Wycombe Wanderers will get to see who their first-ever opponents in the second tier of English Football are next Friday.
The EFL confirmed that the fixtures for the Championship, League One and League Two will be revealed on August 21 at 9am.
The draw for the Carabao Cup will be on Tuesday, August 18, with the time of the draw not yet being confirmed.
The league season will kick-off on September 12.
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This season will see several former Premier League clubs such as Birmingham City, Sheffield Wednesday, Reading, Derby County, Nottingham Forest, Norwich City, Watford, Bournemouth, Cardiff City and Swansea City make their way to Adams Park.
But due to the current coronavirus pandemic, and with the possibility of a second wave in the autumn and winter months, it is not known if all these fixtures will be carried out on their scheduled dates, when they are released on August 21.
A statement from the EFL website said: “As previously advised, League competition in the Sky Bet EFL will kick-off on Saturday, September 12, while the regular seasons in the Sky Bet Championship, League One and League Two will conclude on May 8/9, 2021.
“Due to the unprecedented challenges facing the fixture calendar as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and starting six weeks later than usual, the Sky Bet EFL Championship will feature 13 midweek match rounds whilst League One and League Two will have 11 respectively throughout season 2020/21.
“The season will culminate in the Sky Bet Play-Off Finals taking place at Wembley Stadium over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend May, 29/31, 2021."
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With the Carabao Cup (otherwise known as the League Cup), Wycombe will enter at the first round stage despite their promotion to the Championship in July.
The EFL stated that only Premier League sides will enter the competition in round two or round three, but this is dependent on some of the club’s European schedules.
They continued: “The 2020/21 competition has seen a number of significant scheduling changes with two-legged semi-finals being replaced by a single tie, and the first four rounds scheduled to take place on consecutive weeks, kicking off in early September.
“Round one fixtures are scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 5, but due to the international window may be played on alternative dates.
“Rounds two, three and four will be played on consecutive midweeks dates starting September 15/16.
“Premier League sides will enter the competition in round two or round three if they are competing in European competition in season 2020/21.”
The timetable for this season’s Carabao Cup is as follows:
• Round One: September 5, 2020, (alternative dates may apply)
• Round Two: September 15/16, 2020
• Round Three: September 22/23, 2020
• Round Four: September 29/30, 2020
• Round Five: December 22/23, 2020
• Semi-Finals: January 5/6, 2021 (tie to be played at the venue of the club drawn out first)
• Final: February 28, 2021
Speaking on Wycombe Sound on Wednesday morning, Wanderers’ chief financial officer Pete Couhig, revealed that after he and his uncle, Rob, started to show an interest in the club at the start of last season, he noticed that ‘something special could happen’ that campaign.
He said: “As everything came together at the tail end of pre-season, leading into the season, the opening match against Bolton Wanderers where there was a little question on whether it was going to happen, but it turned into a beautiful day – big win, the early results made us pretty comfortable about our target which was to finish in 17th or above.
“But I think in September/October when we got to the top of the league and started to stay there, and after a really impressive run against some of the top clubs in the league, it felt possible [being promoted to the Championship].
“But the reality of an English football season is that it lasts for 10/11 months and so there is a long way to go, no matter what.
“So you can never feel overly confident but the confidence was really there in September/October that something really special could happen, but we weren’t allowed to say anything.”
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