| 1897–98 Northern Rugby Football Union season | |
| Structure: | Separate county competitions |
| Season: | 1897–98 Season |
| Top Scorer: | Albert Goldthorpe (Hunslet) 135 |
| Top Try Scorer: | Hoskins (Salford) 30 |
| Season2: | Lancashire League |
| Season Champs2: | Oldham |
| Season Champ Name2: | Champions |
| Season3: | Yorkshire League |
| Season Champs3: | Hunslet |
| Season Champ Name3: | Champions |
| Prevseason Link: | 1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season |
| Prevseason Year: | 1896–97 |
| Nextseason Link: | 1898–99 Northern Rugby Football Union season |
| Nextseason Year: | 1898–99 |
The 1897–98 Northern Rugby Football Union season was the third season of rugby league football.
The leading try scorer this season was Hoskins of Salford, who crossed the line 30 times.[1] The leading goal scorer was Albert Goldthorpe of Hunslet who was successful 66 times.[1] The leading points scorer was also Goldthorpe who scored 135 points in the season.[1]
Oldham won the Lancashire Senior Competition and Hunslet won in Yorkshire, but only after winning a play-off with Bradford.
Oldham won the Lancashire competition outright. Although participating in the Lancashire Senior Competition, Runcorn and Stockport were from Cheshire. Warrington, and Widnes were in Lancashire until the 1974 boundary changes and now lie within the northern boundary of Cheshire.
| width=20 abbr="Position" | width=175 | Team | width=20 abbr="Played" | Pld | width=20 abbr="Won" | W | width=20 abbr="Drawn" | D | width=20 abbr="Lost" | L | width=20 abbr="Points for" | PF | width=20 abbr="Points against" | PA | width=20 abbr="Points difference" | PD | width=20 abbr="Points" | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oldham | 26 | 22 | 1 | 2 | 295 | 94 | +201 | 47 | ||||||||||
| 2 | Swinton | 26 | 20 | 3 | 3 | 321 | 83 | +238 | 43 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Widnes | 26 | 19 | 1 | 6 | 251 | 114 | +137 | 39 | ||||||||||
| 4 | Salford | 26 | 16 | 3 | 7 | 275 | 182 | +93 | 33 | ||||||||||
| 5 | Broughton Rangers | 26 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 183 | 108 | +75 | 30 | ||||||||||
| 6 | Wigan | 26 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 124 | 173 | -49 | 23 | ||||||||||
| 7 | 26 | 11 | 2 | 13 | 176 | 170 | +6 | 22 | |||||||||||
| 8 | St. Helens | 26 | 10 | 2 | 14 | 161 | 192 | -31 | 22 | ||||||||||
| 9 | Warrington | 26 | 10 | 2 | 14 | 131 | 178 | -47 | 22 | ||||||||||
| 10 | Runcorn | 26 | 9 | 2 | 15 | 142 | 184 | -42 | 20 | ||||||||||
| 11 | Stockport | 26 | 8 | 2 | 16 | 154 | 253 | -99 | 18 | ||||||||||
| 12 | Tyldesley | 26 | 8 | 1 | 17 | 111 | 281 | -170 | 17 | ||||||||||
| 13 | Rochdale Hornets | 26 | 7 | 0 | 19 | 146 | 247 | -101 | 14 | ||||||||||
| 14 | Morecambe | 26 | 4 | 2 | 20 | 74 | 285 | -211 | 10 |
Source: R.L.Yearbook 1995-96 cited in "The Vault".
League points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.
Pld = Games played; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; PF = Match points scored; PA = Match points conceded; PD = Points difference; Pts = League points.
Hunslet and Bradford ended the league season with 48 points. In a championship play-off Hunslet beat Bradford 5–2.
| width=20 abbr="Position" | width=175 | Team | width=20 abbr="Played" | Pld | width=20 abbr="Won" | W | width=20 abbr="Drawn" | D | width=20 abbr="Lost" | L | width=20 abbr="Points for" | PF | width=20 abbr="Points against" | PA | width=20 abbr="Points difference" | PD | width=20 abbr="Points" | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hunslet | 30 | 22 | 4 | 4 | 327 | 117 | +210 | 48 | ||||||||||
| 2 | Bradford | 30 | 23 | 2 | 5 | 319 | 139 | +180 | 48 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Batley | 30 | 17 | 3 | 10 | 234 | 111 | +123 | 37 | ||||||||||
| 4 | Halifax | 30 | 16 | 3 | 11 | 193 | 164 | +29 | 35 | ||||||||||
| 5 | Manningham | 30 | 15 | 4 | 11 | 276 | 181 | +95 | 34 | ||||||||||
| 6 | Castleford | 30 | 16 | 1 | 13 | 256 | 208 | +48 | 33 | ||||||||||
| 7 | 30 | 16 | 1 | 13 | 248 | 214 | +34 | 33 | |||||||||||
| 8 | Leeds Parish Church | 30 | 15 | 1 | 14 | 187 | 213 | -26 | 31 | ||||||||||
| 9 | Leeds | 30 | 13 | 4 | 13 | 186 | 171 | +15 | 30 | ||||||||||
| 10 | Huddersfield | 30 | 12 | 3 | 15 | 208 | 170 | +38 | 27 | ||||||||||
| 11 | Hull | 30 | 11 | 4 | 15 | 192 | 187 | +5 | 26 | ||||||||||
| 12 | Bramley | 30 | 11 | 4 | 15 | 156 | 199 | -43 | 26 | ||||||||||
| 13 | Brighouse Rangers | 30 | 9 | 5 | 16 | 143 | 172 | -29 | 23 | ||||||||||
| 14 | Holbeck | 30 | 11 | 0 | 19 | 171 | 310 | -139 | 22 | ||||||||||
| 15 | Heckmondwike | 30 | 9 | 2 | 19 | 148 | 315 | -167 | 20 | ||||||||||
| 16 | Liversedge | 30 | 3 | 1 | 26 | 76 | 449 | -373 | 7 |
Source: R.L.Yearbook 1995-96 cited in "The Vault".
League points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.
Pld = Games played; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; PF = Match points scored; PA = Match points conceded; PD = Points difference; Pts = League points.