Top News

Relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers will launch the 2026-27 English Football League campaign at Molineux, hosting Blackburn Rovers in an evening clash scheduled for 8pm on Friday, August 14.

The newly published EFL fixture schedule confirms Wolves’ return to the Sky Bet Championship for the first time since 2018 under their new head coach, Cesar Peixoto. They will face a Blackburn side managed by the returning Tony Mowbray.

Fellow relegated clubs, West Ham United and Burnley, are set to meet at Turf Moor on Sunday, marking a major opening encounter for both teams’ Championship campaigns. Burnley will take the field without a permanent manager following their drop from the Premier League.

For West Ham, this season marks their first outside the top division in 14 years. The London Stadium will host Championship football for the first time the following Saturday when they face city rivals Charlton Athletic. Burnley, meanwhile, return to the Championship for the third time since 2023.

Southampton will also begin their campaign on Sunday, looking to move beyond last month’s play-off disqualification for spying as they take on Watford at Vicarage Road. The opening weekend of the Championship concludes with a Welsh derby on Monday evening, where promoted Cardiff City will host Wrexham in the capital.

Elsewhere, last season’s beaten play-off finalists Middlesbrough will welcome Lincoln City to the Riverside Stadium. Lincoln make their return to the second tier after a 65-year absence. Among Saturday’s eight fixtures is a lunchtime Lancashire derby between Bolton Wanderers and Preston North End at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

Leagues One and Two will both kick off their seasons on Saturday, August 15. A decade after their Premier League triumph, Leicester City will begin life in League One with a 12:30pm kick-off away at Notts County.

Sheffield Wednesday, now under the ownership of Arise Capital Partners, travel to face Leyton Orient. Bromley will begin their first-ever third-tier campaign at Barnsley, while relegated Oxford United host newly promoted MK Dons in a lunchtime fixture.

In League Two, York City mark their return to the EFL after ten years by hosting Bristol Rovers. Promoted Rochdale travel to Newport County in a 12:30pm kick-off, while relegated Rotherham United will play their first fourth-tier match since 2013, away at Cheltenham Town.

The opening round of fixtures across all divisions will take place between August 14 and 16, with all 72 EFL clubs in action over the weekend.