| 1937–38 Northern Rugby Football League season | |
| League: | Northern Rugby Football League |
| No Of Teams: | 29 |
| Season: | RFL Championship |
| Season Champs: | Hunslet |
| Season Champ Name: | Champions |
| League Leaders: | Hunslet |
| League Leaders Name: | League Leaders |
| Top Scorer: | Jim Sullivan 285 |
| Top Try Scorer: | Eric Harris 45 |
| Prevseason Link: | 1936–37 Northern Rugby Football League season |
| Prevseason Year: | 1936–37 |
| Nextseason Link: | 1938–39 Northern Rugby Football League season |
| Nextseason Year: | 1938–39 |
The 1937–38 Rugby Football League season was the 43rd season of rugby league football.
Hunslet won their second, and to date last, Championship when they defeated Leeds 8-2 in the play-off final. They had also finished the regular season as the league leaders. The final was due to have taken place at Belle Vue, Wakefield, but as both clubs were from Leeds, the Rugby Football League switched the match to Elland Road in Leeds, with the final being played on 30 April 1938 in front of a crowd of 54,112.[1]
The Challenge Cup Winners were Salford who beat Barrow 7-4 in the final.[2]
Warrington won the Lancashire League, and Leeds won the Yorkshire League. Warrington beat Barrow 8–4 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Leeds beat Huddersfield 14–8 to win the Yorkshire County Cup.
| 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" | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hunslet | 36 | 25 | 3 | 8 | 459 | 301 | 53 | |||||||||
| 2 | Leeds | 36 | 25 | 2 | 9 | 530 | 227 | 52 | |||||||||
| 3 | Swinton | 36 | 24 | 2 | 10 | 392 | 198 | 50 | |||||||||
| 4 | Barrow | 36 | 25 | 0 | 11 | 447 | 260 | 50 | |||||||||
| 5 | Warrington | 36 | 23 | 1 | 12 | 534 | 286 | 47 | |||||||||
| 6 | Salford | 36 | 23 | 1 | 12 | 493 | 293 | 47 | |||||||||
| 7 | Castleford | 36 | 23 | 1 | 12 | 481 | 320 | 47 | |||||||||
| 8 | Widnes | 36 | 22 | 2 | 12 | 475 | 210 | 46 | |||||||||
| 9 | Wigan | 36 | 22 | 1 | 13 | 478 | 329 | 45 | |||||||||
| 10 | Wakefield Trinity | 36 | 21 | 3 | 12 | 476 | 346 | 45 | |||||||||
| 11 | Oldham | 36 | 21 | 2 | 13 | 392 | 276 | 44 | |||||||||
| 12 | Bradford Northern | 36 | 20 | 4 | 12 | 439 | 355 | 44 | |||||||||
| 13 | Hull | 36 | 19 | 3 | 14 | 479 | 364 | 41 | |||||||||
| 14 | Halifax | 36 | 19 | 2 | 15 | 531 | 393 | 40 | |||||||||
| 15 | Batley | 36 | 17 | 2 | 17 | 392 | 367 | 36 | |||||||||
| 16 | Keighley | 36 | 17 | 2 | 17 | 267 | 318 | 36 | |||||||||
| 17 | Liverpool Stanley | 36 | 17 | 1 | 18 | 284 | 324 | 35 | |||||||||
| 18 | York | 36 | 15 | 5 | 16 | 381 | 492 | 35 | |||||||||
| 19 | Broughton Rangers | 36 | 16 | 2 | 18 | 394 | 413 | 34 | |||||||||
| 20 | Dewsbury | 36 | 15 | 1 | 20 | 388 | 407 | 31 | |||||||||
| 21 | St. Helens | 36 | 14 | 3 | 19 | 370 | 476 | 31 | |||||||||
| 22 | St Helens Recs | 36 | 15 | 1 | 20 | 353 | 471 | 31 | |||||||||
| 23 | Huddersfield | 36 | 14 | 1 | 21 | 499 | 502 | 29 | |||||||||
| 24 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 36 | 13 | 1 | 22 | 354 | 476 | 27 | |||||||||
| 25 | Rochdale Hornets | 36 | 9 | 1 | 26 | 338 | 567 | 19 | |||||||||
| 26 | Featherstone Rovers | 36 | 8 | 2 | 26 | 311 | 606 | 18 | |||||||||
| 27 | Leigh | 36 | 7 | 3 | 26 | 203 | 597 | 17 | |||||||||
| 28 | Newcastle | 36 | 2 | 4 | 30 | 206 | 750 | 8 | |||||||||
| 29 | Bramley | 36 | 2 | 2 | 32 | 221 | 643 | 6 | |||||||||
See main article: 1937–38 Challenge Cup. Salford beat Barrow 7-4 in the final played at Wembley on Saturday 7 May 1938 in front of a crowd of 51,243. This was the lowest winning score in a Wembley final, only equalled in 1970.[3]
This was Salford’s first Challenge Cup Final win in their fourth Final appearance.
This was Barrow’s first appearance in the Final.[4]