| 2026 Betfred Championship | |
|---|---|
| Duration | January – October 2026 |
| Teams | 20 |
The 2026 RFL Championship, (officially known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons), is a professional rugby league club competition. The second tier of the British rugby league system comprises 20 clubs - this is due to the RFL announcing that the Championship and League One competitions were to be combined for the 2026 season.[1]
Team changes
Due to the merging of the third tier League One with the Championship into one competition, the Championship increased from 13 clubs to 21 for the 2026 season.[2].
The clubs joining the Championship from League One are:
- Dewsbury Rams
- Goole Vikings
- Keighley Cougars
- Midlands Hurricanes
- Newcastle Thunder
- North Wales Crusaders
- Rochdale Hornets
- Swinton Lions
- Whitehaven
- Workington Town
If the two divisions hadn't merged, North Wales would have been promoted to the Championship anyway as winners of the 2025 RFL League One season.[3]
On 16 October 2025 the Bradford Bulls were to be promoted to the Super League and were replaced by the Salford Red Devils. Salford were relegated from Super League via the IMG grading system, as was Bradford's elevation.[4] The following day the two teams joining the Super League as a result of its expansion to 14 teams[5] were announced. Toulouse Olympique and the York Knights were promoted via an independent panel.[6]
On 3 December 2025, Salford was liquidated as a result of unpaid debts to HMRC, and as a result had their membership with the RFL terminated, and would no longer compete in the Championship.[7] The RFL hoped that a phoenix club could be created to contest the fixtures, with Salford having until 11 December to submit a viable proposal with a decision scheduled for 17 December.[8][9] On 17 December, the timeline was extended.[10] On 22 December, a phoenix club was approved to complete in the 2026 Championship.[11][12]
Featherstone Rovers went into administration in December 2025 and as no satisfactory bid to take over the club emerged by the week before the start of the season, the RFL removed the club from the 2026 season.[13] Rather than rework the fixture list, the championship table will be decided by win percentage rather than competition points.[14]
Clubs
Stadiums and locations
25miles
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Regular season
Results
Table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | PCT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Barrow Raiders
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2 |  Batley Bulldogs
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 3 |  Dewsbury Rams
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 4 |  Doncaster
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 5 |  Goole Vikings
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 6 |  Halifax Panthers
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 7 |  Hunslet
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 8 |  Keighley Cougars
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 9 |  London Broncos
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 10 |  Midlands Hurricanes
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 11 |  Newcastle Thunder
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 12 |  North Wales Crusaders
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 13 |  Oldham
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 14 |  Rochdale Hornets
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 15 |  Salford
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 16 |  Sheffield Eagles
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 17 |  Swinton Lions
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 18 |  Widnes Vikings
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 19 |  Whitehaven
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 20 |  Workington Town
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
Player statistics
Discipline
Notes
- ^ a b Not graded as required information was not submitted to the RFL on time
- ^ Position achieved by a previous iteration of the club
References
- ^ "New format outside Betfred Super League in 2026". 27 August 2025.
- ^ "Rugby league's second and third tiers to merge". 27 August 2025.
- ^ "North Wales Crusaders aim for Super League with 'sustainable' mantra". BBC Sport. 8 September 2025.
- ^ "Salford Red Devils relegated from Super League after grading announcement". 16 October 2025.
- ^ "Super League to expand to 14 teams from 2026". 28 July 2025.
- ^ "Toulouse Olympique and York Knights give Super League golden ticket as London Broncos miss out". 17 October 2025.
- ^ "Salford Red Devils: Troubled ex-Super League club wound up by High Court". BBC Sport. 3 December 2025.
- ^ McAllister, Josh (8 December 2025). "RFL confirm bids to relaunch Salford with decision deadlines set". All Out Rugby League.
- ^ Bower, Aaron (8 December 2025). "Major Salford Red Devils update as deadline passes for ownership". Love Rugby League.
- ^ McAllister, Josh (17 December 2025). "Salford Red Devils decision pushed back as RFL talks continue". All Out Rugby League.
- ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/articles/clyd8n213pmo
- ^ https://www.skysports.com/rugby-league/news/12040/13486628/salford-rugby-league-team-granted-entry-into-the-2026-championship-under-new-consortium-led-by-mason-caton-brown
- ^ "Featherstone Rovers removed from Championship by RFL – Total Rugby League". Total RL. 9 January 2026. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
- ^ Olawumi, Ben (9 January 2026). "Featherstone Rovers axed from Championship amid financial woes as second tier re-jigged". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
