| 1987–88 Rugby Football League season | |
| League: | Stones Bitter Championship |
| Season: | 1987–88 Season |
| Season Champs: | Widnes |
| Season Champ Name: | Champions |
| Premiership Win: | Widnes |
| Premiership Win Name: | Premiership |
| Mvp: | Martin Offiah |
| Mvp Link: | Man of Steel Award |
| Top Scorer: | John Woods 351 |
| Top Try Scorer: | Martin Offiah 44 |
| Promote From: | Second Division |
| Relegate To: | Second Division |
| Season2: | Second Division |
| Season Champs2: | Oldham |
| Season Champ Name2: | Champions |
| Top Scorer2: | Kevin Pape (Carlisle) 23 |
| Prevseason Link: | 1986–87 Rugby Football League season |
| Prevseason Year: | 1986–87 |
| Nextseason Link: | 1988–89 Rugby Football League season |
| Nextseason Year: | 1988–89 |
The 1987–88 Rugby Football League season was the 93rd season of rugby league football in Britain.
During the summer of 1987, freedom of contract was introduced, replacing the retain and transfer system used in previous seasons. Players could now negotiate a move to another club at the end of their contract, with the new club paying compensation to the player's former club. An independent tribunal was created to rule on transfers where the two clubs were unable to agree on a fee.[1] The first case decided by the new tribunal was on 27 August 1987, setting a £40,000 fee for Ged Byrne's transfer from Salford to Wigan.[2]
During the season, defending champions Wigan hosted NSWRL champions, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in the 1987 World Club Challenge match. Wigan were World Club Champions for the first time when they beat Manly-Warringah 8–2 at Central Park, Wigan on 7 Oct 1987 before a crowd of 36,895 [3]
The Stones Bitter League Champions were Widnes for the second time in their history, exactly ten years after their first. Leigh, Swinton and Hunslet were relegated.
The Challenge Cup winners were Wigan who beat Halifax 32–12 in the final.
John Player Special Trophy winners were St. Helens who beat Leeds 15–14 in the final.
Rugby League Premiership Trophy Winners were Widnes who beat St. Helens 38–14 in the final.
2nd Division Champions were Oldham. Featherstone Rovers and Wakefield Trinity were also promoted. Blackpool Borough changed their name to Springfield Borough.
Wigan beat Warrington 28–16 to win the Lancashire County Cup, and Bradford Northern beat Castleford 12–12 (replay 11–2) to win the Yorkshire County Cup.
At the end of the season players from the League were selected to go on the 1988 Great Britain Lions tour.
| 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 | Widnes | 26 | 20 | 0 | 6 | 641 | 311 | 40 | |||||||||
| 2 | St. Helens | 26 | 18 | 0 | 8 | 672 | 337 | 36 | |||||||||
| 3 | Wigan | 26 | 17 | 2 | 7 | 621 | 327 | 36 | |||||||||
| 4 | Bradford Northern | 26 | 18 | 0 | 8 | 528 | 304 | 36 | |||||||||
| 5 | Leeds | 26 | 15 | 3 | 8 | 577 | 450 | 33 | |||||||||
| 6 | Warrington | 26 | 14 | 2 | 10 | 531 | 416 | 30 | |||||||||
| 7 | Castleford | 26 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 505 | 559 | 26 | |||||||||
| 8 | Halifax | 26 | 12 | 0 | 14 | 499 | 437 | 24 | |||||||||
| 9 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 26 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 420 | 480 | 23 | |||||||||
| 10 | Hull | 26 | 11 | 0 | 15 | 364 | 595 | 22 | |||||||||
| 11 | Salford | 26 | 10 | 0 | 16 | 368 | 561 | 20 | |||||||||
| 12 | Leigh | 26 | 9 | 0 | 17 | 416 | 559 | 18 | |||||||||
| 13 | Swinton | 26 | 4 | 2 | 20 | 390 | 780 | 10 | |||||||||
| 14 | Hunslet | 26 | 4 | 2 | 20 | 363 | 779 | 10 | |||||||||
| Champions | Play-offs | Relegated |
| 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 | Oldham | 28 | 23 | 1 | 4 | 771 | 335 | 47 | |||||||||
| 2 | Featherstone Rovers | 28 | 21 | 2 | 5 | 712 | 353 | 44 | |||||||||
| 3 | Wakefield Trinity | 28 | 20 | 1 | 7 | 666 | 315 | 41 | |||||||||
| 4 | Springfield Borough | 28 | 18 | 0 | 10 | 448 | 356 | 36 | |||||||||
| 5 | Sheffield Eagles | 28 | 16 | 1 | 11 | 490 | 429 | 33 | |||||||||
| 6 | York | 28 | 15 | 1 | 12 | 558 | 526 | 31 | |||||||||
| 7 | Mansfield Marksman | 28 | 15 | 1 | 12 | 439 | 412 | 31 | |||||||||
| 8 | Keighley | 28 | 15 | 0 | 13 | 497 | 428 | 30 | |||||||||
| 9 | Barrow | 28 | 14 | 2 | 12 | 382 | 397 | 30 | |||||||||
| 10 | Workington Town | 28 | 15 | 0 | 13 | 380 | 441 | 30 | |||||||||
| 11 | Carlisle | 28 | 14 | 1 | 13 | 388 | 444 | 29 | |||||||||
| 12 | Runcorn Highfield | 28 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 420 | 469 | 28 | |||||||||
| 13 | Whitehaven | 28 | 10 | 1 | 17 | 417 | 452 | 21 | |||||||||
| 14 | Bramley | 28 | 10 | 1 | 17 | 400 | 600 | 21 | |||||||||
| 15 | Dewsbury | 28 | 10 | 0 | 18 | 417 | 519 | 20 | |||||||||
| 16 | Doncaster | 28 | 9 | 2 | 17 | 406 | 512 | 20 | |||||||||
| 17 | Fulham | 28 | 10 | 0 | 18 | 382 | 559 | 20 | |||||||||
| 18 | Rochdale Hornets | 28 | 10 | 0 | 18 | 322 | 514 | 20 | |||||||||
| 19 | Huddersfield Barracudas | 28 | 7 | 1 | 20 | 383 | 597 | 15 | |||||||||
| 20 | Batley | 28 | 6 | 1 | 21 | 305 | 523 | 13 | |||||||||
| Promoted |
See main article: 1988 Challenge Cup. Wigan had reached the final by beating Bradford Northern 2–0 in Round One at home on 30 Jan; Leeds 30–14 in Round Two at home on 14 Feb; Widnes 10–1 in the Quarter Final at home on 27 Feb and Salford 34–4 in the semi-final played at Bolton on 12 Mar.
Wigan beat Halifax 32–12 in the final played at Wembley before a crowd of 94,273.[4]
This was Wigan's ninth Challenge Cup Final win in eighteen Final appearances. It was the start of their record breaking eight Challenge Cup Final wins in a row.
The Wigan scrum half, Andy Gregory, won the Lance Todd Trophy for his man-of-the-match performance.
See main article: 1987–88 John Player Special Trophy.
See main article: 1987–88 Lancashire Cup.
See main article: 1987–88 Yorkshire Cup.
See main article: 1987–88 Rugby League Premiership.
See main article: 1987–88 Rugby League Divisional Premiership.