Key events
You can also read Ben’s guides to League One, here:
And League Two here:
If you’re looking for a guide the new season in the EFL, may I recommend my colleague Ben Fisher’s cheat sheets. Here is Ben’s look ahead to the Championship:
Jeff Stelling may be gone, but Clinton Morrison is still there and for that we should all be grateful.
Big day in the Sky studio, new host for Soccer Saturday is Blue Peter legend Simon Thomas:
It’s the start of a new era for Soccer Saturday with Simon Thomas as host! ✨
🗣️ “It is an absolute honour to host this brilliant show! If I can do half the job that the legend Jeff Stelling did over the last 25 years, I will have done something right!” pic.twitter.com/8Tvx7Olv0M
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) August 5, 2023
On a personal note, I am gutted to see that Dean Lewington is not in the MK Dons squad for this one. He had been struggling with an injury in preseason, but it is about time they built Dean a statue in my eyes.
For all of you in North Wales and North America, here is how Wrexham line up:
Intrigue in Carrick’s first team sheet, last season’s top scorer, Chuba Akpom is on the bench:
Preamble
It is a curious quirk of the Championship fixture list, or more accurately the demands of Sky, that none of the teams relegated from the Premier League last season are in action on the first Saturday of the season.
Southampton got off to a winning start last night at Sheffield Wednesday, while title favourites Leicester and Leeds, who start the season under new ownership, play tomorrow.
This gives Middlesbrough, who finished last season so strongly under the guidance of Michael Carrick, a chance to show how they measure up against the beaten playoff finalists, Millwall.
Swansea impressed so much under Russell Martin that he left for Saints. The Swans host Birmingham City with all eyes on the director’s box to see if the Blues’ new minority owner Tom Brady will make an appearance (unlikely).
In League One there are some intriguing opening day matchups, with Portsmouth v Bristol Rovers the most intriguing. Two sides with strong squads who are tipped to challenge at the top of the table this season.
In League Two, Wrexham mark their return to the Football League by hosting a MK Dons squad that still includes club legend Dean Lewington, who is set to feature in his 20th campaign.
