BARROW Raiders could be heading back to an old French stamping ground with Toulouse set to compete in the Kingstone Press League One in 2016.

The Craven Park club made their first trip across the Channel in 2009 and if – as is hoped –the French club join up, another trip could be on the cards for the Raiders.

It is becoming increasingly likely Barrow will fail to make the top-five cut at the end of this campaign and will compete in rugby league’s most geographically diverse competition, Kingstone Press League One again when next season it will have a bold new look with the introduction of a Super Eights-style format.

Two games remain for the slim chance of seventh-placed Barrow making the top-five play-offs, but they will need to win both – against visiting Rochdale Hornets on Saturday and at York City Knights on September 13 – and hope Rochdale and North Wales Crusaders, the teams immediately above, pick up no further points.

A lot hinges on this Saturday’s game, with defeat condemning Barrow to League One for another battle to gain promotion in a competition which already features teams from Oxford, London, Gloucester, Hemel Hempstead, Wales, Coventry and Gateshead, as well as Yorkshire and the North West, and which could have a cross-Channel addition with the proposed introduction of Toulouse Olympique.

Toulouse, who competed in the Championship between 2008 and 2011, have been offered a place in League One for 2016 and discussions for their return to UK competition are close to completion.

Should they agree to the conditions of their entry, League One will become a 15-team competition that will provide eight clubs with a minimum 22-match season and seven clubs with a minimum 21 matches.

The season will see the competition follow a similar format to the First Utility Super League and Kingstone Press Championship, involving the 15 clubs splitting into two pools at the end of the regular season.

The clubs will play each other once over 15 weeks before dividing into a League One Super Eight and a seven-team League One Shield.

In the League One Super Eight, teams play each other once with the top-four teams having four home fixtures and the bottom-four having three home fixtures.

After seven matches, first will play second in the League One Promotion Final with the winning team promoted; the losing team will enter a four-club play-off with a home fixture against the fifth-placed team, while second plays third. The winners of those two matches will then contest a play-off final for the second promotion place.

In the League One Shield, the teams will play each other once (three home and three away) before the first and second-placed teams compete in a play-off final for the League One Shield trophy.

The 2016 season will again start with the iPro Sport Cup, with the first round draw made from two pools based on a geographical split. As in 2015, the 14 UK-based League One clubs will be joined by two community clubs in the first round draw.

From the second round onwards, draws will be open, culminating in the iPro Sport Cup final, played at the 2016 Summer Bash.

Should Toulouse not enter League One in 2016 an alternative format will be introduced, details of which are currently under consideration with the clubs. RFL chief executive Nigel Wood said: “The new structure brings an exciting edge to Kingstone Press League One that will see every minute matter for every club, just as we are seeing in Super League and the Championship this summer.”

The RFL remain in dialogue with a Canadian consortium which are looking to enter a Toronto-based team into League One from 2017 onwards and continues to carry out due diligence with all interested parties.