In June 1901 fourteen leading clubs from both Lancashire and Yorkshire resigned from their respective County Championships to form a new Northern Rugby Football League.

[2] There was a lot of acrimony about the decision and some cynicism expressed that Leigh and Brighouse had only been invited to ensure that the vote to approve the new league passed.

[3] The clubs involved justified their action on the basis that games in the senior competitions were uncompetitive and the ability gap between top and bottom was too great.

[14] Among these was James Lomas who joined Salford from Bramley and was subsequently the subject of the first three figure transfer fee when a tribunal assessed his value at £100.

[15] In early December 1901 representatives of the Northern Rugby Football League and Yorkshire Senior Competition met to see if the differences between them could be reconciled.

[18] A further meeting between the Northern Rugby Football League and the Yorkshire Senior Competition took place on 28 April at which the parties agreed that the Yorkshire Senior Competition boycott of the Northern Rugby Football League would be ended and an independent panel was established who would rule of transfer fees between clubs.

[26] Salford moved to their new ground, The Willows during the season; their first game at the new venue was a 2–0 win against Swinton in front of a crowd of 16,981 on 21 December 1901.

[29] Rochdale Hornets fell into financial difficulties due to falling gates which the club, as members of the Lancashire Senior Competition, blamed on the formation of the NRFL.

[30] Although participating in the Lancashire Senior Competition, Altrincham, Birkenhead Wanderers, and Stockport were from Cheshire; Hull Kingston Rovers were from Yorkshire; and Millom were from Cumberland.