| 1983–84 Rugby Football League season | |
| League: | Slalom Lager Championship |
| No Of Teams: | 16 |
| Season Champs: | Hull Kingston Rovers |
| Season Champ Name: | Champions |
| Premiership Win: | Hull Kingston Rovers |
| Premiership Win Name: | Premiership winners |
| Mvp: | Joe Lydon |
| Mvp Link: | Man of Steel Award |
| Top Scorer: | John Woods 355 |
| Top Try Scorer: | Garry Schofield 38 |
| Promote From: | Second Division |
| Relegate To: | Second Division |
| Season2: | Second Division |
| Season Champs2: | Barrow |
| Season Champ Name2: | Champions |
| Top Try Scorer2: | Graham King 28 |
| Prevseason Link: | 1982–83 Rugby Football League season |
| Prevseason Year: | 1982–83 |
| Nextseason Link: | 1984–85 Rugby Football League season |
| Nextseason Year: | 1984–85 |
The 1983–84 Rugby Football League season was the 89th ever season of professional rugby league football in Britain. Sixteen teams competed from August, 1983 until May, 1984 for the Slalom Lager Championship.
The Second Division was increased to 18 clubs with the introduction of Kent Invicta, who played their home fixtures at Maidstone, this season.
End of possession:
Value of a try:
Temporary suspension:
In September 1983, the ban on international transfers between England and Australia was lifted.[1] This resulted in a big influx of Australian players being signed by clubs on short-term contracts, most notably Test stand-off and future Australia captain Wally Lewis, who signed for Wakefield Trinity.
Slalom Lager League Champions: Hull Kingston Rovers
Hull Kingston Rovers finished on top of the First Division table to claim their fifth championship, and also the Rugby League Premiership competition, this was the first occasion the 'Championship / Premiership Double' had been achieved.
State Express Challenge Cup Winners: Widnes (19-6 v Wigan)
John Player Special Trophy Winners: Leeds (18-10 v Widnes). During the competition, Danny Wilson of Swinton scored a record 5 drop goals in the tie against Hunslet on 6 Nov 1983.[2]
Slalom Lager Premiership Trophy Winners: Hull Kingston Rovers (18-10 v Castleford)
Barrow (from Cumbria) beat Widnes 12–8 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Hull F.C. beat Castleford 13–2 to win the Yorkshire County Cup
At the end of the 1983 seasons in Qld and NSW, the Queensland team also toured Papua New Guinea and England. Their tour of Great Britain saw them play three matches. The first against Hull Kingston Rovers resulted in an 8–6 loss, though the Wally Lewis-led Maroons then easily won their remaining matches against Wigan (40–2) and Leeds (58–2)
Final Standings
| 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 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 30 | 22 | 2 | 6 | 795 | 421 | +374 | 46 | ||||||||||
| 2 | Hull | 30 | 22 | 1 | 7 | 831 | 401 | +430 | 45 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Warrington | 30 | 19 | 2 | 9 | 622 | 528 | +94 | 40 | ||||||||||
| 4 | Castleford | 30 | 18 | 3 | 9 | 686 | 438 | +248 | 39 | ||||||||||
| 5 | Widnes | 30 | 19 | 1 | 10 | 656 | 457 | +199 | 39 | ||||||||||
| 6 | St. Helens | 30 | 18 | 1 | 11 | 649 | 507 | +142 | 37 | ||||||||||
| 7 | Bradford Northern | 30 | 17 | 2 | 11 | 519 | 379 | +140 | 36 | ||||||||||
| 8 | Leeds | 30 | 15 | 3 | 12 | 553 | 514 | +39 | 33 | ||||||||||
| 9 | Wigan | 30 | 16 | 0 | 14 | 533 | 465 | +68 | 32 | ||||||||||
| 10 | Oldham | 30 | 15 | 2 | 13 | 544 | 480 | +64 | 32 | ||||||||||
| 11 | Leigh | 30 | 14 | 0 | 16 | 623 | 599 | +24 | 28 | ||||||||||
| 12 | Featherstone Rovers | 30 | 11 | 2 | 17 | 464 | 562 | -98 | 24 | ||||||||||
| 13 | Fulham | 30 | 9 | 1 | 20 | 401 | 694 | -293 | 19 | ||||||||||
| 14 | Wakefield Trinity | 30 | 7 | 0 | 23 | 415 | 780 | -365 | 14 | ||||||||||
| 15 | Salford | 30 | 5 | 0 | 25 | 352 | 787 | -435 | 10 | ||||||||||
| 16 | Whitehaven | 30 | 3 | 0 | 27 | 325 | 956 | -631 | 6 | ||||||||||
| Club | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barrow | 34 | 32 | 0 | 2 | 1126 | 332 | 64 |
| 2 | Workington Town | 34 | 24 | 2 | 8 | 714 | 504 | 50 |
| 3 | Hunslet | 34 | 24 | 0 | 10 | 900 | 597 | 48 |
| 4 | Halifax | 34 | 23 | 2 | 9 | 722 | 539 | 48 |
| 5 | Blackpool Borough | 34 | 20 | 3 | 11 | 615 | 466 | 43 |
| 6 | Swinton | 34 | 21 | 0 | 13 | 764 | 437 | 42 |
| 7 | York | 34 | 19 | 2 | 13 | 743 | 570 | 40 |
| 8 | Bramley | 34 | 16 | 2 | 16 | 584 | 545 | 34 |
| 9 | Kent Invicta | 34 | 17 | 0 | 17 | 595 | 700 | 34 |
| 10 | Huddersfield | 34 | 15 | 3 | 16 | 600 | 545 | 33 |
| 11 | Cardiff City Blue Dragons | 34 | 15 | 1 | 18 | 710 | 717 | 31 |
| 12 | Rochdale Hornets | 34 | 13 | 3 | 18 | 551 | 667 | 29 |
| 13 | Batley | 34 | 13 | 0 | 21 | 477 | 738 | 26 |
| 14 | Dewsbury | 34 | 12 | 0 | 22 | 526 | 698 | 24 |
| 15 | Carlisle | 34 | 12 | 0 | 22 | 539 | 780 | 24 |
| 16 | Huyton | 34 | 9 | 2 | 23 | 431 | 760 | 20 |
| 17 | Keighley | 34 | 7 | 3 | 24 | 425 | 728 | 17 |
| 18 | Doncaster | 34 | 2 | 1 | 31 | 384 | 1083 | 5 |
| Champions | Play-offs | Promoted | Relegated |
See main article: 1983–84 Challenge Cup. The 1983-84 State Express Challenge Cup was won by Widnes after defeating Wigan 19-6 in the final.
The Final was played at Wembley before a crowd of 80,116.
See main article: 1983–84 John Player Special Trophy.
See main article: 1983–84 Lancashire Cup.
See main article: 1983–84 Yorkshire Cup.
See main article: 1983–84 Rugby League Premiership.