The league restructuring proposal aimed at bringing back conventional promotion and relegation has been rejected. A council meeting held at Salford today saw the proposal, raised by Batley Bulldogs, dismissed following a vote of clubs and other stakeholders.

The recommendation stated that if a Grade B club won the Championship, they would be promoted to Super League and replaced by the lowest-ranked Grade B club in the top flight. On the proviso all twelve Super League clubs held Grade A status, the proposal stated the top flight should expand to accommodate winners of the second tier.

But a vote of stakeholders saw it rejected, with sources suggesting the vote was comfortable in favour of retaining the current mechanics implemented by IMG through the grading system.

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The proposal was essentially an amalgamation of the current system, in which the twelve Super League clubs are decided based on grading scores, and the previous method of traditional promotion and relegation based purely on results on the field.

The proposal had been met with mixed responses, with some criticising the proposal as being hypocritical as a Super League team could be relegated despite not finishing bottom of the competition. Grade A clubs are immune from relegation and with Super League already consisting of nine clubs that have achieved the highest status, theoretically, a Grade B club could finish above the bottom of the table and still be relegated.

Others felt the proposal was a good balance that would give Championship clubs improved hope of securing a pathway to the top flight. There is also some appetite to increase Super League to 14 teams moving forward, with the proposal felt to offer a natural way to achieve that.

However, it has not been passed, meaning a return to conventional promotion and relegation is off the cards for now.

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