Barrow Raiders will have to wait until next year to try and win promotion after the Rugby Football League announced the Betfred Championship and League One seasons would not be resuming.

The Raiders had made a promising start to their campaign - their first back in the third tier after last year's relegation - before it was halted by the coronavirus pandemic.

They had won away at fellow promotion favourites Doncaster before thrashing Coventry Bears, but that competition won't be following Super League's lead in getting back under way.

Instead, teams from the Championship and League One will be invited to play in a competition during the autumn that will have a prize fund of £250,000 contributed by Super League club and also celebrate rugby league's 125th anniversary.

An RFL statement said: "The Betfred Championship and League One seasons will not resume in 2020 - this follows the Government announcement last week identifying October as the earliest opportunity for the return of crowds to sport, and the finding of a survey of Betfred Championship and League One clubs that a majority in each competition would not support playing matches behind closed doors.

"Again, the issue of protecting the solvency of clubs informed this decision."

The RFL also made the decision that there would be no relegation from Super League.

That competition will resume on August 2, with the exception of the team that won promotion from the Championship last year, Toronto Wolfpack.

The Canadian outfit annouced that they would be withdrawing from the remainder of the Super League season because of the 'overwhelming financial challenges' caused by Covid-19.