Birmingham City secured the League One title last season, amassing a league-record 111 points.
The fixtures for the 2025-26 English Football League season will be released at 12:00 BST on Thursday.
Relegated Premier League sides Southampton, Ipswich Town and Leicester City will compete in the Championship alongside promoted teams Birmingham City, Charlton Athletic, and Wrexham, who return to the second tier for the first time in over 40 years following three consecutive promotions.
In League One, Cardiff City and Plymouth Argyle will aim for an immediate return to the Championship, joined by Luton Town, who were relegated after a dramatic final day.
In League Two, Barnet and Oldham Athletic will rejoin the EFL after securing promotion from the National League last season.
All fixtures will be available on the BBC Sport website and app immediately after their announcement.
The EFL Trophy groups will be revealed at 14:30 BST on Thursday, followed by the Carabao Cup first-round draw at 16:30 BST.
The new EFL season will commence across the weekends of 1-3 August for League One and League Two, and 8-10 August for the Championship.
The Championship’s 46-match schedule will span 33 weekends, nine midweek dates, and four bank holidays.
League One and Two fixtures will be contested over 33 weekends, five midweek dates, and eight bank holidays and international break dates.
This marks the second year of the broadcast agreement with Sky Sports, which will facilitate the broadcast or streaming of over 1,000 matches.
Can relegated Premier League sides bounce back?
For the second consecutive season, all three teams promoted from the Championship were immediately relegated. Before 2023-24, this last occurred in 1997-98 with Barnsley, Bolton, and Crystal Palace.
Southampton welcomes Will Still as their new manager, while Kieran McKenna continues his tenure at Ipswich, as does Ruud van Nistelrooy at Leicester, for the time being.
After narrowly missing promotion to the Premier League following a play-off final defeat to Sunderland, Sheffield United have replaced Chris Wilder with Ruben Selles to lead their promotion bid.
High hopes at promoted sides
Birmingham City, Wrexham, and Charlton Athletic may have varying ambitions upon their promotion to the Championship.
Birmingham and Wrexham may aspire to emulate Ipswich by following promotion from League One with immediate Premier League promotion.
In their first second-tier season since 1982, Phil Parkinson’s Wrexham seek a fourth consecutive promotion, while Charlton, returning after five years, and manager Nathan Jones will likely prioritize survival.
Cardiff City will aim for an immediate Championship return, alongside Luton Town and Plymouth Argyle, now managed by Tom Cleverley.
Barnet and Oldham return to League Two after seven and three years, respectively, following their National League promotion.
New faces
There has been significant managerial turnover since the end of the season, particularly in the Championship.
Following their play-off final loss, Sheffield United replaced Wilder with Selles, who had been dismissed by Hull City despite securing their safety.
Sergej Jakirovic has been appointed as Hull City’s manager, while after play-off semi-final disappointment, Bristol City’s Liam Manning joined his hometown club Norwich City, with Gerhard Struber replacing him at Ashton Gate.
Will Still’s first managerial role in England is at Southampton, while Ryan Mason takes his first permanent managerial position at West Bromwich Albion.
Watford parted ways with Cleverley, who has since moved to Plymouth to replace Miron Muslic, with Paolo Pezzolano taking over at Vicarage Road. Middlesbrough have appointed Rob Edwards after Michael Carrick’s departure, while QPR’s replacement for Marti Cifuentes is Julien Stephan.