York and Toulouse to play in expanded Super League

York Knights and Toulouse Olympique will play in an expanded 14-team Super League next season after being selected to join rugby league’s top flight by an independent panel.

Bradford Bulls were promoted to Super League on Thursday having taken the place of financially troubled Salford Red Devils thanks to jumping from 16th to 10th in this year’s grading system, meaning three Championship teams will move up to the top flight from 2026.

Earlier this year, Super League’s 12 current clubs voted to expand the competition to 14 teams from next season – the first time the league will have operated with that number since 2014.

Nine applications were submitted and considered by a panel which was chaired by Lord Jonathan Caine as well as two non-executive Rugby Football League (RFL) directors Abi Ekoku and Dermot Power, RFL chief executive Tony Sutton, interim head of legal Graeme Sarjeant, RL Commercial managing director Rhodri Jones and Super League (Europe) board member Peter Hutton.

York, who finished top of the Championship table and won the League Leaders’ Shield this season, in addition to lifting the 1895 Cup at Wembley, were founded as a phoenix club in the early 2000s.

Their ascension to Super League means that top-level rugby league will return to the city for the first time since 1985-86.

Toulouse were founded in 1937 and were forced to switch back to union under the Vichy regime in World War Two, but returned to rugby league in 1945 when the sport was permitted, reaching successive French Championship finals in the aftermath.

Toulouse, who became the first French club to reach the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup in 2005, briefly joined the British league system between 2009 and 2010 and have played consistently in it since 2016.

They were relegated from Super League having finished bottom in their only stint in the top flight three years ago, and stunned York earlier this month to win the Championship Grand Final.

Lord Caine said that Toulouse and York would be “worthy and deserving additions” to Super League and said that the decision of the panel was unanimous.

“They were 13th and 14th on the club gradings, with a significant lead on any of the other applicants from the Championship,” he said.

“As was set out on 19 August, it was always the panel’s intention to use those gradings as one of the criteria in our deliberations, along with enhanced financial scrutiny and an assessment of competitiveness.

York and Toulouse’s promotion to Super League means that the other Championship applicants – Oldham, Widnes Vikings, Doncaster and London Broncos – are unsuccessful and will play in an expanded Championship next season.

The decision not to include London Broncos in the new-look Super League comes at time when a proposed new ownership group comprising Australia legend Darren Lockyer, former Leeds Rhinos chief executive officer Gary Hetherington and businessman Grant Wechsel is set to take over.

The Wimbledon-based side have already appointed Jason Demetriou on a three-year deal to become their head coach and have signed former Australia international Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Tonga hooker Siliva Havili for next season.

The Broncos finished 10th in the Championship last season. However, Wechsel previously stated that the ownership group would still commit funding even if the club did not move up to Super League for next season.

Oldham made some impressive signings this year, with Jack Ormondroyd, Ethan Ryan, Matty Foster and Ryan Brierley joining from Salford Red Devils, as they finished fourth in the table. However, there is to be no return to Super League for the club for the first time since 1997.

Likewise, Widnes will not make their return to the top flight for the first time since 2018 and Doncaster’s bid to join the game’s elite was also unsuccessful.

BBC Sport rugby league reporter Matt Newsum

Having posted the ‘next best’ IMG grading scores in the overall rankings, it seemed a safe bet to assume York and Toulouse would be the next cabs off the rank to join the extended Super League for 2026.

The independent panel said they were seeking robust evidence of financial sustainability and strong forecast evidence of continued growth in that sector, and these two clubs were able to demonstrate that in their application.

For York, Super League is an achievement scarcely thought achievable or believable in the nomadic days of old, at Huntington, Bootham Crescent or even Heworth.

But, now based at the purpose built LNER Stadium, fresh from a league-topping campaign under Mark Applegarth in the men’s Championship and another strong performance from their women’s side – already a Super League club – York tick plenty of boxes in terms of a positive prospect for the top tier.

Clint Goodchild has spent money to enhance both teams, and that investment will be crucial now as York seek to narrow the gap on their new top tier rivals.

Toulouse had a taste of the Super League back in 2022 following promotion in the traditional manner but only won five of their 27 games to finish clear bottom of the table.

Yet they have ambitious owners keen to pump in money to build a strong team in a rugby-mad city and with Perpignan-based Catalans also in the competition, there is a sense of strength in numbers given some of the resistance within sections of the sport to the French clubs regarding the lack of away support and contribution to television deal funding.

Sylvain Houles will know the challenge they face to compete with relatively short time to prepare for next season on top of their travel and logistical headaches.

However, for both Toulouse and York the grading system might just give them a little more time and space to match their off-field acumen on the pitch.