2018 RFL League 1
| 2018 League 1 | |
|---|---|
| League | League 1 |
| Duration | 26 matches |
| Teams | 14 |
| 2018 Season | |
The 2018 RFL League 1 is a semi-professional rugby league football competition played in England and Wales and is the third tier of the sport for Rugby Football League (RFL) affiliated clubs.
Even before the end of the 2017 season there were news stories that two of the clubs in the league, Gloucestershire All Golds and Oxford were considering a merger and relocating to Bristol. Uncertainty around this move meant that the structure of League 1 for 2018 was undecided until October 2017 when the merger was confirmed by the RFL who also announced that the new Bristol side would not play in the league in 2018 and the league for 2018 will comprise only 14 clubs.
The format of the season will therefore be very different from the 2017 season. There will be no Super 8s and the season will be of 26 games with each of the 14 teams playing each other home and away. The team finishing top will achieve automatic promotion to the 2019 Championship and be named league champions for 2018. The teams finishing second to fifth will meet in two play-off semi-finals with the semi-final winners meeting in the promotion play-off final. The winner of the promotion final will play in the Championship on 2019
Oldham and Bradford Bulls were relegated from the Championship in 2017. During the close season South Wales Ironmen re-branded as West Wales Raiders following the purchase of the club and a move from Merthyr Tydfil to Llanelli in 2017.
*capacity for rugby league games may differ from official stadium capacity.
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