Salford Red Devils will open the 2026 Championship season with a blockbuster clash against one of the favourites for the division, Oldham, in a huge local derby.
The fixtures for the newly-merged 21-team competition are due to be released on Tuesday lunchtime at 12pm. Love Rugby League has seen the full fixture list but has opted against revealing it at this stage out of fairness to the clubs.
However, what can be revealed is that Salford are going to be the headline act on a standalone opening night fixture on Friday January 16 against Oldham.
That is providing they find the financial stability to make it through the off-season, with the club once again in court in London later this week to face a winding-up petition filed by HMRC. They owe a significant six-figure sum in that regard, and face financial oblivion should they fail to pay the money or secure yet another adjournment.
But for now, the fixture list does include Salford – and Featherstone, another club who themselves are in financial strife. That is despite inaccurate reports suggesting there had been 19 and 20-team fixture lists drawn up as alternatives.
Salford will be the only game on the Friday night on Round 1, meaning they open the season against a team many expect to be competing at the upper end of a new-look division in Oldham, who are on the hunt for a new coach after Sean Long’s departure by mutual consent last month.
The Championship will become a 21-team league after plans to merge the second tier and League 1 were approved. Clubs will play 26 rounds with their fixtures based around two metrics: the teams they finished close to in the league pyramid last season, as well as bonus fixtures against more local teams.
And one of Salford’s biggest games will be first up at home, it seems.