EFL fixtures to be released on Thursday

Birmingham City won League One last season with an EFL record points haul of 111 The fixtures for the 2025-26 English Football League season will be released at 12:00 BST on Thursday. Relegated Premier League sides Southampton, Ipswich and Leicester will be joined in the Championship by promoted Birmingham, Charlton and Wrexham, who return to the second tier for the first time in more than 40 years after three straight promotions. In League One, Cardiff and Plymouth will be looking to secure an immediate return to the second tier along with Luton, who suffered their second consecutive relegation to come down with them on a dramatic final day. In League Two, Barnet and Oldham will be making their EFL return after winning promotion from the National League last season. All fixtures will be on the BBC Sport website and app as soon as they are announced. The groups for the EFL Trophy will also be revealed at 14:30 BST on Thursday, while the draw for the first round of the Carabao Cup will be held at 16:30 BST. The start to the new EFL season will be split over the weekends of 1-3 August for League One and League Two and 8-10 August in the Championship. The scheduled 46 rounds of Championship matches will take place across 33 weekends, nine midweeks and four bank holidays. Leagues One and Two matches will be played over 33 weekends, five midweeks and eight bank holidays and international break dates. It is thesecond year of the TV deal with Sky Sports,which will again mean more than 1,000 games broadcast on TV or streamed. Can relegated Premier League sides bounce back? For the second year in a row, last season saw the three teams who had been promoted from the Championship all relegated straight back. Before 2023-24 that had not happened since Barnsley, Bolton and Crystal Palace all immediately went down in 1997-98. It's a new era in the dugout at Southampton, where Will Still takes over, while Kieran McKenna remains in charge at Ipswich, as does Ruud van Nistelrooy at Leicester, for now. After narrowly missing out on an instant return to the Premier League, courtesy of a dramatic play-off final defeat by Sunderland, Sheffield United have parted ways with Chris Wilder and brought in Ruben Selles to lead their charge for promotion. High hopes at promoted sides Birmingham, Wrexham and Charlton might have differing ambitions after being promoted to the second tier. Blues and the Red Dragons might be dreaming of emulating Ipswich - whom they will face in the Championship this season - in following promotion from League One with an instant ascent to the Premier League the following season. In their first season in the second tier since 1982, Phil Parkinson's men are seeking a fourth successive promotion, though Charlton, who return to the division after five years away, and boss Nathan Jones' first target is likely to be survival. Cardiff won't enjoy being Wales' third-ranked EFL side and will have their sights on an instant return to the Championship, along with Luton and Plymouth, who now have Tom Cleverley in charge. Barnet and Oldham return to League Two after seven and three years away, respectively, following their promotion from the National League. New faces It's been all change in the dugout since the end of the season, especially in the Championship. After losing the play-off final, Sheffield United chose to replace Wilder with Selles, who had been sacked by Hull despite guiding the Tigers to safety. Sergej Jakirovic has been installed as boss at the MKM Stadium, while after play-off semi-final disappointment, Bristol City boss Liam Manning opted to fill the vacancy at home town club Norwich, with Gerhard Struber replacing him at Ashton Gate. Still's first job in England is at Southampton, while Ryan Mason's first permanent managerial job comes at West Bromwich Albion. Watford opted to part ways with Cleverley, who has since moved to Plymouth to replace Miron Muslic, with Paolo Pezzolano the new man at Vicarage Road, while Middlesbrough have appointed Rob Edwards after parting ways with Michael Carrick while QPR's replacement for Marti Cifuentes is Frenchman Julien Stephan.