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58-665: In 2019, the Championship Grand Final returned but used the "Million Pound Game" name until 2021. The name alludes to the higher level of funding Super League clubs receive. Starting for the 2015 season, the bottom 4 teams in the Super League played the top four teams in the Championship in a league of eight. The top three teams were awarded a place in Super League whilst teams finishing fourth and fifth play each other for

116-427: A Roman numeral rather than year (e.g. Super League 1996 was known as Super League I). The first game was on 29 March which saw PSG beat Sheffield 30–24 in front of 17,873 people at Charlety Stadium . The inaugural Super League title was won by St Helens, breaking Wigan's stronghold for the first time since 1989 while Workington were relegated. St Helens were unable to defend their title as Super League's second season

174-444: A club. After 2007 automatic promotion and relegation was suspended for Super League with new teams to be admitted on a licence basis with the term of the licence to start in 2009. The RFL stated that clubs applying to compete in Super League would be assessed by criteria in four areas (stadium facilities, finance and business performance, commercial and marketing and playing strength, including junior production and development) with

232-404: A hundred years, proved unpopular. On Good Friday 1995 it was announced that Toulouse had pulled out and Widnes had their own place alongside Warrington, this as well as anti-merger campaigns and debates in parliament effectively killing any change of mergers happening. The first major change before the Super League happened in the 1994–95 season. It was decided the teams finishing in the top ten of

290-456: A place in Super League in 1999, which was won by St Helens who beat Bradford in the Grand Final. Gateshead had a successful debut season on the field finishing two points off the playoffs however off the field the club was suffering financial difficulties. By the end of the season Gateshead announced they would merge with Hull Sharks who were to revert to being known as Hull FC. Gateshead weren't

348-454: A place in the Super League, while those who achieved a C Licence underwent further scrutiny before the RFL decided who made the final cut. First licensing period In June 2008, the RFL confirmed that the Super League would be expanded from 12 teams to 14 in 2009 with the playoffs also expanding to 8 teams, and on 22 July 2008 the RFL confirmed the teams awarded licences. The teams announced were

406-471: A playoff would decide the Champions. This was not new to rugby league as a playoff system had been in use for most of the sports existence although one hadn't been used since 1973. Confusingly a playoff did take place at the end of the season but was separate from the official league season and thus didn't count towards anything. Old Trafford the venue for the old Premiership Playoff Final would be used to host

464-562: The Arnaune Stadium now called the Stade des Minimes . The club finished 8th in that debut season under coach Jean Galia . In their second season, 1938–39, they reached the cup final losing 3–7 against XIII Catalan and finished 5th in the league. The club's last match before the war was against Villefranche de Lauragais winning 62–5. During the war years , like other rugby league clubs in France,

522-788: The French Rugby League Federation , the club is a six-time winner of the French Rugby League Championship . The club played in the Rugby Football League 's Championship competition in 2009, 2010 and 2011. It left the English structure at the end of the 2011 season and instead focused on the Elite One Championship from 2011/12 season. In 2016 Olympique again joined the RFL system, this time in League 1 ,

580-505: The Lord Derby Cup . This marked their first ever cup win in their then 77 year history. They then retained their league title when beating AS Carcassonne 20–12 in the 2014–15 Grand Final. In 2015, it was announced that Toulouse Olympique would return to the British rugby league system after they were accepted to play in League 1 from the 2016 season. A Toulouse presence would remain in

638-494: The Super League grew but in 2003, despite a stadium upgrade, youth development and becoming a limited company, their application was rejected by the Rugby Football League in favour of Catalans Dragons . After reverting to Toulouse Olympique the club reached two more league championship finals but lost both. In 2004–05 they were convincingly beaten by Union Treiziste Catalane 16-66 and the following season they lost again this time 18–21 against Pia XIII . In 2005 Toulouse became

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696-639: The play-off series leading to the Grand Final which determines the champions. As of 2024 there is no relegation to the Championship . The Super League champions take on the champions of the Australian National Rugby League in the World Club Challenge . Twenty-four clubs have competed since the inception of the Super League since 1996: nineteen from England, three from France, one from Wales and one from Canada. Four of them have won

754-542: The stade Arnauné ). But following the failure (due to opposition from the neighbourhood) of an expansion project that was to increase the stadium’s capacity to 10,000 seats, in 2020 the club reached an agreement with rugby union club Stade Toulousain to use the stade Ernest Wallon for the home matches of its professional team. On 15 April 2021 Didier Lacroix , President of Stade Toulousain rugby union club and Bernard Sarrazain, President of Toulouse Olympique signed an agreement for Toulouse Olympique to play home games at

812-473: The "Championship Grand Final" again. Super League The Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred , and legally known as Super League Europe Ltd. ) is the top-level of the British rugby league system . At present the league consists of twelve teams, of which eleven are from Northern England , reflecting the sport's geographic heartland within

870-479: The 12 existing Super League teams along with National League 1 teams, Celtic Crusaders and Salford . Celtic Crusaders became the first Welsh team to play in Super League and the only team to be awarded a licence who had never played in the Super League previously. Featherstone Rovers , Halifax , Leigh and Widnes all failed to attain a licence. Leigh and Widnes, especially, were disappointed with their exclusions with Leigh's chairman being extremely critical of

928-458: The 12 founding teams being: Along with the new league, new rules were introduced. Squad numbers were adopted, a video referee was at every televised game and the salary cap was introduced to stop clubs overspending and to allow for a more level playing field. Super League was also more Americanised with clubs adopting nicknames and the league seasons copying the NFL Super Bowl by being known as

986-481: The 1960s they also reached four cup finals but lost them all, 1962 against RC Roanne XIII 10–16, 1963 against AS Carcassonne 0–5, 1964 against US Villeneuve 2–10 and 1968 against AS Carcassonne 2–9. During the early 70s they lifted two more league titles, in season 1972–73 they beat Marseille XIII 18–0 and in 1974–75 they beat AS Saint Esteve 10–9. Their 1976 cup final defeat by XIII Catalan 8–23 would be their last final appearance in either league or cup until

1044-594: The 2020 season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and final standings was based on win percentage as a COVID-19 precaution. Toulouse finished top of the table with 14 wins from 14 matches, winning the Championship Leaders' Shield . This comprised 13 matches played in England and a forfeited match when London Broncos failed to travel as required to Toulouse. Finishing top of the table, gave Toulouse home advantage in

1102-650: The 2022 Super League season, Toulouse Olympique were officially relegated back to the Championship after losing to Catalans Dragons in the French Derby 24-14. In the 2023 RFL Championship season, Toulouse Olympique qualified for the playoffs before ultimately reaching the RFL Championship final formerly known as the Million Pound Game . Toulouse would host the final where they had not lost all season but suffered

1160-528: The Championship and returning to the French league from the 2012 season onwards. Toulouse returned to the French Elite One Championship in 2011. They failed to make the Grand Final in the 2011–12 and 2012–13 season. However they the double in the following season, 2013–14, winning 38–12 against Lézignan Sangliers in the Grand Final and beating AS Carcassonne 46–10 in the final of the final of

1218-683: The First Division as Lindsay wanted the Super League to have greater national coverage. This resulted in a legal challenge from Keighley and Widnes who were both denied a place in the Super League. The 1995–96 season would be the last to be played in winter and fittingly was the sports centenary year. The season was kept short, starting in August and finishing in January, with the 1995 World Cup taking place in October. Super League finally kicked off in 1996 with

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1276-579: The First Division would be in the Super League. Teams finishing 11–15 would be relegated to the Second Division while the bottom team would be relegated to the new Third Division. In the current Second Division the top seven teams would remain while the rest would make up the Third Division. Controversy occurred at the end of 1994–95 when Keighley won the Second Division but were denied promotion due to fourth placed London Broncos being fast tracked to

1334-458: The French Elite One Championship when Toulouse Broncos who were in the 2nd tier were taken over by Olympique and renamed Toulouse Olympique Broncos . Toulouse went unbeaten during the League 1 2016 season but lost in the promotion final to Rochdale Hornets . They entered the playoffs, beating Barrow Raiders to win promotion to the Championship . Toulouse finished the 2017 season with 15 wins and 8 loses from 23 games, finishing fifth in

1392-486: The French leagues was also planned to be invited but the French government refused their backing unless there was a team from Paris, thus Paris Saint-Germain were founded as the second French club playing under the same name and colours as the association football club. As well as two French clubs being involved, several merges between English clubs were put forward: The proposal to merge neighbouring clubs, many of whom were local rivals and had been part of communities for

1450-666: The Future". Lindsay's Super League was given a boost during the mid 90s Australian Super League war . A Rupert Murdoch backed Super League in Australia was trying to gain broadcasting supremacy over the Australian Rugby League . In an attempt to gain the upper hand, Murdoch, whose broadcasting company bSkyb already had the rights to the First Division , approached the RFL. A £77 million offer and an £87 million payment aided

1508-641: The Qualifiers. The following year Hull KR were relegated when they lost to Salford in the Million Pound Game, with Leigh being promoted. 2017 saw Castleford finish top of the league for the first time in their history although they eventually lost the Grand Final to Leeds who claimed their 8th title. Toulouse Olympique Toulouse Olympique or TO XIII is a professional rugby league club in Toulouse , south-west France. Founded in 1937, two years after

1566-562: The RFL. By the end of the 2008 season, Salford and Celtic Crusaders finished 13th and 14th respectively and the Grand Final was won by the League Leaders, Leeds Rhinos for a fourth time. The following season Crusaders made the playoffs but were knocked out in the first round. League Leaders Wigan won the Grand Final. By 2011 the Crusaders were suffering financial difficulties and entered administration and were deducted four points. Salford on

1624-588: The Shay, it's no contest; if you compare playing records, it's no contest; and if you compare the financial position, we have kept our head above water and they haven't." Wakefield had been favourites to lose their licence before Crusaders' withdrawal. After two licensing periods the system started to fall out of favour. Some highlighted clubs such as Wakefield and Castleford which had failed to build new stadiums but were twice awarded licenses over Championship clubs who many thought would be better suited to Super League. There

1682-642: The Stade Ernest-Wallon until the end of the 2029 season. Toulouse hosted the first ever French rugby league Lord Derby Cup final in 1935 when Lyon Villeurbanne beat XIII Catalan at the Stade des Minimes . The first rugby league club in the city were Gallia de Toulouse who started the 1935–36 season but lasted only two matches before dropping down to the amateur level of the newly introduced sport. Toulouse Olympique were formed in 1937 by Jean Galia and played their first league match on 24 October 1937 losing 14–44 at home against RC Albi at their new home

1740-470: The Super League at home to Huddersfield . They raced out to a 10-0 lead but were defeated 42-14. On 19 March 2022, Toulouse recorded their first victory in the Super League, causing one of the competition's greatest upsets defeating three-time defending champions St Helens 22-20. In round 18 of the 2022 Super League season, the club earned their first win in the Super League on English soil defeating Wakefield Trinity 38-26 at Magic Weekend . In round 25 of

1798-470: The UK and one from southern France . The Super League began in 1996, replacing the existing First Division and, significantly, switching from a traditional winter season to a summer season. The regular season typically runs from February to September with each team playing 27 games; 11 home games, 11 away games, Magic Weekend and an additional 4 'loop fixtures' decided by league positions. The top six then enter

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1856-519: The applicants but failed to win a licence, losing out to the 12 existing Super League clubs, Salford and the Crusaders . After the announcement however, the Rugby Football League invited Toulouse to enter the second tier Championship for the 2009 season , with a view to applying in the next round of franchising to be accepted to Super League in 2012. Offering no direct route to Super League at

1914-771: The club were forced to play rugby union following the ban on rugby league by the Vichy regime in France. In 1944, Toulouse reached the semi-final of the French Cup in rugby union. In the meantime the Arnauné stadium was confiscated by the State, like most of the assets of the French Federation of rugby league. Following liberation by the Allies and the restoration of the French Championship,

1972-418: The club were on the losing side twice when they met Carcassonne in the finals for the 1944–45 and 1945–46 competitions. After two decades away from the top, another strong team emerged that included Pierre Lacaze and under coach Georges Ailleres having finished runner-up in the league in 1963–64, they then lifted their first league title the following season beating US Villeneuve in the final 47–15. During

2030-400: The conclusion of their regular league seasons, the 24 clubs then competed in a play-off series where they split into 3 leagues of 8 based upon league position: Funding for clubs was tiered in both leagues to prevent relegation-related financial difficulties. In preparation for the new structure, two clubs would be relegated from Super League in 2014 to reduce the league to 12. By the end of

2088-518: The decision. It was agreed a 14 team Super League would take place in 1996, switching the sport from winter to summer and making every team full time. As part of the agreement, the Super League would be a European competition. Rugby league held a traditional heartland in the South of France and so Toulouse Olympique were invited (however never ended up taking a place in Super League I). A second club from

2146-572: The final Super League place in a game called the Million Pound Game. The 2019 season saw return of the playoffs and the Championship Grand Final to determine promotion to the Super League and, with the Super 8s being scraped, the winners of the RFL Championship . The name "Millions Pound Game" was retained for the final due to marketing purposes until 2021, with the 2022 final being called

2204-459: The final evaluations and decisions being taken by the RFL board of directors. Successful applicants were licensed for three years of Super League competition and three-yearly reviews of Super League membership took place to ensure ambitious clubs lower down the leagues can still be successful. Points attained by each club's application are translated into licence grades A, B or C. Clubs who achieved an A or B Licence would be automatically awarded

2262-590: The first French club ever to reach the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup , after defeating Super League side Widnes Vikings 40–24 in the quarter-finals. They went on to lose 56–18 to world champions Leeds Rhinos in the semi-final at the Galpharm Stadium , Huddersfield . In 2006, the Rugby Football League decided to introduce licensing for the 2009 Super League season , with the number of Super League clubs being increased from 12 to 14. Toulouse were one of

2320-510: The first three years. Their inclusion in Super League meant two clubs would be relegated in 2005. Bottom team Leigh were relegated with 11th placed Widnes. By the mid-2000s standards on the field had improved and attendances increased but many clubs still played out of crumbling stadiums and most of the sport was still played in the North of England. There was also the emergence of the "Big Four" (Bradford, Leeds, Wigan, and St Helens) who were dominating

2378-447: The league during its first 10 seasons. Announced in May 2005, to try and combat the issues facing Super League, the RFL introduced licences as the new determinant of the Super League competition's participants from 2009 with relegation scrapped, two new teams would expand the league to 14. The licences were awarded after consideration of more factors than simply the on-the-field performance of

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2436-496: The league, missing out on the Super 8s by one place. Toulouse therefore entered the Championship Shield, winning it by beating Sheffield Eagles 44–14 in the final. l Toulouse finished the 2018 season in third place, behind Toronto Wolfpack and London Broncos , before finishing second in 2019, again behind Toronto Wolfpack . They lost to Toronto in the Grand Final. The 2021 season was Olympique's first full season after

2494-401: The new Grand Final in which the top five Super League teams would contest. The first Grand Final took place at Old Trafford in front of a sellout crowd of 40,000 who watched Wigan defeat Leeds 12–8, their first league title since the old First Division. Ahead of the expansion to 14 clubs Wakefield Trinity were promoted from the Second Division and a new club, Gateshead Thunder were awarded

2552-451: The new millennium. Before that in 1995 the club changed their name to Toulouse Spacers due to their link up with the local aerospace company in the town, keeping this name until 2002. In 2000 the club ended their long silverware drought when they won the championship title with a 20–18 victory over AS Saint Esteve and the following season reached the final again but lost out 32–20 against Villeneuve Leopards . Toulouse's ambition to join

2610-408: The on-field criteria needed to submit an application, but despite this only Barrow, Halifax and Widnes decided to submit an application. On 31 March 2011 Widnes were awarded a Super League licence; Barrow did not meet the criteria and were refused a licence; and Halifax's application was to be further considered alongside the other Super League clubs. The Rugby Football League 's final decision

2668-408: The only club struggling, Sheffield announced they could no longer continue and merged with Huddersfield and would be known as Huddersfield-Sheffield Giants. Due to these two clubs resigning from the league it was agreed Super League would revert to 12 teams after just one season. Relegation was reintroduced in 2001 with one team going down each year. The only major change to the league was in 2002 when

2726-428: The other hand despite never making the playoffs in the three years since they were promoted were in a much better financial position. During this period the league was dominated by Leeds and St Helens with Leeds winning three titles and St Helens appearing in every Grand Final. Second licensing period For the 2012–14 seasons Championship sides Batley , Barrow , Featherstone Rovers , Halifax and Widnes all met

2784-499: The playoffs were expanded to six teams. The League Leaders Shield was introduced in 2002 to reward the team who finished top at the end of the regular season. In 2005 it was announced a franchise was to be awarded to a French club, with Toulouse , Villeneuve and Catalans Dragons all applying. In the end Catalans, who were only founded in 2000 after a merger between two Perpignan based clubs, were chosen. Their debut season would be in 2006 and they would be exempt from relegation for

2842-497: The season London Broncos and four-time Champions Bradford Bulls were relegated to the Championship. In June 2015 eight of the 12 Super League clubs voted to allow a Marquee Player that could exceed a club's salary cap as long as they could afford their wages. The marquee player rule came into force for the 2016 Super League season. The first Super 8s season was won by the Leeds Rhinos, with all four Super League clubs surviving

2900-470: The semi-final, where they beat Batley 51–12. This pitted them against Featherstone in the Million Pound Game the following week, which saw them win 34–12 thus earn promotion to the Super League for the first time. In August, Toulouse announced a new partnership with French club Gratentour XIII who would join Elite 2 for the 2021/22 season, and act as a feeder club. Toulouse Olympique made their debut in

2958-482: The third tier of English rugby league, being promoted to the Championship at the end of that season. In 2012, Toulouse acquired fellow Toulouse side, Toulouse Jules-Julien Broncos XIII to act as their reserve side in Elite 2 . The side was re-branded as Toulouse Olympique Broncos and moved up to Elite 1 when Olympique re-joined the English competition. The club's historic stadium is the stade des Minimes (also known as

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3016-432: The time, Toulouse's spell in the Championship lasted three seasons. In their first campaign, 2009, the season was acclaimed a success with them winning 9 games which included a record 5 match winning run this despite being beaten heavily on the opening round of matches live on television at Widnes Vikings 0–70. The second season saw improvement but at the end of 2010 it was announced that the club would be withdrawing from

3074-442: The title: St Helens (10), Leeds Rhinos (8), Wigan Warriors (7) and Bradford Bulls (4). During the 1950s, British rugby league experienced a boom in popularity. However the twenty years that followed saw attendances and popularity decline. A "Super League" was first suggested as far back as the 1970s as a way to address the decline. By the early 1990s the sport was still struggling with dwindling attendances, poor facilities and

3132-405: Was also announced ahead of the 1998 season that there would be no relegation as the league planned to expand to 14 teams from 1999. Following PSG folding, and as a result only English teams being present in the competition, the league was not referred to as a European competition from then on out and acted solely as the top tier of the British rugby league system . The other major change was that

3190-521: Was also unrest in the Championship with clubs feeling their success on the pitch should be rewarded. At the 2013 Annual General Meeting in Bradford , the Super League clubs agreed to reduce the number of clubs to 12 from 2015, and also for a return of promotion and relegation with a 12 club Championship . A radical new league structure was proposed. The 12 Super League and 12 Championship clubs would play each other home and away over 22 rounds. Following

3248-452: Was announced on 26 July 2011, Widnes would join thirteen existing Super League teams with Crusaders having withdrawn their application and Halifax being refused a license. Crusaders CEO Rod Findlay stated that the club's finances were not in a good enough condition to justify their place in Super League. Halifax chairman Mark Steele was critical of the decision to award Wakefield a licence over themselves, saying "If you compare Belle Vue with

3306-511: Was dominated by one club, Wigan , who were the only full time professional team. In 1992, the then Chief Executive of the Rugby Football League , Maurice Lindsay reopened the idea for a Super League. He wanted the new league to break the stereotype of rugby league being a sport only played in Northern England, and had a vision for clubs to play out of new facilities under a set of minimum standards in an unpublished document called "Framing

3364-509: Was won by the Bradford Bulls with London Broncos justifying the decision to be fast tracked into Super League by finishing second. Oldham were relegated and PSG, who had finished 11th for the second consecutive time were dissolved after it was discovered some of their overseas players had tourist visas to avoid paying French tax. Due to Oldham being relegated and PSG folding, two teams, Hull Sharks and Huddersfield Giants , were promoted. It

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