If Bradford and York City join the Championship : Sun Jul 01, 2018 4:31 am
Bradford Bulls and York City Knights sit in clear top two positions in League One. They are likely to be promoted into the Championship at years' end, in place of Swinton and Rochdale. This will enhance an already exciting competitive Championship in 2019, assuming that Toronto and perhaps Toulouse get promoted to Super League at the end of this season, while perhaps Widnes and Salford get demoted.Bradford is an M62 club with a very large fan base, an ambitious club, which will be hoping to get promoted back into Super League sooner rather than later. York City Knights is in some sense an English expansion team which is based in a historic part of northern England. Both these clubs therefore bring something new and welcome to the Championship. If New York City enters the Championship in the next few years, as is mooted, it will also create an interesting clash with the old York. There is also a possibility that another French club, likely Avignon, as well as Boston, could join the Championship in the next three years.
Until the Super League competition is possibly expanded in time for the 2022 TV contract, it will likely be one up one down promotion and relegation between Super League and the Championship for the next three years. So the Championship is likely to remain an interesting place for the next three years, and perhaps longer.