The EFL fixtures for 2024/25 are out and it’s all eyes on the opening weekend of the season.

Here are 10 things to look out for in the first round of games across the Sky Bet Championship, Sky Bet League One and Sky Bet League Two:

New beginnings

Newcomers Bromley kick off their inaugural League Two campaign with a 460-mile-round trip to Harrogate Town. Andy Woodman guided the London-based team to promotion via the National League Play-Offs for the first time in the Club’s history and they will be looking to get off to a positive start against Harrogate, who maintain a 100% record on the opening day since joining the EFL.

The Ravens follow that up with the visit of AFC Wimbledon to Hayes Lane, before hitting the road later in the month to take on Bradford City, before rounding off August by hosting Crewe Alexandra

Familiar face

New Cheltenham Town boss Michael Flynn will come up against one of his former teams on the opening day as Newport County travel to the Completely-Suzuki Stadium. The 43-year-old – who most recently had a spell in the hotseat at Walsall – was appointed as the new Robins manager in May, following the departure of Darrell Clarke to Barnsley.

The Welshman, who also played for his hometown team Newport and helped the Exiles win promotion in 2013, enjoyed some memorable cup runs in charge of the Club, having twice reached Wembley in the Play-Off Final.

A winning formula

Millwall will be looking to pick up where they left off at the end of the 2023/24 campaign, with the Lions – who were the Championship’s in-form team following the arrival of Neil Harris – taking took 26 points from 13 games. Harris’ side signed off the season with a fifth straight victory with only promotion-winning Ipswich Town taking more points from the final 13 games.

Harris became the first EFL boss to manage in all three divisions in a single season when he returned to The Den for a second stint in the dugout and his team will entertain Watford in the 2024/25 curtain raiser.

Breaking the spell 

Bristol Rovers will be looking to break their curse when the season gets underway, with Northampton Town the first visitors to the Memorial Stadium. The Gas are without a win on the opening day for 12 seasons on the spin – the longest run of any side in the EFL – with nine defeats and three draws stretching back to the 2011/12 campaign.

Last season, the Pirates came close when they played out a 1-1 draw with eventual League One champions Portsmouth at Fratton Park. However, Pompey’s added time leveller prolonged the streak.

Repeat performance

Walsall and Morecambe will have a strange sense of déjà vu on the opening day with the two teams – who faced off in last season’s curtain raiser – coming face-to-face once again this term. Last August, Morecambe ran out 2-1 winners over the Saddlers on home turf as Farrend Rawson netted a dramatic injury-time winner.

This season, the two teams will kick off the campaign at the Poundland Bescot Stadium where Walsall evened the playing field with a 3-0 victory over the Shrimps earlier in February this year.

Bouncing back 

For the first time since 1995, Birmingham City are back in the third tier of English football and the Blues will take on Reading in their first game back in League One in almost three decades. The two teams have faced off in almost every division, with their last meeting at this level coming back in April 1992 when Birmingham eventually won promotion from the old Third Division.

Under the new management of former Tottenham Hotspur coach Chris Davies, Birmingham will be hoping their stay in the division is a short one after suffering relegation from the Championship at the end of last season.

A dream come true

It will be a moment to savour for Oxford United head coach Des Buckingham when he leads his boyhood team into battle at the Kassam Stadium for the Yellows’ first game back in the Championship after a 25-year exile. The U’s entertain Norwich City in their opening fixture – a team the Club haven’t come up against since their last season competing at this level in 1998/99.

It has all the makings of a fairytale for Buckingham, who took the reins at the Club he spent a lifetime supporting mid-way through last season before guiding them to victory in the Play-Off Final.

Goals galore

If AFC Wimbledon and Colchester United’s last encounter at the Cherry Red Records Stadium was anything to go by, we can expect plenty of action on the opening day between the two teams, who played out an eight-goal thriller in December last year. It was the hosts who came out on top in a 5-3 win, with Josh Davison, Joe Lewis and Ali Al Hamadi all making the score-sheet.

Johnnie Jackson’s side will play host to Danny Cowley’s Colchester team in the first game of the upcoming League Two campaign and there should be no shortage of goals.

Off the mark

The opening day of the Championship campaign sees two relegated teams go head-to-head as Luton Town host Burnley. Last season, the Hatters and the Clarets were relegated from the Premier League but both teams will be looking to bounce back when the new season kicks off.

In October 2023, Burnley secured their first league victory of the season against Luton courtesy of Jacob Bruun Larsen’s late winner at Kenilworth Road in the top tier. Similarly, the Lancashire side will be eyeing their first win of the Championship campaign against the same Rob Edwards’ men.

Third time lucky 

Blackpool will be hoping a first-ever victory over Crawley Town is on the cards when they embark on the journey to West Sussex to get their season underway against Scott Lindsey’s Reds, who defied the odds to win promotion from League Two last season and triumph in their first trip to Wembley.

On the previous two occasions the teams have gone head-to-head, it was Crawley who were victorious in their first meeting in October 2016, before the teams registered a goalless draw later in February 2017.