What to look out for on EFL fixture release day

June 24, 2026 No Comments

What to look out for on EFL fixture release dayImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Lincoln City won League One last season to secure second-tier football for the first time since 1961ByBen AshtonBBC Sport EnglandPublished55 minutes agoThe fixtures for the 2026-27 English Football League season will be released at 12:00 BST on Thursday, 25 June.West Ham United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burnley, who were all relegated from the Premier League, will be joined in the Championship by Bolton Wanderers, Cardiff City and Lincoln City, with the Imps returning to the second tier for the first time in 65 years.Leicester City will play in the third tier for just the second time in their 142-year history after back-to-back relegations, and will be in League One alongside Oxford United and Sheffield Wednesday.The Foxes will face games against Bromley, who are in the third tier for the first time in their history, MK Dons, Cambridge United and Notts County.Exeter City, Port Vale, Rotherham United and Northampton Town have dropped down to League Two.York City and Rochdale, who both amassed more than 100 points in the National League last season, will return to the EFL.Here is everything you need to know about the EFL fixture release day and some key things to look out for.When does the season start?The 2026-27 EFL season starts on the weekend of 14-16 August across the Championship, League One and League Two.But the competitive campaign will officially begin one week earlier, with the first round of the Carabao Cup taking place on 7-9 August.The Vertu Trophy will get under way the week commencing 21 September, with the draw taking place at 14:30 BST on the same day the EFL fixtures are released.Meanwhile, the Carabao Cup first-round draw will take place at 16:30, also on Thursday.It is the third year of the Sky Sports TV deal, meaning more than 1,000 games will be broadcast live, while BBC Sport will also have live text coverage of the majority of EFL fixtures.

The long wait is over…

A packed London Stadium during West Ham's final game in the Premier League — Image caption,

West Ham United have only been outside the top flight in three of the past 33 seasons

The new EFL season will provide a change of scenery for several clubs, for better or worse.

Lincoln will be in the second tier for the first time since 1961, following a journey in which the Imps went down to the National League and back up again.

West Ham have not been in the Championship for 14 years and will hope to repeat what they did in 2012 when they immediately bounced back to the top flight.

Leicester’s only previous campaign in the third tier was in the 2008-09 season and they went on to become champions to return to the Championship at the first time of asking.

Before that, you have to go back to 1894 when the Foxes were last outside the top two divisions, when they played in the former Midland Football League before entering the old Division Two.

Bromley will hope they can continue to create club history after winning promotion to the EFL only two years ago, before going one step further to reach League One this year.

In League Two, York City will get a taste of fourth-tier action for the first time in 10 years, while Rotherham United are back on the bottom rung of the EFL ladder for the first time since the 2012-13 season.

New faces in the dugout

Michael Skubala, wearing a black Lincoln City tracksuit top, holds the League One trophy in his hands. The red seats of Lincoln's LNER Stadium can be seen behind. — Image caption,

Michael Skubala has taken over at Bristol City after winning promotion to the Championship with Lincoln City

Since the conclusion of the 2025-26 campaign, there have been plenty of changes in the dugouts at EFL clubs.

Wolves will start their first Championship season in nine years with Cesar Peixoto taking over as head coach from Rob Edwards, who was sacked just seven months after arriving at Molineux.

Burnley are still managerless after Scott Parker’s departure following relegation from the Premier League, but they have reportedly stepped up their pursuit of Wales boss Craig Bellamy.

Lincoln will tackle their first second-tier campaign in six decades without the manager who brought them up after Michael Skubala left for Bristol City.

The Imps will instead have a rare management duo in Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw.

Tony Mowbray will have a second spell in charge of Blackburn Rovers after Michael O’Neill returned to Northern Ireland national team duty.

Alessio Dionisi has become Watford’s 12th head coach, not including interim bosses, since the end of the 2020-21 season, and the 24th since the Pozzo family took over the club in 2012.

In League One, Russell Martin has been appointed by Leicester, Oxford appointed former Arsenal and Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsay as their new manager this week after Matt Bloomfield was sacked on Saturday, and Daniel Stendel has returned to Barnsley to replace Conor Hourihane.

Dave Challinor left after almost five years in charge at Stockport County following their play-off final defeat to Bolton and the Hatters have since hired Jim McNulty from Rochdale.

That means Rochdale’s return to League Two will be under new boss Ian Watson, while Northampton have appointed Chris Hogg, Darrell Clarke has joined Tranmere Rovers, Lee Grant is Walsall’s new manager, and Adam Murray has swapped Kidderminster Harriers for Barrow.

And at Salford City, the club co-owned by David Beckham and Gary Neville, Peter Cklamovski was picked to replace the sacked Karl Robinson.

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