The Rugby Football League have confirmed the replacement fixtures for the 2026 Championship after Featherstone Rovers’ withdrawal.
Rovers were denied RFL membership and, therefore entry to the competition, just over a week before they were supposed to start their season, leaving the Championship in a mess.
An initial statement from the RFL confirmed that league positions would be worked out on a percentage basis, something that was necessary given the fact that not all clubs have the same fixture list, however, they’ve now amended that.
In the proposed 21-team league that included Featherstone, clubs would play 12 teams home and away for a total of 24 games. With Rovers’ withdrawal, some sides were left with just 22 games as opposed to 24 but that’s now been rectified with the Championship confirming replacement fixtures for the affected sides.
As a result of replacement fixtures being agreed, the Championship will revert to the traditional points format as opposed to the percentage system.
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RFL confirm Championship replacement fixtures
The twelve affected sides have now had their new fixtures confirmed with teams set to meet clubs that they were not already scheduled to face, ensuring that they don’t play teams four times in a season.
All the confirmed replacement fixtures (seen below) fixtures will be played home and away, thus completing the 24-game Championship season.
Halifax Panthers v Swinton Lions
North Wales Crusaders v Salford RLFC
Oldham RLFC v Batley Bulldogs
London Broncos v Hunslet RLFC
Doncaster RLFC v Barrow Raiders
Widnes Vikings v Goole Vikings
One of the more intriguing fixtures that has been created is a battle of the Vikings as Widnes and Goole face off, whilst competition favourites London meet Hunslet and the recently reformed Salford RLFC face North Wales Crusaders.
Scheduling for these games will now take place with the RFL set to work alongside clubs to slot the games into available weekends in the fixture list.
The RFL have confirmed that replacement fixtures will be scheduled in the 2026 @Betfred Championship season.
👉 https://t.co/2HDbDsIVSC pic.twitter.com/r8XFP7i9PD
— Rugby Football League (@TheRFL) January 19, 2026
