Rugby Football League expansion

Since the formation of Super League in 1996, the RFL has continually expanded the top three divisions of rugby league in Britain with an aim to expand the competitions outside the traditional heartlands.

History

In 1996 the RFL Championship, the top division of rugby league in Britain, was replaced by the new 12 team European Super League. The Super League was formed to be the top division for rugby league in Europe, starting off with the original English teams from the RFL Championship and then gradually expanding to grow the league and spread rugby league across Europe. The Super League was also formed to make the division more competitive after Wigan dominated the league and cup in the 90s.

The first team to be entered into the Super League were Paris Saint-Germain in 1996 who played on the opening night of Super League against Sheffield Eagles in Paris. However the French franchise folded in 1997 after only two seasons competing in Super League. The only team playing outside the heartlands of Yorkshire and Lancashire now was the London Broncos. A new franchise, Gateshead Thunder were chosen to replace PSG in 1999 and had a successful first season finishing 6th, just outside the playoffs. Gateshead left the league after one season to merge with Hull Sharks after just one season. In 2000 a new Gateshead Thunder was formed and were accepted into the National League 2 and were promoted in 2008 but relegated the next season. They then finished bottom of League 1 three years in a row.

In 2003 a second London team were formed and accepted into National League 2, London Skolars and have not yet been promoted. In 2005 Blackpool Panthers were accepted into the National League 2 and finished as the wooden sponsors two years in a row. They gradually improved until they folded in 2009.

No more Super League franchises were awarded for the next few years with promotion and relegation between the Super League and Championship reintroduced. In 2005 however, a new franchise was awarded to the Catalans Dragons, the second French team to be chosen to play in Super League. Despite finishing bottom of the league in their first season, they were seen as a huge success in Super League and in their second season they became the first French team to reach a Challenge Cup final.

The next franchise to be introduced was Welsh team Celtic Crusaders in 2006 to enter into the then National League 2 and the next season they won promotion to the Championship. In only their first season in the Championship their license to play in Super League was accepted and they made their Super League debut in 2009, becoming the first Welsh team to play in the top division of rugby league in Britain. The Crusaders played in only three seasons in Super League, reaching the playoffs once in 2010, went into administration in 2011 and were later dissolved. During the same period a third French team, Toulouse Olympique were accepted to play in the Championship in 2009 and were largely successful until they were relegated to League 1 in 2011 but chose to return to the French Elite One Championship instead.

In 2010 it was announced that all new clubs would enter the pyramid at League 1 (rugby league). The first team to be part of the new expansion plans were South Wales Scorpions in 2010, the second Welsh team to play in the pyramid. A new Welsh team North Wales Crusaders, formed to replace the Celtic Crusaders and won promotion to the Championship in 2013 but were relegated the next season due to the restructure of the professional structure.

In 2012 three new clubs were announced as part of the expansion; Hemel Stags, Oxford RLFC and Cheltenham based Gloucestershire All Golds. These were the first English teams based outside the rugby league heartlands to play professional rugby league.

In 2015, Coventry Bears were accepted to play in League 1 having previously played in the now defunct National League 3 and the Conference League South. The same year Toulouse Olympique were offered to return to England for the 2016 season to play in League 1 to again try to achieve to get promoted to Super League via the Championship.

In April 2016 it was announced Toronto Wolfpack would become the first professional trans-Atlantic sports team. The team, which will start play in 2017, will have a British base in Bradford and play home and away games in blocks of five.

Confirmed expansion clubs
Team	Date	Stadium	Capacity	City/Area
PSG	1996	Stade Sébastien Charléty	20,000	Paris
Gateshead Thunder	1999	Gateshead International Stadium	11,800	Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
London Skolars	2003	New River Stadium	5,000	Harringey, London
Blackpool Panthers	2005	Woodlands Memorial Ground	9,000	Blackpool, Lancashire
Catalans Dragons	2006	Stade Gilbert Brutus	13,000	Perpignan
Celtic Crusaders	2006	Racecourse Ground	15,000	Wrexham
Toulouse Olympique	2006	Stade des Minimes	4,066	Toulouse, Haute-Garonne
South Wales Scorpions	2010	Parc Dyffryn Pennar	2,000	Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf
North Wales Crusaders	2012	Racecourse Ground	15,000	Wrexham
Hemel Stags^[1]	2013	Pennine Way	2,000	Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire
Gloucestershire All-Golds^[2]	2013	Prince of Wales Stadium	480	Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Oxford Rugby League^[3]	2013	Iffley Road	500	Oxford, Oxfordshire
Coventry Bears^[3]	2015	Butts Park Arena	4,000	Coventry, West Midlands
Toulouse Olympique^[4]	2016	Stade des Minimes	4,066	Toulouse, Haute-Garonne
Toronto Wolfpack^[5]	2017	Lamport Stadium	9,600	Toronto, Ontario

Future

At the Toronto Wolfpack conference, RFL chairman Nigel Wood said that they had reserved the final slot in League 1 to Toronto and there were no plans to add any more teams from Canada or the USA. This would suggest that there are no plans to add anymore British teams to the competition.

However Toronto CEO Eric Perez said if the Toronto team was successful the plan was to establish a professional team in Montreal and possibly Vancouver with the aim to eventually have professional teams on the East Coast of America in Boston and New York.

Locations

Blackpool Panthers

London Skolars

Celtic Crusaders

North Wales Crusaders

South Wales Scorpions

Hemel Stags

Gloucestershire All-Golds

Oxford RLFC

Newcastle Thunder

Coventry Bears

Locations of expansion teams in England and Wales. Bold clubs are defunct.

PSG

Catalans Dragons

Toulouse Olympique

French expansion teams. Bold indicates team is now defunct.

Toronto Wolfpack

Canadian expansion team.

Potential and failed expansion teams

In 2013 the RFL picked seven teams to be part of the League 1 expansion. Four of those teams were successful and joined the professional ranks of rugby league. The first of these teams to be accepted were Northampton Rebels who were owned by association football club Northampton Town FC but pulled out after Northampton Town decided they didn't want to field a team that had no chance of success.

Chester Gladiators also applied but were unsuccessful despite being very close to the rugby league heartlands they failed to attract players and fans to join the club. Medway Dragons were one of two clubs based around London to apply, the other being Hemel Stags, would have joined London Broncos and London Skolars as professional clubs to compete in the professional structure but pulled out as they chose to continue competing in the London and South League.

In 2014 it was rumoured a Canadian cortorism were interested in entering a Canadian team into League 1 based in Toronto. They would pay for visiting team accommodation and flights and home fixtures would be played in the first half of the season and the second half would play the away games. The aim is to be accepted into the League for the 2016 or 2017 season.

Northampton Rebels

Chester Gladiators

Medway Dragons

Locations of proposed and failed expansion clubs.

References

↑ "Hemel Join Rugby League Championship 1". RFL. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
↑ "All Golds to join Championship One". RFL. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
1 2 "Oxford to be admitted to Championship One". BBC Sport. 18 September 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
↑ "Toulouse Olympique XIII en route to England and League One". Toulouse Official Website. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
↑ Bower, Aaron (27 April 2016). "Toronto Wolfpack to enter League One next season, RFL announces". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 July 2016.

External links

The Rugby Football League

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Super League era
(1996–present)

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