2026 Championship of 21 clubs

[Tommygilf]

1 hour ago, dkw said:

Well what a huge surprise that is, no one saw that coming......

Funding withdrawn from all but the 14 chosen ones, damn the rest of the clubs.

 

But at least those pies at Batley were great! 

[Griff]

2 hours ago, headtackle said:

I know what you mean. I watch a National League club and follow the leagues. Have always been amazed at the location of some clubs. It does seem to just about work though in football.

In RL we have a different scenario in that the stronger clubs are all in the North and while we would like to see growth down South those clubs find it very difficult to compete, losing week in week out fails to steadily attract and increase the support base who quickly lose interest and the clubs then fall away.

Conferences do not necessarily all need to be the same size,  and with the Southern one should a club like Cornwall decide to apply they would be playing at their level and be more competitive from the start.

 

"Conferences" is a term bandied about a good deal. What do you understand by the term and how do you see it working for a small Southern group? How many would be in it? Who would they play? How would that link in to the Championship overall?

[gingerjon]

11 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

Whatever happens, looks like according to RFL (interim but not) Chair, CEO of RL Commercial, Senior Executive Director of the RFL, and Chair of the Strategic Review Committee, whatever happens next the game will not:

"provide strong central revenues any longer for tier two"

A two-line dismissal at the end of what reads like an article written by one of the more regular LE writers.

There will be some central funding, obviously. The loaded word is 'strong'. Looks like, Championship and League 1 are being told to draw up a season format based on being left alone to get on and do their own thing without worrying their pretty little heads about TV revenue, development ambitions or 'the whole game'.

[Tommygilf]

34 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

A two-line dismissal at the end of what reads like an article written by one of the more regular LE writers.

There will be some central funding, obviously. The loaded word is 'strong'. Looks like, Championship and League 1 are being told to draw up a season format based on being left alone to get on and do their own thing without worrying their pretty little heads about TV revenue, development ambitions or 'the whole game'.

As long as its proper Rugby League people making this happen its all good. 

[gingerjon]

4 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

As long as its proper Rugby League people making this happen its all good. 

At least two of the voices (votes as well?) will be clubs who are confident of not having to play in the format anyway.

[oiseau]

11 hours ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

If Toulouse don't get promoted to SL, I can't see them sticking around in the English system any longer. What would be the point?

If there is never any chance of SL at Toulouse then the sponsors would be tricky to find to maintain the present set-up (imo).

I still ask the question about ASCs bid for inclusion in the UK leagues ?

[Tommygilf]

9 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

At least two of the voices (votes as well?) will be clubs who are confident of not having to play in the format anyway.

And at least 1 voice will have had a vote as a SL owner last week...

[The Phantom Horseman]

6 minutes ago, oiseau said:

 

I still ask the question about ASCs bid for inclusion in the UK leagues ?

This is an interesting question as I haven't seen it covered anywhere in the UK, though with the odd honourable exception RL journalism over here tends to consist of rehashed information from club wesbites/podcasts etc.

I suspect any chance they might have of being accepted would depend in the first instance on whether they were prepared to fund travel etc like TO, because the direction of travel, at least at the higher echelons over here, doesn't seem to be in favour of French teams.

[Mumby Magic]

This is exactly my frustration with RL. Knee jerk ill thought out ideas without any planning long mid term.

[OriginalMrC]

Coventry Bears did the right thing dropping out of the professional game. Its not quite the same watching them in the midlands premier but at least we have a club still. To be frank there's at least a dozen clubs still in the professional game which will be gone or turned amateur in the next 5 years. Since the RFL no longer represents the whole of the sport I hope another sporting body (BARLA maybe) will take over the administration of the amateur side of the sport 

[gingerjon]

5 minutes ago, OriginalMrC said:

Since the RFL no longer represents the whole of the sport I hope another sporting body (BARLA maybe) will take over the administration of the amateur side of the sport 

That's not technically possible and still for it to be rugby league in England.

[OriginalMrC]

1 minute ago, gingerjon said:

That's not technically possible and still for it to be rugby league in England.

Lots of things that weren't technically possible have become possible recently. The RFL cannot be trusted to represent the whole of sport so time to have a body that does

[gingerjon]

4 minutes ago, OriginalMrC said:

Lots of things that weren't technically possible have become possible recently. The RFL cannot be trusted to represent the whole of sport so time to have a body that does

There can only be one recognised national body per sport. That's a Sport England rule.

It's why BARLA doesn't exist as a distinct entity any more.

[Derwent Parker]

On 04/08/2025 at 13:46, Roughyed Rats said:

Are you disowning your Lancashire Cup win in 1978? 

1977

[tuutaisrambo]

Whoever is in charge of Rugby League has clearly not thought for a second about anything below Super League.

(I don't think there's been much thought about SL either)

Can't see anything but a complete car crash.......it's not great now.

I haven't been to watch Fev for 2 years.......Grading killed my interest.

Every few months I get an itch to look at RL again........then within a couple of days I realise why I stopped watching.

My guess would be Bradford get in (seen as their biggest supporter runs the game now) because they will magically become as good/big as they were 20+ years ago if they get back in SL ..... as for the rest who knows.

Toulouse (high IMG score but French equals waste of money in some circles)

York (nice new stadium - nice city to visit - very few fans)

London (Stadium? - Capital City - very few fans)

So 2 out of these 3 with Salford deservedly falling into the oblivion that RL outside Super League will become.

All this to get rid of loop fixtures and chase a new TV deal that will be worse than the last one.

Then when the new TV deal comes in SL will reduce to 10 teams and they will restructure the leagues below again.

 

 

 

[Ackroman]

If the lower league clubs are cut adrift then any future dealings with SL need to be firmly agreed and boxed off. There's no need to carry on as their lickspittle with DR arrangements (for example).

[oiseau]

7 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

This is an interesting question as I haven't seen it covered anywhere in the UK, though with the odd honourable exception RL journalism over here tends to consist of rehashed information from club wesbites/podcasts etc.

I suspect any chance they might have of being accepted would depend in the first instance on whether they were prepared to fund travel etc like TO, because the direction of travel, at least at the higher echelons over here, doesn't seem to be in favour of French teams.

https://treizemondial.fr/carcassonne-xiii-confirme-vouloir-filer-en-angleterre-en-2025/

[Rowan]

If Nigel Wood and his colleagues cannot think of how to draw up a fixture list for 21 teams without having to play 40 games, why does he not give his good friends in Australia  a call and ask them how they manage work out a formula for 17 teams without having to play 32 games.  If the Aussies can do it then it can't be that difficult. But then we are not talking about Super League so would they even answer the phone. 

[marklaspalmas]

23 minutes ago, Rowan said:

If Nigel Wood and his colleagues cannot think of how to draw up a fixture list for 21 teams without having to play 40 games, why does he not give his good friends in Australia  a call and ask them how they manage work out a formula for 17 teams without having to play 32 games.  If the Aussies can do it then it can't be that difficult. But then we are not talking about Super League so would they even answer the phone. 

Calm down, bro.  No need to waste brass on a international phone call.

Griff can do it.

Seriously.

He can. 

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

25 minutes ago, marklaspalmas said:

Calm down, bro.  No need to waste brass on a international phone call.

Griff can do it.

Seriously.

He can. 

Yeah but Sheffield getting 26 home games might suggest something fishy....

[Griff]

56 minutes ago, Rowan said:

If Nigel Wood and his colleagues canìnot think of how to draw up a fixture list for 21 teams without having to play 40 games, why does he not give his good friends in Australia  a call and ask them how they manage work out a formula for 17 teams without having to play 32 games.  If the Aussies can do it then it can't be that difficult. But then we are not talking about Super League so would they even answer the phone. 

The history of Rugby League is littered with fixture formulae. There are literally dozens to choose from. What's wrong with taking a bit of time to discuss amongst your peers over a plate of pie and peas?

Really - there are many things to criticise the RFL about. This isn't one of them.

 

[marklaspalmas]

45 minutes ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

Yeah but Sheffield getting 26 home games might suggest something fishy....

We'll be watching him like a hawk. Crafty beggar.

[Ainley Top]

2 hours ago, Rowan said:

If Nigel Wood and his colleagues cannot think of how to draw up a fixture list for 21 teams without having to play 40 games, why does he not give his good friends in Australia  a call and ask them how they manage work out a formula for 17 teams without having to play 32 games.  If the Aussies can do it then it can't be that difficult. But then we are not talking about Super League so would they even answer the phone. 

Why waste time and money on phone calls when big Nige could allus hop over to Oz on an all expenses paid fact finding trip?

[LeeF]

2 hours ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

Yeah but Sheffield getting 26 home games might suggest something fishy....

Not in the current scheme of things 

[TheGameCaller]

There is a late play for three divisions of seven teams. 

It’s certainly going to be an interesting afternoon tomorrow and see which of the four models they decide on.