| 1951–52 Northern Rugby Football League season | |
| League: | Northern Rugby League |
| Season: | 1951–52 Season |
| Season Champs: | Wigan |
| Season Champ Name: | Champions |
| League Leaders: | Bradford Northern |
| League Leaders Name: | League Leaders |
| Top Scorer: | Willie Horne 313 |
| Top Try Scorer: | Lionel Cooper 71 |
| Prevseason Link: | 1950–51 Northern Rugby Football League season |
| Prevseason Year: | 1950–51 |
| Nextseason Link: | 1952–53 Northern Rugby Football League season |
| Nextseason Year: | 1952–53 |
The 1951–52 Rugby Football League season was the 57th season of rugby league football.
Wigan won their eighth Championship when they beat Bradford Northern 13-6 in the play-off final. Bradford had ended the regular season as the league leaders.
The Challenge Cup Winners were Workington Town who beat Featherstone Rovers 18-10 in the final.
Liverpool Stanley was renamed Liverpool City, and Cardiff, and Doncaster joined the league.[1]
Wigan won the Lancashire League, and Huddersfield won the Yorkshire League. Wigan beat Leigh 14–6 to win the Lancashire Cup, and Wakefield Trinity beat Keighley 17–3 to win the Yorkshire Cup.
Final standings
| width=175 | Team | Pld | W | D | L | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bradford Northern | 36 | 28 | 1 | 7 | 57 | |
| 2 | Wigan | 36 | 27 | 1 | 8 | 55 | |
| 3 | Hull | 36 | 26 | 1 | 9 | 53 | |
| 4 | Huddersfield | 36 | 26 | 0 | 10 | 52 | |
| 5 | Oldham | 36 | 25 | 1 | 10 | 51 | |
| 6 | Warrington | 36 | 24 | 1 | 11 | 49 | |
| 7 | Leigh | 36 | 23 | 2 | 11 | 48 | |
| 8 | Workington Town | 36 | 23 | 0 | 13 | 46 | |
| 9 | Hunslet | 36 | 22 | 1 | 13 | 45 | |
| 10 | Barrow | 36 | 21 | 2 | 13 | 44 | |
| 11 | Doncaster | 36 | 21 | 1 | 14 | 43 | |
| 12 | Widnes | 36 | 20 | 2 | 14 | 42 | |
| 13 | Leeds | 36 | 19 | 2 | 15 | 40 | |
| 14 | Swinton | 36 | 18 | 3 | 15 | 39 | |
| 15 | Salford | 36 | 18 | 2 | 16 | 38 | |
| 16 | Wakefield Trinity | 36 | 19 | 0 | 17 | 38 | |
| 17 | Batley | 36 | 18 | 1 | 17 | 37 | |
| 18 | Dewsbury | 36 | 18 | 0 | 18 | 36 | |
| 19 | Whitehaven | 36 | 16 | 4 | 16 | 36 | |
| 20 | St. Helens | 36 | 16 | 2 | 18 | 34 | |
| 21 | Halifax | 36 | 16 | 2 | 18 | 34 | |
| 22 | Featherstone Rovers | 36 | 14 | 2 | 20 | 30 | |
| 23 | Belle Vue Rangers | 36 | 12 | 3 | 21 | 27 | |
| 24 | York | 36 | 12 | 3 | 21 | 27 | |
| 25 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 36 | 10 | 1 | 25 | 21 | |
| 26 | Rochdale Hornets | 36 | 10 | 1 | 25 | 21 | |
| 27 | Bramley | 36 | 10 | 1 | 25 | 21 | |
| 28 | Castleford | 36 | 8 | 1 | 27 | 17 | |
| 29 | Keighley | 36 | 8 | 1 | 27 | 17 | |
| 30 | Cardiff | 36 | 5 | 0 | 31 | 10 | |
| 31 | Liverpool City | 36 | 4 | 0 | 32 | 8 |
| Play-offs |
Source: wigan.rlfans.com.
League points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.
Pld = Games played; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = League points.
See main article: 1951–52 Challenge Cup.
Workington Town beat Featherstone Rovers 18-10 in the Challenge Cup Final played at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 19 April 1952 in front of a crowd of 72,093. Workington full-back and captain-coach Gus Risman became the oldest player to appear in a Cup final at age 41.[2] Three Australians, Tony Paskins, John Mudge and Bevan Wilson came up with decisive plays to help relative newcomers Workington to victory.[3] It was the club's first Cup Final win in their first Final appearance.[4] Billy Ivison, Workington Town's loose forward, was awarded the Lance Todd Trophy for man-of-the-match.
See main article: 1951–52 European Rugby League Championship. This was the twelfth competition and was won for the fourth time by France on points difference.[5] [6]
| Team | Played | Won | Drew | Lost | For | Against | Diff | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 76 | 42 | +34 | 4 | ||
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 79 | 71 | +8 | 4 | ||
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 57 | 56 | +1 | 4 | ||
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 34 | 77 | −43 | 0 |