The EFL's latest schedule change has been announced
14:17, 14 Jan 2026
A shake-up to next season's fixture schedule has been confirmed by the EFL with the league campaign of teams in the Championship, League One, and League Two set to start a week later than usual, and the Carabao Cup first round taking place on the opening weekend.
The EFL have confirmed that next season, the weekend of 7-9 August will see the first round of the Carabao Cup take place - which Bristol Rovers hopefully will be involved
This term, the Championship, League One, and League Two all started on different weekends. However, as a result of the changes made to the League Cup, next season all three divisions will start on the weekend of August 14 to 16.
Of course, the Gas will be hopeful that the changes do apply to them as they attempt to avoid relegation from League Two - with Steve Evans' men having begun to climb away from the bottom two.
The EFL's shake-up has come following consultations with clubs. Plans were initially to start the league campaign on the usual weekend and begin the Carabao Cup the week prior, on the first weekend of August. That would have meant games played on the Friday of that weekend would have taken place on July 31.
However, many lower-league clubs pointed to the fact that such an alteration would leave limited time to arrange friendlies with top-flight opponents, which can often provide vital revenue.
The changes made to the start of the season aren't the only alterations expected to impact the Championship, League One, and League Two next term. Rovers' schedule in the first half of the season is could look a fair bit different due to a shift in the international match calendar.
Whereas this term, there were two-week breaks in September and October, there will now be a single three-week break between September 21 and October 6, during which countries will play four international fixtures.