JAMES FORD has hailed the reintroduction of Toulouse Olympique into the British leagues and the changing format of Kingstone Press League One as "really exciting for sponsors, players and supporters".

The current French champions, who played in the Championship from 2009 to 2011, will be joining League One for the 2016 season, and will immediately become one of the favourites for promotion to the second tier.

Their arrival also signals an alteration to the division's format - as it heralds a "Super 8s" section like those in the top two tiers, whereby the top eight teams break away part-way through the season to fight it out for the top-five play-offs.

York City Knights boss Ford acknowledges it will make the division even tougher to get out of, having seen his side just miss out on the play-off final this year, but reckons it represents another step up in quality.

"For me, this is great news and really exciting," he said.

"The standard in League One this year improved dramatically after the five teams came down from the Championship and after Newcastle's investment.

"It's been the best League One I've seen and it now seems like it will get better again.

"It's something sponsors, players and supporters should be really excited about.

"It appears all levels of rugby league are improving. Some of the stuff in Super League this year has been absolutely outstanding, the number of full-time teams in the Championship is increasing, and League One is definitely getting stronger.

"Rugby league in general in this country is certainly trying to move forward and I'm really pleased it's doing that."

Toulouse's arrival will make League One a 15-team competition. The teams will play each other once either home or away, meaning 14 games over 15 weeks.

The top eight will then compete in the Super 8s, with points carried over and each team each team playing each other again once.

The play-offs will then be as in 2015, with teams one and two playing each other in a "promotion final", the losers of which join teams three to five in the play-off semi-finals.

Positions nine to 15 after 14 rounds will play in a new League One Shield, with the top two going into the Shield final.

It is likely that the bulk of the traditional clubs in the division will reach the Super 8s, with the expansion teams fighting it out for the Shield, effectively making for a harder fixture list for clubs vying for promotion.

Ford said: "There will be some imbalance regarding who plays who at home as it will give some teams an advantage.

"However, the top eight - if we get there - will be a fantastic challenge.

"There will be some outstanding rugby to be played in that competition. It's something I'd really look forward to as a player and a supporter.

"I think that, with the standard in the top eight, the teams that come out of this league will have gone through a very intense, tough period, which will give them a really good measure for going into the Championship."

Toulouse - who in 2005 became the first French club to reach the Challenge Cup semi-finals - have met York four times in the recent past.

The Knights beat them 30-28 in a 2013 Challenge Cup thriller and 54-28 in 2007, Ian Brown scoring four tries, while spoils were share in  their Championship encounters in 2011, York winning 16-10 in the south of France amid an horrendous thunder storm, but losing the return 46-32.

Toulouse feel they have learned from the experience of playing in the Championship and are in a better position for life in League One.

Chairman Bernard Sarrazain said: “We'd like to thank the Rugby Football League and its clubs for accepting us into this competition.

"It will mean big changes for us, with huge financial and sporting challenges. However we thoroughly believe that, after winning the French Elite Championship two years in a row, it is a vital step for the development of our club.”

The Midi-Pyrénées outfit have a team with an average age of 24, plus a reserve side comprising mainly under-21s in the French Elite 1 competition.

Coach Sylvain Houles, who played Super League with Sheffield-Huddersfield, London Broncos and Wakefield, said: “I'm thrilled with the decision and cannot wait to start.”