The wait is over — the 2026/27 EFL campaign is finally upon us, and it promises to be one of the most eventful in years.
Proceedings get under way on Friday night with Wolves hosting Blackburn Rovers, and remarkably every single Championship, League One and League Two fixture is being shown live across the opening weekend.
According to the BBC, the new season officially begins over the weekend of 14–16 August 2026, with the Championship, League One and League Two all kicking off simultaneously. The full fixture list for the campaign was actually published earlier in the summer, with the BBC confirming the EFL released every game on 25 June 2026 at 12:00 BST.
For a comprehensive look at what every one of the 72 clubs across the three divisions has planned, our earlier 64-page season preview runs through promotion hopes for West Ham, Wolves and Burnley alongside the fixtures for the entire campaign.
Championship: a genuinely new play-off system
The biggest shake-up to English football's domestic structure in decades has landed. The play-off race, which used to be reserved for the top six, now stretches to the top eight, giving significantly more clubs a route into the promotion shake-up.
The finer detail, though, tells an even more interesting story. As Sky Sports explains, the play-offs have technically expanded from four participating teams to six, producing a brand new seven-match format complete with one-legged eliminator ties between fifth and eighth place, and sixth and seventh place, before the semi-finals take place. Third and fourth, meanwhile, go straight through to the semi-finals without playing an eliminator, as confirmed by the BBC.
It is worth noting this framing differs slightly from how the change has been described elsewhere — some reports characterise it as a move from a top-six to a top-eight play-off spot, while Sky Sports frames it as an expansion from four to six competing teams in the knockout stage itself. Both versions point to the same practical outcome: two extra clubs, in seventh and eighth, now have a genuine shot at promotion.
This isn't a change that has happened overnight either. Sky Sports reports that EFL clubs formally approved the expansion back in March 2026, and it represents the first alteration to the Championship play-off format since 1990. The new eliminator round has also been designed with fairness in mind — the Premier League's own analysis notes that the higher-placed team in each eliminator tie will host the match, preserving an advantage for whoever finished higher up the table during the regular season.
Are the relegated clubs automatic favourites?
It didn't take long for West Ham and Wolves to be installed as the frontrunners for an instant return to the Premier League.
The Hammers find themselves at this level for the first time in 14 years, but they've retained head coach Nuno Espirito Santo and star forward Jarrod Bowen. Both know the division well — Nuno lifted the Championship title with Wolves back in 2018, while Bowen cut his teeth in the second tier with Hull City before his move to east London.
Wolves, for their part, have parted ways with Rob Edwards and handed the reins to the relatively untested Cesar Peixoto. Yet the squad's quality could prove decisive, with Andre, Mateus Mane, Santi and Hugo Bueno all staying put, while the additions of Raul Jimenez and Kieran Trippier bring a welcome dose of experience and class.
There's a touch more unpredictability surrounding Burnley. The Clarets have turned to 45-year-old Belgian Nicky Hayen, who previously managed Club Brugge and Genk, as their new head coach. Still, it's worth remembering Burnley have won promotion in each of their last two seasons in this division — both times racking up more than 100 points. Few clubs know how to navigate the Championship better.
The Sky Sports supercomputer currently rates West Ham and Wolves as the two favourites for promotion, with Burnley sitting fourth, just behind Middlesbrough.
Middlesbrough spend big to finally get over the line
It was quite a campaign for Middlesbrough last time out. They spent more days occupying the top two than any other club in the division, yet somehow finished fifth.
Their season then took a chaotic turn — caught up in the Spygate saga, beaten by Southampton in the play-off semi-finals, reinstated to the final on appeal, and then beaten at Wembley by a stoppage-time Oli McBurnie goal for Hull City.
Any potential hangover from that heartbreak appears to have already been shaken off, judging by their business in the transfer market. Owner Steve Gibson has opened the chequebook, and striker Will Lankshear has already made an impression, scoring the winning goal against Wrexham in the Carabao Cup. Lankshear netted 11 goals for a struggling Oxford side last season and has arrived from Spurs.
Sebastian Berhalter has also joined, fresh from representing the USA at the World Cup, while goalkeeper Radek Vitek — signed from Manchester United — is another eye-catching addition after impressing on loan at Bristol City last season. Manager Kim Hellberg and some Boro supporters may well be asking where this level of backing was back in January when reinforcements were desperately needed, but there's undeniably a buzz of excitement building at the Riverside about what might be achievable this time around.
Can Southampton shake off the Spygate scandal?
The story that dominated the second half of last season was, of course, Southampton's expulsion from the play-offs following their involvement in the Spygate scandal — a genuine shockwave through English football.
The club moved swiftly to stand behind manager Tonda Eckert, and although an FA charge still hangs over him, they've done their best to draw a line under the episode and repair the damage caused. Fears of a mass player exodus have not materialised — only midfielder Shea Charles has left so far — while the club has made permanent the loan signings of goalkeeper Daniel Peretz and striker Cyle Larin, both of whom shone during the second half of last season.
Southampton will begin the new campaign facing a four-point deduction. But given how they clawed their way back from a poor start last season with a remarkable late run of form, few would rule out them mounting another serious promotion push.
Managerial changes in the Championship
There's plenty of fresh faces in the dugouts to keep track of. Tony Mowbray is back at Blackburn Rovers, four years after leaving the club, while Watford have appointed Alessio Dionisi.
Michael Skubala has departed Lincoln City for Bristol City after guiding the Imps to promotion — a move that opened the door for Lincoln to try something rather unusual, appointing joint-managers Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw to run things at Sincil Bank.
League One: can Leicester turn things around?
For only the second time in their history, and just a decade after winning the Premier League title, Leicester City find themselves playing in League One.
Russell Martin has taken charge as the Foxes attempt to end a grim run of back-to-back relegations. He also has some convincing to do, following difficult spells at Southampton and Rangers before his arrival at the King Power. Our earlier coverage of Leicester's League One title bid notes there is cautious optimism after a Carabao Cup win over Northampton, even as questions linger over the depth of Martin's rebuild following a third relegation in four seasons. Bringing in experience has been the priority over the summer, with Liam Cullen, Conor Chaplin and Wes Burns already through the door.
A new dawn for Sheffield Wednesday — and who else fancies promotion?
The long Chansiri era has finally ended at Sheffield Wednesday, and there's a real sense of optimism surrounding the club under new owner David Storch, despite last season's relegation.
Henrik Pedersen, who steered the Owls through a torrid 2025/26 campaign, has now been given a squad genuinely built to compete. Louie Barry is a particularly eye-catching addition — injuries have hampered his career so far, but he's shown flashes of real quality at this level with Stockport County — while Barry Bannan returns home following his stint at Millwall.
Luton, under Jack Wilshere, are also being talked up after a strong second half to last season, as are Plymouth Argyle, who were excellent for much of 2026 and only narrowly missed out on the play-offs.
Managerial changes in League One
Oxford United have made one of the more eye-catching appointments of the summer, handing Aaron Ramsey his first managerial role in place of Matt Bloomfield, who left the club unexpectedly.
It hasn't been the smoothest of starts for Ramsey either — he's already had to contend with a transfer embargo that has left him unable to strengthen a squad freshly relegated from the Championship.
Elsewhere, Daniel Stendel has returned to Barnsley, Martin Drury has taken over at Huddersfield Town, and Jimmy McNulty has swapped Rochdale for Stockport County following Dave Challinor's departure.
Bromley's first taste of League One
Bromley only earned their first-ever promotion into the EFL back in 2024, and it has taken just two seasons for them to climb into the third tier. The Ravens won the League Two title last season and will now play in England's third division for the first time — remarkable, given it's only 11 years since they were first promoted into the National League.
They've been tipped by bookmakers as favourites for relegation, but Andy Woodman's side have proved doubters wrong before and will fancy doing so again. Don't rule out a surprise or two at Hayes Lane this season.
League Two: upheaval at York and Rochdale
After a decade away, York City are finally back in the EFL. It hasn't been entirely straightforward, though — a couple of weeks before the season began, manager Stuart Maynard, who guided the club to promotion with more than 100 points, left the club.
His replacement, Scott Lindsey, has endured a rocky start. His first game in charge saw York knocked out of the Carabao Cup at the preliminary round stage, with supporters booing and calling for Maynard's return — not quite the welcome back to League Two the Minstermen would have hoped for.
Rochdale, the side York pipped to automatic promotion from the National League, have also lost their manager after fighting through the play-offs to go up. With McNulty moving on to Stockport, Rochdale have dipped into non-League football to find their new man, appointing Ian Watson from National League North outfit South Shields.
Can Salford City finally break through?
Seven years on from their promotion into League Two, Salford City are still searching for a way out of the division. Last season brought them closest yet, only for them to lose the play-off final to Notts County.
Manager Karl Robinson has since left, replaced by Peter Cklamovski, who was most recently in charge of the Malaysia national team. Salford have gone big in the transfer market too, with Macaulay Langstaff and Luke Molyneux already through the door. Could this finally be the year the club co-owned by Gary Neville and David Beckham reaches League One?
Managerial changes in League Two
There's no shortage of new faces to watch across the bottom tier. Chris Hogg has taken over at Northampton Town, while newly relegated Rotherham United have appointed Alex Bruce.
Darrell Clarke has taken charge at Tranmere Rovers, Lee Grant is now at Walsall, and Hayden Mullins will lead Newport County through the new campaign.
What happens next
Before a ball was even kicked in the league campaign, the first round of the Carabao Cup was played out over 7–9 August 2026, according to the BBC — with our earlier Carabao Cup TV guide confirming every tie, including headline fixtures involving West Ham, Burnley and Wolves, was shown live on Sky Sports.
