Both Whitehaven and Workington Town will now have an extra game in League One next season.

The two west Cumbrian clubs will travel to take on a revived York City Knights after they were accepted back into the competition.

Haven will visit the Knights on Sunday June 18, while Town will complete the regulation League One season a month later on Sunday, July 16.

The 15 teams in League One had been facing a free week at some stage of the season but that has now been allayed with the return to competitive rugby of the Knights.

Jon Flatman, a sports management consultant with experience of working in the game with Hull FC, Wakefield and the RFL, is the new owner of the Knights.

It was on completion of the takeover from previous owner, chairman John Guildford, York were reinstated into the 2017 fixture list for League One.

The club has still not been able to announce where home games will be played next season but do hope to strike a deal so they can play at Bootham Crescent, home of struggling National League side York City.

Flatman has said there is no quick fix but is looking for stability, integrity and partnership in taking the club forward again as part of a consortium.

“We are a group of people passionate about rugby league, passionate about making this work. We will probably make some mistakes but hopefully we’ll get more right than we get wrong,” said the new owner.

Meanwhile, former Cronulla Sharks chairman Damian Irvine has emerged as favourite to take-over the financially-embarrassed Championship club Bradford Bulls.

Forced into administration for the third time in five years, the Bulls are expected to be docked points but will stay in next season’s Championship.

Irvine, Cronulla chairman from 2009 to 2013, is an Australia but with strong football links in Britain since 2014 – commercial director at Notts County and latterly head of commercial activities at Wycombe Wanderers.

A total of 65 players and staff at Bradford had their salaries paid in full for November by last Friday.