Relegation from Super League 2 to regional leagues in proposals

Regional North and South conferences will feed in to Super League 2, should the option 3 proposals be approved as part of the re-structuring of the game.

As part of the option 3 proposals, two leagues of 12 will be created, likely to be based on club’s final league positions in 2014.

With French club Toulouse expected to join the 24, it means the final place in Super League 2 will be given to the team finishing 9th in the Championship.

That leaves the five remaining Championship clubs, plus the existing nine Championship 1 clubs, to form two regional conferences, with possible cross-over games between the conferences depending on whether any new teams join the set-up.

As part of the process, two teams will go up and down from Super League 2 each year, with one place likely to be automatic and the other as a result of a play-off.

A club official told us: “The game is flat. Something needs to be done to re-invigorate it, and this is it.

“Right now, you can’t do a five-year plan because you can’t get anywhere. With this system, you can plan where you want to be, it’s up to you on the pitch if you get there.”

It has also been proposed that clubs’ points totals should be carried over from the first phase of the set-up – so all points earned in the first 11 games, would be carried over in to the three leagues of eight.

However, it may only be applied to clubs finishing in the top eight. If it was to apply to all clubs, it would mean that teams from Super League 2 would more than likely start with more points than the teams coming down from Super League 1 in the middle tier.