Development starts at Toulouse ground

Demolition work has begun at Stade Arnaune, the home of Championship side Toulouse.

It is the first part of a process of a stadium development at the French club to bring their facilities up to Super League standard.

The project is expected to last between 18 months and two years.

Upon completion, capacity at the stadium will be raised to 10,000 and the renovation plans include extending the two main stands, adding a shop, a gym and an administrative office for the club.

The cost of the project is expected to be around €8m.

Having missed out on Super League in 2006, when Catalans entered, Toulouse have been fighting for progress and investment ever since to realise their top flight ambitions.

They spent three years in the Championship ahead of the licence applications for 2012, before returning to the French domestic competition.

Toulouse returned to the RFL restructure in 2016, winning promotion from League 1 and narrowly missing out on a place in The Qualifiers last season.

This week, it has been confirmed that they will face Toronto Wolfpack at Magic Weekend, but won’t be competing in the 2018 Challenge Cup.