EXPECTATION was high from the current champions in 1948/49 and Warrington did not let their fans down.

The team won the Lancashire League, on the back of 19 straight wins at the start of the season, finished runners-up to Wigan in the Lancashire Cup and runners-up to Huddersfield in the League Championship final at Maine Road, the stadium where Wire had become champions for the first time 12 months earlier.

Warrington missed out on successive Championships by just one point, 13-12. A staggering 75,194 crammed into Maine Road. The attendance and the receipts of £11,073 were records for a northern ground.

Wilderspool's record attendance was created in this season. The ground bulged at its seams as 34,304 turned out to see Warrington lose only their second game of the season to Wigan! Almost 32,000 turned up to see the two teams battle out the pre-season friendly for the Ward Charity Cup at Central Park.

Warrington's success switched away from the league competition in the 1949/50 campaign. This was a term in which Wire paid a then record fee of £4,600 for Ally Naughton from Widnes.

The 20-year-old played a big part in helping Warrington reach the final of the Challenge Cup and it turned out to be Wire's first Wembley success. They defeated Widnes 19-0 in front of 95,000 fans.

Just before Christmas, Warrington went down to the south of France for a weekend of action. They won at Toulouse 6-3 and followed it up 24 hours later with a 16-8 victory over Albi.