French Elite Championship club Carcassonne XIII have submitted an application to join League One.
That won’t immediately affect Workington Town who will line up in the third tier next season and have sights on rising to the Championship by 2026.
It does mean, however, that the number of French clubs in the British rugby league pyramid could increase to three.
Catalans Dragons and Toulouse Olympique are the current members of the League pyramid.
Known as the Canaries the Carcassone team are one of French rugby league’s most trophy-laden clubs, winning the domestic title on 13 occasions, most recently in the 2021/22 campaign.
Formed in 1938, the club play their home games at the 10,000-capacity Stade Albert Domac. This season they lifted the Coupe de France Lord Derby for a record 16th time.
The Canaries’ application to join the British game was confirmed by a local news outlet – L’Indep Carcassonne.
The translated article was -: “The objective of the co-presidents of Carcassonne XIII is to achieve professionalisation by 2026, the year in which the Audois would begin their first competition across the Channel.
“This is perhaps a new chapter in the life of Carcassonne XIII. The Aude club, through its co-president Remy Bertrand, confirmed that it had submitted its application to IMG, an organisation that decides on the access (or not) of new teams to the English rugby league championships.
“IMG will rule on the case of Carcassonne XIlI in 2025, taking into account various criteria such as infrastructure, sports workforce and even financial structuring.
“To form a group commensurate with this new challenge, the club intends to rely on its partnership with VARL X111 and Villeneuve-Minervois, while also opening the door to Limoux and Lézignan, the two other emblematic Aude treizistes clubs.”
