1996 Super League — Final Ladder
St Helens finished top of the table to win the first-ever Super League title — decided purely by regular-season table position, since no Grand Final existed until 1998. A separate, older knockout competition, the Premiership Trophy, was won the same year by Wigan (44-14 over St Helens at Old Trafford) — a different trophy from the league championship, not a runners-up decider for it.
Sourcing caveat: No salary-cap or administration point deductions applied in 1996 — that punitive system began around 2001. All 12 clubs were founding Super League members, carried over from the old First Division/RFL Championship's switch to a summer season. Club names are period-correct for Super League's first season: Leeds and Wigan's clubs are listed under their bare placenames (not yet "Leeds Rhinos"/"Wigan Warriors", adopted 1997/1998); Halifax's club was already branded "Halifax Blue Sox". Paris Saint-Germain and Workington Town both had short Super League tenures — Workington were relegated after this season, and Paris Saint-Germain folded in November 1997 after their second and final season.
Ladder
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | 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 |
No finals series this season — the top-of-table club was declared champion outright.
Sources
← Super League & British Champions
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