First round draw – southern section
First game out is a repeat of the Championship play-off final of a couple of seasons ago. A big start!
Bromley v Ipswich – a glamour tie for Bromley there
Luke Baker26 June 2025 16:33
We’re on to the first round draw itself now. Northern section first up, then the south
Luke Baker26 June 2025 16:29
Here we go. We’re about to find out who is at home in the preliminary round. The draw is:
The winners of those game will be in the first round. Those matches will be in the week commencing 4 August.
Luke Baker26 June 2025 16:27
Right, we’re just about ready to get going with this Carabao Cup draw. Remember, we’ll start with the preliminary round.
That’s the initial round featuring just four teams, necessitated by nine Premier League clubs qualifying for Europe this year and thus not entering until the third-round stage.
It’s the two promoted National League teams (Oldham and Barnet) and those that finished 21st and 22nd in last season’s League Two (Newport and Accrington).
They’ve been divided into the north and south sections and we know that Oldham will play Accrington, while Barnet take on Newport but the draw will determine which teams are at home. The winners of those preliminary ties then enter the first round alongside the remaining 68 EFL clubs.
Luke Baker26 June 2025 16:20
And here are the ball numbers for the southern section
- 1 AFC Wimbledon
- 2 Bristol City
- 3 Bristol Rovers
- 4 Bromley
- 5 Cambridge United
- 6 Cardiff City
- 7 Charlton Athletic
- 8 Cheltenham Town
- 9 Colchester United
- 10 Coventry City
- 11 Crawley Town
- 12 Exeter City
- 13 Gillingham
- 14 Ipswich Town
- 15 Leyton Orient
- 16 Luton Town
- 17 Millwall
- 18 Milton Keynes Dons
- 19 Northampton Town
- 20 Norwich City
- 21 Oxford United
- 22 Plymouth Argyle
- 23 Portsmouth
- 24 Queens Park Rangers
- 25 Reading
- 26 Southampton
- 27 Stevenage
- 28 Swansea City
- 29 Swindon Town
- 30 Watford
- 31 Wycombe Wanderers
- 32 Barnet or Newport County
Luke Baker26 June 2025 16:17
The ball numbers for today’s first-round draw have been announced. Remember, the draw is split into a northern section and a southern section.
Here’s the ball numbers for the northern section:
- 1 Barnsley
- 2 Barrow
- 3 Birmingham City
- 4 Blackburn Rovers
- 5 Blackpool
- 6 Bolton Wanderers
- 7 Bradford City
- 8 Burton Albion
- 9 Chesterfield
- 10 Crewe Alexandra
- 11 Derby County
- 12 Doncaster Rovers
- 13 Fleetwood Town
- 14 Grimsby Town
- 15 Harrogate Town
- 16 Huddersfield Town
- 17 Hull City
- 18 Leicester City
- 19 Lincoln City
- 20 Mansfield Town
- 21 Middlesbrough
- 22 Notts County
- 23 Peterborough United
- 24 Port Vale
- 25 Preston North End
- 26 Rotherham United
- 27 Salford City
- 28 Sheffield United
- 29 Sheffield Wednesday
- 30 Shrewsbury Town
- 31 Stockport County
- 32 Stoke City
- 33 Tranmere Rovers
- 34 Walsall
- 35 West Bromwich Albion
- 36 Wigan Athletic
- 37 Wrexham
- 38 Accrington Stanley or Oldham Athletic
Luke Baker26 June 2025 16:12
League Two opening day fixtures
The League Two fixtures for the opening weekend of the 2025-2026 season are as follows:
- 15:00 – Accrington Stanley v Gillingham
- 15:00 – Barnet v Fleetwood Town
- 15:00 – Bristol Rovers v Harrogate Town
- 15:00 – Cambridge United v Cheltenham Town
- 15:00 – Chesterfield v Barrow
- 15:00 – Colchester United v Tranmere Rovers
- 15:00 – Grimsby Town v Crawley Town
- 15:00 – Milton Keynes Dons v Oldham Athletic
- 15:00 – Newport County v Notts County
- 15:00 – Salford City v Crewe Alexandra
- 15:00 – Shrewsbury Town v Bromley
- 15:00 – Walsall v Swindon Town
Luke Baker26 June 2025 16:07
League One opening day fixtures
The League One fixtures for the opening weekend of the 2025-2026 season, starting a week before the Championship, have been released:
- 20:00 Luton Town v A.F.C. Wimbledon
- 12:30 Cardiff City v Peterborough United
- 15:00 Blackpool v Stevenage
- 15:00 Bradford City v Wycombe Wanderers
- 15:00 Burton Albion v Mansfield Town
- 15:00 Doncaster Rovers v Exeter City
- 15:00 Huddersfield Town v Leyton Orient
- 15:00 Lincoln City v Reading
- 15:00 Plymouth Argyle v Barnsley
- 15:00 Rotherham United v Port Vale
- 15:00 Wigan Athletic v Northampton Town
- 12:00 Stockport County v Bolton Wanderers
Luke Baker26 June 2025 15:54
Championship opening day fixtures
Earlier today, the EFL fixtures were revealed as the Championship, League One and League Two clubs learnt their season-long schedules.
The Championship season kicks off on Friday 8 August at St Andrew’s, where Ipswich Tbegin their bid to bounce back up to the Premier League against Birmingham.
Leicester host Sheffield Wednesday at the King Power Stadium on Sunday to round off the opening weekend.
- 20:00 – Birmingham City v Ipswich Town
- 12:30 – Charlton Athletic v Watford
- 12:30 – Coventry City v Hull City
- 12:30 – Southampton v Wrexham
- 15:00 – Middlesbrough v Swansea City
- 15:00 – Norwich City v Millwall
- 15:00 – Oxford United v Portsmouth
- 15:00 – Queens Park Rangers v Preston North End
- 15:00 – Stoke City v Derby County
- 15:00 – West Bromwich Albion v Blackburn Rovers
- 17:30 – Sheffield United v Bristol City
- 16:30 – Leicester City v Sheffield Wednesday
Luke Baker26 June 2025 15:42
Wrexham begin first second-tier campaign in 43 years with trip to Southampton
Wrexham will start their 2025-26 Championship campaign with a mouth-watering trip to Southampton on Saturday, August 9.
The Welsh club, co-owned by Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds and It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia co-creator Rob McElhenney, are back in the second tier for the first time in 43 years after winning three consecutive promotions.
Wrexham met Eastleigh on the opening day of the Vanarama National League season in August 2022, but are now set to play grander Hampshire opposition three years on.
Luke Baker26 June 2025 15:30