A salary cap will be introduced to the Championship in the future in an attempt to stop more clubs from falling by the wayside.
After the recent collapses of Salford Red Devils, Featherstone Rovers and Halifax Panthers, the Rugby Football League has made a decision to introduce a cap on the amount of money clubs will be able to spend on players in the future in an attempt to safeguard the financial health of clubs.
It was confirmed by the interim CEO of the Rugby Football League, Abi Ekoku at The Shay on Sunday, just before Fax returned to the field for the first time in their fixture with London Broncos.
While the finer details of how the salary cap will be implemented remain unpublicised, sources have told Love Rugby League it is likely to look similar to the old system, when clubs were able to spent up to a certain percentage of their revenue, or could spent beyond that if proof of funds was made available and passed on to ensure the club was capable of spending what they intended to.
It is a balance that would prevent clubs from overspending, while also allowing clubs with Super League aspirations, and crucially, those with financially viable plans to pursue those ambitions, to build competitive squads before being promoted, as has proven successful in recent years for other clubs, most notably Leigh Leopards and Wakefield Trinity.
While Salford and Halifax have now been resurrected, Featherstone’s future remains unclear, though there is hope that they will return in 2027. Fax were handed a points deduction upon their return to the competition, and are therefore bottom of the Championship.
Other clubs, most recently Whitehaven, have aired concerns for their sustainability if crowd figures do not improve at their home games in the near future.