RadioTimes.com highlights all the key dates for the 2023/24 EFL season, including the Championship, League One, and League Two

By Ned Holmes

Published: Thursday, 15 June 2023 at 12:00 am


The 2023/24 EFL season is shaping up to be one of the most exciting in recent memory.

The Championship field looks as strong as it has been for a long time with Leeds United, Leicester City, and Southampton relegated from the Premier League and Plymouth Argyle, Ipswich Town, and Sheffield Wednesday promoted from League One.

That’s not to mention the second tier sides that missed out last year and will have promotion aspirations. Middlesbrough, Norwich City, and West Brom should be stronger in their first full seasons under Michael Carrick, Carlos Corberan, and David Wagner respectively while disruptors like Coventry City, Millwall, and Sunderland will be determined to go again.

With Argyle, Ipswich, and Wednesday replaced by three relegated sides all facing their own uncertainties, League One is wide open with at least half the sides in the division eyeing a promotion push.

The arrival of Hollywood-backed Wrexham and Notts County means that League Two promises to be blockbuster in 2023/24 but it is far from a two-horse race.

Stockport County may have fallen at the final hurdle in their first season back in the EFL but will go again next term under Dave Challinor alongside the likes of Bradford City and Salford City while the initial signs are that both Doncaster Rovers and Gillingham could be forces to be reckoned with – and we’ve not even mentioned the relegated sides yet.

Even at this early stage, all three EFL divisions are set up brilliantly for the 2023/24 campaign and the good news is that it’s not too far away now.

RadioTimes.com rounds up all of the key dates for the 2023/24 EFL season.

When does the EFL 2023/24 season start? Championship, League One, League Two

The 2023/24 EFL season will get underway on the weekend of 5th and 6th August 2023 – with all three divisions in action.

The curtain-raiser is likely to be played in front of the Sky Sports cameras on Friday 4th August with the rest of the games spread across the following Saturday and Sunday.

With no World Cup winter break in the Championship this year, the start date has been pushed back by a week and there has been a tweak to the play-off schedule – though the final day of the regular season has yet to be confirmed for any of the three divisions.

Rather than have all three finals played across one weekend, as it was in 2022/23, in the upcoming campaign the League One play-off final is scheduled for Saturday 18th May 2024 with the League Two play-off final the following day, on Sunday 19th May 2024.

The Championship play-off final, the EFL’s showpiece event, will take place a week later on Sunday 26th May 2024, which is the Late May Bank Holiday weekend.

The Carabao Cup begins with the first round on the week commencing Monday 7th August and wraps up with the final on Sunday 25th February 2024 while the EFL Trophy’s group stages get underway on the week commencing Monday 4th September 2023 with the final scheduled for Sunday 7th April 2024.