Birmingham City will discover their Carabao Cup first round opponents this afternoon after finding out the full Championship schedule on EFL fixture release day
(Image: Leicester City FC via Getty Images)
Birmingham City find out against whom their Carabao Cup campaign begins today, hours after discovering their Championship fixture list.
After an early exit to a Jay Stansfield-led Fulham in the second round last season, there will at least be no repeat this year, as Blues are back in the northern section this year instead of the south. They are one of only 70 teams from the EFL who will make the first round, with two set to exit in a preliminary round.
National League champions Barnet and play-off winners Oldham Athletic feature at that stage. The former faces Newport County, while the latter plays Accrington Stanley.
Implementing that initial round reduces the number of Premier League teams entering the second round. The reason for that is nine clubs qualifying for UEFA competitions next season, including Aston Villa in the Europa League.
Birmingham Live details everything you need to know before today’s draw below.
When is the Carabao Cup first-round draw?
The draw will start at 4:30pm, with the preliminary round starting proceedings ten minutes earlier. That follows the fixture list release for Championship, League One and League Two clubs at midday, then the Vertu Trophy group stage draw at 2:30pm.
How to watch the Carabao Cup draw?
Sky Sports News will broadcast the draw live. It will also be available on YouTube through the Sky Sports Football channel.
When is the Carabao Cup first round?
The first round ties will take place during the week commencing 11 August. They will be during the first midweek of the Championship campaign and the second midweek for teams in League One and League Two.
What are the Carabao Cup ball numbers?North 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
South 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