THE winners of rugby league’s newly rebranded League One next year will not be automatically promoted to the Championship.

Instead they will again face a trial through the play-offs, although this time with two promotion places up for grabs.

York City Knights topped Championship One this year but, under the restructuring of the professional leagues, the only team to go up were the team that won the play-offs - Hunslet Hawks.

It was widely expected that in 2015, when the division expands from nine teams to 14, automatic promotion would return for the league winners, with a second promotion spot via the play-offs.

However, a more convoluted system will be in place, albeit with the top two at least having two bites of the cherry.

Firstly, first will meet second in a League One Promotion Final, the winners of which go up.

The losers get a second bite via the play-offs, which also comprise teams that finish third to fifth. Those losers host the fifth-placed team while third entertains fourth. The two semi-final winners meet in the play-off final for the other promotion place.

Promotion is decided by finals because the regular season fixture list could be deemed unfair as it comprises only 22 fixtures rather than a straightforward 26 home and away matches. The Knights, for their part, do not play Keighley or Oldham at home, nor Barrow or Rochdale away.

The season itself begins on March 7-8 with Challenge Cup third round ties. March will also see the first games of a new League One Cup, a knockout competition which will features all 14 League One clubs plus two from the amateur National Conference League.

This cup will climax with the final at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool, on Saturday May 23 as part of the Summer Bash, a weekend where each Championship club will play a fixture at the same ground.

League One kicks off on Good Friday, April 3, with York at relegated Keighley.