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.
York will play in Super League for the first time while Toulouse will return to the top tier for the first time since their one-season stint in 2022.
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.
The panel judged applications against each club’s financial performance in 2025, as well as their financial performance and sustainability forecasts for 2026 to 2028 and their ability to “field a competitive team in 2026 and beyond”.