The wait is over. The 2026/27 English Football League campaign gets under way this weekend, and there is no shortage of storylines to sink your teeth into before a ball is even kicked.
Wolverhampton Wanderers host Blackburn Rovers on Friday night to open the Championship season, and every single Championship, League One and League Two fixture is live across the opening weekend. According to Sky Sports, the Wolves vs Blackburn tie was confirmed as the season opener, kicking off on Friday 14 August 2026.
For a full breakdown of all 72 clubs heading into the new campaign, our earlier 64-page EFL preview covered promotion hopes for West Ham United, Wolves and Burnley alongside the fixtures for the entire season.
Championship: bigger play-offs, bigger questions
The most eye-catching structural shake-up in years has landed on English football's second tier. The source material describes the change as the play-offs widening from a top-six finish to a top-eight finish, handing more clubs a route back to the Premier League.
However, that detail sits at odds with information from Sky Sports, which reported the EFL had actually confirmed the play-offs expanding from four teams to six from the 2026/27 season onwards, with 5th vs 8th and 6th vs 7th one-off eliminators taking place before the semi-finals under the new format. Whichever version proves accurate come May, the principle is the same: more clubs, more chaos, more chances of promotion.
Are West Ham and Wolves the banker bets?
Bookmakers wasted little time installing West Ham United and Wolves as the sides most likely to bounce straight back up.
The Hammers find themselves at this level for the first time in 14 years, but they have retained head coach Nuno Espirito Santo along with their prize asset, Jarrod Bowen. Both men know the division well - Nuno lifted the Championship title with Wolves back in 2018, while Bowen cut his teeth in the division with Hull City before his move to east London.
Wolves, for their part, have parted ways with Rob Edwards and turned to the comparatively untested Cesar Peixoto. Yet there is enough quality still on the books to make them dangerous, with Andre, Mateus Mane, Santi and Hugo Bueno all sticking around. The additions of Raul Jimenez and Kieran Trippier bring a further dose of experience and class to Molineux.
Burnley are the trickier side to call. Nicky Hayen, the 45-year-old Belgian who previously managed Club Brugge and Genk, takes charge at Turf Moor. But don't sleep on the Clarets - they have won promotion in each of their last two Championship campaigns, both times racking up more than 100 points, and they know exactly how to navigate this level.
The Sky Sports supercomputer currently rates West Ham and Wolves as the two favourites for the title, with Burnley sitting fourth, just behind Middlesbrough.
Middlesbrough spend big to end the play-off heartbreak
Few clubs endured a campaign quite like Middlesbrough's last time out. Boro spent longer in the automatic promotion places than any other side in the division, yet still finished fifth.
They were then dragged into the Spygate controversy, lost their play-off semi-final to Southampton, were subsequently reinstated to the final, and then suffered Wembley heartbreak courtesy of a stoppage-time Oli McBurnie goal for Hull City.
Owner Steve Gibson appears determined not to let that setback linger, opening the chequebook to strengthen the squad significantly. Striker Will Lankshear has already announced himself, netting the winner against Wrexham in the Carabao Cup - a competition whose first-round fixtures were all shown live on Sky Sports this month, as detailed in our earlier Carabao Cup first round TV guide. Lankshear scored 11 goals for a struggling Oxford United side last season and arrives at the Riverside from Tottenham Hotspur.
Sebastian Berhalter has also joined, fresh from representing the USA at the World Cup, while goalkeeper Radek Vitek arrives from Manchester United having impressed on loan at Bristol City last term. Head coach Kim Hellberg and Boro supporters alike might well be asking where this level of investment was back in January, when reinforcements were desperately needed - but there is now a genuine buzz around the Riverside about what this squad can achieve.
Southampton look to move past Spygate
No story dominated last season quite like the Spygate scandal, which sent shockwaves through English football when Southampton were expelled from the play-offs over their involvement.
The club moved quickly to stand by head coach Tonda Eckert, and while an FA charge still hangs over him, Southampton have worked hard to repair the damage and move forward. Fears of a mass squad exodus have not materialised - only midfielder Shea Charles has departed so far - and the club has made permanent signings of goalkeeper Daniel Peretz and striker Cyle Larin, both of whom impressed on loan during the second half of last season.
Southampton will start the new campaign with a four-point deduction to overcome. But given the remarkable form they showed in the second half of last season to claw their way back into contention, few would be surprised to see them challenging again.
New faces in the Championship dugouts
There is plenty of managerial change to track elsewhere in the division. Tony Mowbray returns to Blackburn Rovers four years after leaving the club, while Watford have appointed Alessio Dionisi.
Michael Skubala has left Lincoln City for Bristol City after guiding the Imps to promotion - a departure that has prompted Lincoln to try something different, appointing Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw as joint-managers at Sincil Bank.
League One: Leicester's rebuild under Russell Martin
Just ten years after winning the Premier League title, and for only the second time in the club's history, Leicester City find themselves playing in League One.
Russell Martin has taken charge as the Foxes attempt to end back-to-back relegations, though he arrives with some doubters still to win over following difficult exits from Southampton and Rangers in his previous two roles. As we explored in our earlier piece on Leicester's League One ambitions, Martin's rebuild has been accompanied by cautious optimism, a Carabao Cup win over Northampton, and lingering questions over squad depth after a third relegation in four seasons.
The summer's focus has been on adding experience, with Liam Cullen, Conor Chaplin and Wes Burns all arriving at the King Power Stadium.
Sheffield Wednesday's fresh start, and the other promotion chasers
The long-running Chansiri era has finally come to a close at Sheffield Wednesday, and there is a real sense of optimism under new owner David Storch, despite the club's relegation.
Henrik Pedersen, who steered the Owls through a grim 2025/26 campaign, has been handed the chance to see what he can do with a squad that is now genuinely built to compete. Louie Barry, whose progress has been hampered by injury but who showed real quality at this level with Stockport County, is an intriguing addition, while Barry Bannan returns home following his spell at Millwall.
Luton Town are also fancied heavily under Jack Wilshere after an encouraging second half of last season, as are Plymouth Argyle, who impressed throughout 2026 and only narrowly missed out on the play-offs.
Ramsey's first job, and more League One dugout changes
One of the more eye-catching appointments in League One comes at Oxford United, where Aaron Ramsey has taken his first managerial role, replacing Matt Bloomfield, who departed the club in a surprise summer move.
It has not been a straightforward start for Ramsey, who has already had to navigate a transfer embargo that has left him unable to bring in any new signings at the newly relegated club.
Elsewhere in the division, Daniel Stendel is back at Barnsley, Martin Drury has taken over at Huddersfield Town, and Jimmy McNulty has left Rochdale for Stockport County following Dave Challinor's departure.
Bromley step up to the third tier for the first time
Bromley were only promoted into the EFL for the first time in their history back in 2024, yet it has taken just two seasons for them to climb out of League Two.
The Ravens won the League Two title last season and now prepare for their first-ever campaign in the third tier of English football, remarkable given it is only 11 years since they first reached the National League. They have been tipped by bookmakers as favourites for an immediate return to League Two, but Andy Woodman's side have confounded expectations before - and nobody should rule out more surprises at Hayes Lane this season.
League Two: York and Rochdale both change managers
York City are back in the EFL after a decade away - but the build-up has been anything but smooth. Stuart Maynard, who led the Minstermen to promotion with more than 100 points, left the club just a couple of weeks before the new season began.
His successor, Scott Lindsey, has endured an uncomfortable start. In his first match in charge, York were knocked out of the Carabao Cup at the preliminary round stage, with supporters booing and calling for Maynard's return.
Not the welcome back to League Two that anyone in York would have wanted.
Rochdale, the side York pipped to automatic promotion from the National League, have also lost their manager after battling through the play-offs to reach the EFL. With McNulty moving on to Stockport, Rochdale have turned to non-League football for his replacement, appointing Ian Watson from National League North side South Shields.
Can Salford City finally break through?
Seven years have now passed since Salford City were promoted into League Two, and the club is still waiting to climb any higher.
Last season represented their closest attempt yet, ending in play-off final defeat to Notts County. Manager Karl Robinson has since left the role, with Peter Cklamovski - most recently in charge of the Malaysia national team - taking over.
The Ammies have backed their new boss with significant recruitment, bringing in Macaulay Langstaff and Luke Molyneux among others. The question now is whether this is finally the season the club, co-owned by Gary Neville and David Beckham, breaks into League One.
More new bosses across League Two
There is no shortage of new managerial appointments to track further down the pyramid. Chris Hogg has taken charge at Northampton Town, while fellow relegated club Rotherham United have appointed Alex Bruce.
Darrell Clarke is now in the hot seat at Tranmere Rovers, Lee Grant has taken over at Walsall, and Hayden Mullins will lead Newport County through the new campaign.
What happens next
According to the BBC, the 2026/27 league season begins over the weekend of 14-16 August 2026, following the Carabao Cup first round, which was played between 7 and 9 August 2026.
The Championship's regular season is scheduled to run through to Saturday 1 May 2027, with the play-off final pencilled in for Saturday 29 May 2027, as reported by the BBC. The 2026/27 Championship fixture list itself was released at 12:00 BST on 25 June 2026, according to the BBC.
Fans hoping to follow their club throughout the campaign will have plenty of opportunity to do so, with Sky Sports confirming it will broadcast at least 20 EFL matches per club across the 2026/27 season, according to Sky Sports. Meanwhile, the EFL has confirmed the Vertu Trophy will begin in the week commencing 21 September 2026, per the BBC.
Watch and follow the EFL on Sky Sports
The 2026/27 EFL season kicks off this weekend, beginning with Wolves against Blackburn from the Championship on Friday night.
Every Championship, League One and League Two fixture is live on Sky across the opening weekend, with more than 1,000 live games from the EFL, Carabao Cup and EFL Trophy available on Sky Sports throughout the season.
