When will Bristol City's 2024/25 fixtures be released? Timings, TV details and Carabao Cup draw

A 10th successive in the Championship is either cause for celebration or concern. In Bristol City’s case, it’s probably a bit of both. The Robins, along with Preston North End, have become the archetypal second-tier club but with no obvious path upwards.

Therefore the familiarity of fixture release day perhaps lacks an element of mystery, particularly because the three teams who have come down from the Premier League - Luton Town, Burnley and Sheffield United - were all in the division in 2022/23. That said, Portsmouth and Oxford United do offer some variety, as they have risen from League One along with Derby County.

But, pardon the slight cynicism, because whether it be purely for logistical purposes, fixture release day remains a moment of significance in mapping out the nine months from August to May; the significant weekends, the derby dates, and the standout away days.

All will be revealed by Wednesday morning and, in preparation, here is pretty much all you need to know…

When will the fixtures be released?

All fixtures for the Championship, League One and League Two will be published at 9am on Wednesday morning. The information is passed to clubs and media under strict embargo but that’s why there can be leaks, or people just choose to make stuff up online.

Official confirmation isn’t until the very specific time, though and, as a handy plug, Bristol Live will be running a live blog to keep you informed and updated throughout the morning.

Any early information?

That would be telling and also potentially cost us our jobs, or at least credibility (of whatever remains of it) and incur the eternal wrath of the EFL which, with respect to you the dear reader, really isn’t worth it.

All we can say with reasonable judgement is that City will be away on the opening weekend of the season (August 10-11) as it clashes with the Balloon Fiesta. Usually the Robins have been at Ashton Gate before the season has tended to kick off the weekend before but not this time around.

City were on the road for the 2022/23 campaign, at Hull City, due to the break in the schedule for the December World Cup, but this will likely be only the third time since they returned to the Championship in 2025/16, they’ve begun outside of BS3.

Having been away on Boxing Day and then home at Ashton Gate for New Year’s Day in 2023/24, it’s fair to assume the opposite will be true for 2024/25 but we also can’t be totally sure on that.

What we can say with certainty, of course, is that the season runs from Friday, August 9 until May 3 and City will play each of the 23 teams in the Championship home and away. Apologies for stating the obvious there, but here are those opponents.

• Blackburn Rovers

• Bristol City

• Burnley

• Cardiff City

• Coventry City

• Derby County

• Hull City

• Leeds United

• Luton Town

• Middlesbrough

• Millwall

• Norwich City

• Oxford United

• Plymouth Argyle

• Portsmouth

• Preston North End

• Queens Park Rangers

• Sheffield United

• Sheffield Wednesday

• Stoke City

• Sunderland

• Swansea City

• Watford

• West Bromwich Albion

What about the TV scheduling and kick-off times?

This is the first season of the new Sky Sports TV deal with the EFL which will witness a dramatic increase in the amount of televised games per season - 1,059 to be precise. City’s opening game will definitely be televised as all fixtures across the three divisions are, which could mean it takes place on Friday, August 9.

For opening weekend, Sky Sports has allocated three time slots for each league: 12:30pm, 3pm and 5:30pm but which one corresponds to which division won’t be revealed until shortly after the fixtures are published.

As part of the new deal, the broadcaster has also pledged to give match going supporters more notice regarding changes to kick-off times with all matches selected up to September expected to be announced in early July with every game picked up until FA Cup third round weekend, which tends to fall in early January, to be confirmed soon after.

Along with opening day, all final day and midweek fixtures in the EFL will be shown live, as will all games played on Bank Holidays including Easter, Boxing Day and New Year's Day alongside the matches played in Sky Bet League One and League Two during international breaks.

When is the Carabao Cup draw?

The first round of the Carabao Cup takes place week commencing August 12 and the draw will be Sky Sports on Thursday, June 27 at 11:30am.

The draw is regionalised until round three and, at this stage, includes all teams from League One and League Two as well as all Championship teams, bar Luton Town and Burnley who finished 18th and 19th in the Premier League respectively last season.

Southern Section ball numbers

• 1. AFC Wimbledon

• 2. Birmingham City

• 3. Bristol City

• 4. Bristol Rovers

• 5. Bromley

• 6. Cambridge United

• 7. Cardiff City

• 8. Charlton Athletic

• 9. Cheltenham Town

• 10. Colchester United

• 11. Coventry City

• 12. Crawley Town

• 13. Exeter City

• 14. Gillingham

• 15. Leyton Orient

• 16. Millwall

• 17. MK Dons

• 18. Newport County

• 19. Northampton Town

• 20. Norwich City

• 21. Oxford United

• 22. Peterborough United

• 23. Plymouth Argyle

• 24. Portsmouth

• 25. Queens Park Rangers

• 26. Reading

• 27.Stevenage

• 28. Swansea City

• 29. Swindon Town

• 30. Walsall

• 31. Watford

• 32. Wycombe Wanderers

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