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Former champions will return to Bradford super league In 2026 for the first time in more than a decade.
The Bulls dropped to 10th in the IMG club grading announced on Thursday, meaning they will replace salford In the top flight next season.
The top 12 clubs are automatically guaranteed a place in the standings. super league status, with the recognition of two additional clubs, creating an expanded 14-team competition, The decision was taken by a panel and will be announced on Friday.
Bradford finished 16th in last year’s grading, but significant stadium improvements saw them improve by more than two points to 14.81, enough to lift them above current Super League clubs Castleford and Huddersfield, who were 11th and 12th respectively.
Salford, beset by ongoing financial crisis, saw them fail to complete a match against Wakefield in August, falling to 15th and, with the club failing to apply for consideration for one of two possible expansion places, meant their 17-year Super League stay was over.
Bradford were the dominant force in the Super League at the turn of the millennium, winning three Super League titles, three World Club Challenges and two Challenge Cups within six years.
However, they suffered financial problems which saw them drop out of the Super League in 2014, and spent a period in the third-tier Ligue 1 before returning to the Championship, in which they finished third last month.
Three clubs appear to be in realistic contention for two potential expansion places in the form of Championship Grand Final winners Toulouse, regular season champions York and newly-promoted London Broncos.
Toulouse and York are 13th and 14th on the list and are expected to be rewarded, but on-field performance will be only one criteria in the decision made by a panel chaired by RFL non-executive director Lord Kane.
Hull KR’s treble-winning season saw them jump five places to the top of the rankings with 17.85 points, ahead of Leeds and st helensNine Clubs, up to and including ninth place hull fc On 15.06, achieved a Grade A ranking, making them immune from relegation the following season.
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