1 1156 373 27 0 7 1012 398 24 1 9 680 435 22 0 12 619 479 21 0 13 763 485 20 0 14 769 570 18 3 13 567 450 17 1 16 608 663 16 1 17 679 709 16 1 17 611 650 15 2 17 585 682 14 1 19 516 617 13 0 21 684 723 11 3 20 594 795 8 4 22 542 841 9 2 23 489 790 9 2 23 401 918 2 1 31 383 1080 CP P P Leigh Barrow Wakefield Trinity Whitehaven Rochdale Hornets Blackpool Borough Batley Bramley Fulham Doncaster Carlisle Sheffield Eagles Workington Town Hunslet Huddersfield Barracudas Runcorn Highfield Keighley Mansfield Marksman 1) Points; 2) Points scored percentage (points scored divided by points conceded) yes points complete https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/seasons/second-division-1985-86/summary.html Second Division 1985/86 Rugby League Project 19 March 2026 2 1 0 Q green2 Promotion to First Division Premiership 1985–86 Rugby League Premiership 18 May 1986 Warrington (4) 38 – 10 Halifax (1) Johnson, Forster, Bishop, Boyd (2), Tamati, Jackson Bishop (5) C. Anderson Whitfield (3) Elland Road 13,683 Fred Lindop Les Boyd Macklin Keith Warrington's power pack makes light of Halifax https://archive.org/details/NewsUK1986UKEnglish/May%2019%201986%2C%20The%20Times%2C%20%2362460%2C%20UK%20%28en%29/page/n27/mode/2up?view=theater The Times 19 May 1986 29 Sources 1985-86 Rugby Football League season at wigan.rlfans.com References Category:1985 in English rugby league Category:1986 in English rugby league Category:Rugby Football League seasons