EFL 2025-26 season: All the key dates ahead of Championship, League One, League Two return

Just days after the end of the last EFL campaign, supporters of clubs in the Championship, League One and League Two will be looking ahead to the start of the 2025-26 season. Seventy two clubs with varying ambitions will battle it out for supremacy in the second, third and fourth divisions of English football, with the top 24 having the chance to reach the riches of the Premier League. Here, Sports Mole rounds up all of the key dates for sides involved in EFL competitions during 2025-26, including the EFL Cup and EFL Trophy.

Championship

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Due to the disparity between the income of Premier League and Championship sides, newly-relegated outfits Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Southampton are amongst the early favourites for promotion in the second tier, however there could be some fresh faces in the top-two race this season. Backed by Hollywood heroes Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mcelhenney, Wrexham are expected to offer big wages to potential signings this summer following promotion from League One, while a resurgent Birmingham City will break the Championship's transfer record if Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) permit. Start date: August 8, 2025 Final games of the regular season: May 2, 2026 Championship playoff final: May 23, 2026

League One

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Competing in the Premier League as recently as 2024, Luton Town now find themselves in the third tier of English football following back-to-back relegations, with the Hatters having plenty of talent in their squad capable of firing them straight back to the Championship. Welsh giants Cardiff City are in League One for the first time in over two decades and will accept nothing less than an instant return to the second tier, while newly-promoted sides Bradford City and AFC Wimbledon will look to continue their respective rises towards former heights. Start date:  August 1, 2025 Final games of the regular season: May 2, 2026 League One playoff final: May 24, 2026

League Two

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One of the Premier League originals from 1992, Oldham Athletic are back in the Football League for the 2025-26 season after a three-year absence, beating Southend United in the National League playoff final at Wembley Stadium in front of a bumper crowd for fifth-tier standards. Walsall will jump back onto the promotion-chasing horse after their well-documented collapse during the second half of last season, with the Midlands club well clear at the top of the table in the winter before eventually losing out in the playoffs to Wimbledon at the end of May. Start date:  August 2, 2025 Final games of the regular season: May 2, 2026 League One playoff final: May 25, 2026

EFL Cup, EFL Trophy

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As well as the Championship, League One and League Two, the EFL organise the EFL Cup and EFL Trophy, meaning that followers of Premier League clubs need to be tuned into the key dates of the organisation ahead of the 2025-26 term. Ending a 70-year trophy drought, Newcastle United lifted the EFL Cup at Wembley last season, whereas Peterborough United made it back-to-back EFL Trophy triumphs after beating favourites Birmingham in the final. EFL Cup Round One draw date: June 26, 2025 EFL Cup Round One: August 12, 2025 EFL Cup Final: March 22, 2026 EFL Trophy Matchday One: w/c September 1, 2025 EFL Trophy Final: April 12, 2026