The Championship and League One have been at the heart of discussions recently surrounding restructuring and now it’s been confirmed that French Elite One leaders AS Carcassonne have made a formal bid to join League One in what would be another huge shake-up.
AS Carcassonne currently lead the French Elite One and are one of the division’s strongest teams in recent history. They lifted the League Leaders Shield in 2023 before losing the Grand Final, whilst in 2022 they had placed second before lifting the Grand Final.
Their intention to make the switch to League One has now been confirmed by their co-president Remy Bertrand confirming the news. The aim is to join the division by 2026 however the decision by the RFL will be made in 2025.
Currently there are two French teams in the English system with Catalans Dragons in the Super League and Toulouse Olympique in Championship, meaning that AS Carcassonne would be the third French team in the English game.
Co-president Remy Bertrand told L’Independant: “There is the infrastructure, with the stadium and its capacity at the forefront, the club’s means of communication, the sports workforce and the financial structuring. The IMG will rule on our application in 2025: if we are accepted, we would join League 1 or the Championship at the start of the 2026 season.
“We must start with its structuring, so that the executive office and administration are more efficient. To do this, we now have two part-time people: one for the communication/administrative aspect, the other for accounting and invoicing monitoring.
“This tandem is supervised by an efficient general secretary, so that today, the club has an organised, efficient administrative unit. Our executive office has been enriched with new members bringing new ideas, which allow us to be innovative in different areas.
“This is important because before professionalizing in sport, we must first professionalize our organisation.”
It would mark a major shake-up to the divisions and be the first major addition since Toronto Wolfpack joined, another overseas side, however with the closer proximity of Carcassonne and the Catalans blueprint there’s potentially more promise in it’s success.
As it stands Carcassonne are four points clear of Albi in this season’s Elite One, but after playing one more game than their rivals. In fact it’s only Albi who have defeated Carcassonne so far this season with that clash coming back in October.
The final round of action in 2023 will take place this weekend before the winter break with Carcassonne aiming to extend their lead atop the table.
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