Keighley will not be relegated from SSE North One East if they finish outside the bottom three - even if they are the lowest-placed white-rose club.

“This rumour about Keighley being relegated if they are the lowest placed Yorkshire club is a load of rubbish,” says Keighley RUFC’s fixture secretary Alden Phillips.

“The bottom three go down regardless.”

Keighley are currently fourth from bottom on 30 points but there are fears that Middlesbrough, who are third from bottom on 25 points, might opt to play in Durham and Northumberland Division One if they are demoted, thereby saving on travelling costs.

Darlington (12 points) and Durham City (2) are most in danger of the drop, and Phillips emphasised: “If the bottom three clubs go into Durham and Northumberland, then so be it.

“Historically, promotion has always been guaranteed since leagues started in 1987, with one up from Yorkshire One and one up from Durham and Northumberland.

“But then the clubs wanted another team to go up, hence the play-off between the runners-up in Yorkshire One and Durham and Northumberland.

“It could be in some seasons that five or six clubs could be relegated from a division because of the knock-on effect, and clubs didn’t like that either so now there is something called a level transfer.

“If three clubs go down into Durham and Northumberland One, there could be more than 14 teams in that division but a league might be short somewhere else.

“The RFU would initially ask for volunteeers to move across, but if there were no volunteers then the nearest club geographically would have to move across.”