Super League I

League

Super League

Duration

22 Rounds

Number of teams

Highest attendance

20,429
Wigan vs St Helens (21 June)

Lowest attendance

1,400
Workington Town vs London Broncos (23 June)

Aggregate attendance

867,372
(average 6,571)

Broadcast partners

Sky Sports

1996 Season

Champions

St Helens
1st Super League title
8th English title

Top point-scorer(s)

Bobbie Goulding (257)

Top try-scorer(s)

Paul Newlove (28)

Promotion and relegation

Promoted from First Division

Salford Reds

Relegated to First Division

Workington Town

< 1995-96	Seasons	1997 >

The year 1996's Stones Bitter Super League I was the official name for the 102nd season of top-level rugby league football, and the first year of Europe's new championship: Super League. It is also the first season of rugby league to be played in summer.^[1] The competition featured all eleven teams from the 1995–96 Rugby Football League season plus one expansion club, Paris Saint-Germain.

Teams

Twelve teams were selected to play in the inaugural Super League season.

Legend
	Reigning Champions
	Challenge Cup Holders
	Promoted/ New franchise

	Team	1995-96 position	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
	Bradford Bulls	7th	Odsal	27,000	Bradford, West Yorkshire
	Castleford Tigers	6th	Wheldon Road	11,750	Castleford, West Yorkshire
	Halifax Blue Sox	3rd	Thrum Hall	9,832	Halifax, West Yorkshire
	Leeds RLFC	2nd	Headingley	21,500	Leeds, West Yorkshire
	London Broncos	10th	The Valley	27,000	Charlton, Greater London
	Oldham Bears	8th	Watersheddings	9,000	Oldham, Greater Manchester
	Paris Saint-Germain	N/A	Sébastien Charléty Stadium	20,000	Paris, France
	Sheffield Eagles	5th	Don Valley Stadium	25,000	Sheffield, South Yorkshire
	St Helens	4th	Knowsley Road	17,500	St Helens, Mersyside
	Warrington Wolves	9th	Wilderspool	9,200	Warrington, Chesire
D*	Wigan RLFC	1st	Central Park	18,000	Wigan, Greater Manchester
	Workington Town	11th	Derwent Park	10,000	Workington, Cumbria

D*-League and Cup winners

Operational rules

Player numbering:

The Rugby League Council approved a proposal by Super League chief executives to adopt squad numbering. Players would wear a number (1-25) on their shirts all season in addition to their names.^[2]

Rules to ensure the sustainability of Super League clubs were introduced:

Clubs operated under a series of financial rules that specified spending levels in different areas of club operations, demanded that clubs' accounts be submitted monthly for monitoring.^[3]
A salary cap restricted clubs from spending more than 40% of their income on players.^[3]

To protect global Super League interests:

Due to the Super League war in Australia, a number of British players signed "loyalty" contracts which gave News Corporation a veto power over them in an attempt to prevent transfers to Australian Rugby League clubs.^[1]^[3]

Rule changes

Four new rules were introduced for the inaugural Super League season:

Scrums were now to be set 20 metres from the touch-line, with the aim of creating attacking opportunities.^[4]
At the restart after a try has been scored and the conversion attempt has been taken, the side that scored will now kick off to the other team.^[4] This change aimed to make contests more even by almost guaranteeing possession for the side that had conceded points.^[4] Greg McCallum, the director of referees' coaching, also noted that this convention was "in line with most other sports" and "that is significant when we come to promoting the game in America and Asia".^[4]

In an attempt to "clean up" the ruck:

At the play-the-ball, the side not in possession was barred from striking for the ball.^[4]
Also at the play-the-ball, the tackled player was stopped from being able to tap the ball forwards to himself - even in the absence of markers.^[4]

Championship

On 29 March 1996, Super League kicked off in Paris before 17,873 people at the Charlety Stadium when new team Paris Saint Germain overcame Sheffield Eagles 30-24.^[5] Jacques Fouroux, the PSG president, described that night, "Ninety eight per cent of them [the crowd] were new to the game, but they understood it right away. They saw tries, lots of commitment and lots of movement. They saw beauty. They attended a great party."^[5]

The reigning champions Wigan were hoping to maintain their hold on the championship in the newly formed Super League. However, at the end of the season St Helens were crowned inaugural Super League champions after a win over Warrington Wolves at Knowsley Road, finishing in first position on the league ladder.^[6] During the year a secondary title, known as the Premiership was also played, with the final being contested between Wigan and the championship winners St. Helens with Wigan coming out victorious and Andy Farrell winning the Harry Sunderland Trophy.

Workington Town finished bottom for the second successive season and thus relegated to the first division. To date this is their only Super League season and no other club from Cumbria has competed since, Salford Reds were promoted to take their place in Super League II.

League table

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	St Helens	22	20	0	2	950	455	+495	40
2	Wigan	22	19	1	2	902	326	+576	39
3	Bradford Bulls	22	17	0	5	767	409	+358	34
4	London Broncos	22	12	1	9	611	462	+149	25
5	Warrington Wolves	22	12	0	10	569	565	+4	24
6	Halifax Blue Sox	22	10	1	11	667	576	+91	21
7	Sheffield Eagles	22	10	0	12	599	730	-131	20
8	Oldham Bears	22	9	1	12	473	681	-208	19
9	Castleford Tigers	22	9	0	13	548	599	-51	18
10	Leeds	22	6	0	16	555	745	-190	12
11	Paris Saint-Germain	22	3	1	18	398	795	-397	7
12	Workington Town	22	2	1	19	325	1021	-696	5

Champions	Relegated

Premiership

The top four finishing teams competed in a short play-off series for the Premiership Trophy. The final was played between the Wigan and St Helens on Sunday, 8 September at Old Trafford before a crowd of 35,013.^[7] Wigan won the match 44-14 and their loose forward Andy Farrell received the Harry Sunderland Trophy as man-of-the-match.

Semifinals		Final


1	St Helens

4	London Broncos
		St Helens	14

		Wigan	44
2	Wigan

3	Bradford Bulls

Statistics

The following are the top points scorers in the Super League during the 1996 season. Statistics are for league matches only.^[8]

Most tries

Player	Team	Tries
Paul Newlove	St Helens	28
Jason Robinson	Wigan	24
John Bentley	Halifax Blue Sox	21
Henry Paul	Wigan	20
Danny Arnold	St Helens	19
Robbie Paul	Bradford Bulls	18
Richard Henare	Warrington	17
Keith Senior	Sheffield Eagles	17
Greg Barwick	London Broncos	16
Rob Smyth	Wigan	16
Anthony Sullivan	St Helens	16

Most goals

Player	Team	Goals
Bobbie Goulding	St Helens	117
Andy Farrell	Wigan	103
John Schuster	Halifax Blue Sox	101
Mark Aston	Sheffield Eagles	86
Frano Botica	Castleford Tigers	84
Steve McNamara	Bradford Bulls	78
Graham Holroyd	Leeds	76
Iestyn Harris	Warrington	63
Greg Barwick	London Broncos	50
Francis Maloney	Oldham Bears	45

Most points

Player	Team	Tries	Goals	DGs	Points
Bobbie Goulding	St Helens	5	117	3	257
John Schuster	Halifax Blue Sox	8	101	2	236
Andy Farrell	Wigan	5	103	0	226
Graham Holroyd	Leeds	11	76	2	198
Frano Botica	Castleford Tigers	5	84	2	190
Mark Aston	Sheffield Eagles	2	86	1	181
Greg Barwick	London Broncos	16	50	2	166
Steve McNamara	Bradford Bulls	1	78	2	162
Iestyn Harris	Warrington	4	63	2	144
Francis Maloney	Oldham Bears	6	45	0	114

References

1 2 Dave Hadfield (1995-12-20). "Rugby's pounds 87m deal gives Murdoch transfer veto". The Independent. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
↑ Dave Hadfield (1996-02-09). "Super League adopts squad numbering". The Independent. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
1 2 3 Dave Hadfield (1996-01-23). "Lindsay defends the Super League revolution". The Independent. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Dave Hadfield (1995-12-13). "Changes usher in new ball game". The Independent. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
1 2 "LE BLOG Day 2, Back to Charlety and Paris Saint Germain". Chris Irvine, Times Online. 12 June 2008. Retrieved 18 June 2008.
↑ "Super League Champions Roll of Honour". Super League Official website. Retrieved 18 June 2008.
↑ "Premiership Trophy 1996". rugbyleagueproject.org. Shawn Dollin, Andrew Ferguson and Bill Bates. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
↑ Fletcher, Raymond; Howes, David. Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1997. London: Headline. pp. 184–5. ISBN 978-0-7472-7764-4.

External links

Super League Dream Team – 1996

1 Gary Connolly 2 Jason Robinson 3 Va'aiga Tuigamala 4 Paul Newlove 5 Anthony Sullivan 6 Henry Paul 7 Bobbie Goulding 8 Apollo Perelini 9 Keiron Cunningham 10 Terry O'Connor 11 Peter Gill 12 Paul Sculthorpe 13 Andrew Farrell

Super League

Current Teams	Castleford Tigers Catalans Dragons Huddersfield Giants Hull Leeds Rhinos Leigh Centurions Salford Red Devils St. Helens Wakefield Trinity Warrington Wolves Widnes Vikings Wigan Warriors

Former Teams	Bradford Bulls Crusaders Gateshead Thunder Halifax Blue Sox Hull Kingston Rovers London Broncos Oldham Bears Paris Saint Germain Sheffield Eagles Workington Town

Seasons	I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX XXI

Season results	I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX XXI

Grand Finals	I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX XXI

Major events	World Club Series (World Club Challenge) Magic Weekend Super 8s Play-offs Grand Final International Origin

Awards	Albert Goldthorpe Medal League Leader's Shield Man of Steel Award Harry Sunderland Trophy Super League Dream Team Fairplay Index Super League Ultimate 13: Grand Final Team

Related articles	Rugby Football League Championship Super League Records Super League war 2009–11 licences 2012–14 licences

1996 in rugby league

« 1995

1997 »

International Rugby League

British Rugby League

Competitions	RFL Championship Super League Division One Division Two Challenge Cup Regal Trophy

SL Teams	Bradford Bulls Castleford Tigers Halifax Blue Sox Leeds London Broncos Oldham Bears Paris Saint-Germain Sheffield Eagles St Helens Warrington Wolves Wigan Warriors Clash of the Codes Workington Town

Australian Rugby League

Competitions	State of Origin ARL season Grand Final Queensland Cup BRL Premiership

By club	Auckland Warriors Balmain Tigers Brisbane Broncos Canterbury Bulldogs Canberra Raiders Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Illawarra Steelers Gold Coast Chargers Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Newcastle Knights North Queensland Cowboys North Sydney Bears Parramatta Eels Penrith Panthers Sydney Roosters St. George Dragons South Sydney Rabbitohs South Queensland Crushers Western Suburbs Magpies Western Reds

Other Domestic competitions

New Zealand

St Helens

Est. 1873 in St Helens, England

The Club	History Records Honours Players International representatives Coaches Hall of Fame

Home grounds	City Ground Knowsley Road (1890-2010) Halton Stadium (2011) Totally Wicked Stadium (2012-Present)

Hall of Fame	Alex Murphy Vince Karalius Tom van Vollenhoven

League	Super League

World Club Challenge (2)	2001 2007

Championships (13)	1931–32 1952–53 1958–59 1965–66 1969–70 1970–71 1974–75 1996 1999 2000 2002 2006 2014

Challenge Cup (12)	1955–56 1960–61 1965–66 1971–72 1975–76 1996 1997 2001 2004 2006 2007 2008

Other honours	4—time Premiership Champions 1—time Western Division Champions 1—time Regal Trophy Champions 2—time BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Champions 11—time Lancashire Cup Champions 11—time Lancashire League Champions 1—time Charity Shield Champions BBC Sports Personality Team of the Year Award (2006)

Seasons (120)	1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18

Culture	NRFU Founder Super League Founding Member Rivalry with Wigan Testimonials

Affiliation	Rugby Football League (1895)

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