Timings, cup draws and TV picks: Everything you need to know ahead of EFL fixture release day

Bristol Rovers will learn their schedule for the 2024/25 League One season tomorrow morning as EFL fixtures are released with the campaign set to start on the weekend of August 10.

For the majority of fans, it's the first day in the club football calendar to get excited about as they can plan out where they'll be going when and start to look forward to particular fixtures and the upcoming season in general. Others may be a bit more cynical and use the 'we play everyone twice' card. Either way, Gasheads will learn the way in which Rovers' fixtures will fall.

As always in the third tier, there's a considerable number of new faces given that the league sees four teams relegated with a fresh quartet promoted from League Two to replace them while three from the Championship replace the promoted trio.

This year, Cheltenham Town, Port Vale, Fleetwood Town and Carlisle United have been replaced by Stockport County, Wrexham, Mansfield Town and Crawley Town while promoted Portsmouth, Derby County and Oxford United have swapped places with Birmingham City, Huddersfield Town and Rotherham United.

Plenty has been made of the strength of the new crop of clubs and it certainly looks likely to be a significantly more competitive division this year. Where the Gas fit into that is yet to be seen with the transfer window still open for another two months as Matt Taylor and co. sculpt a new-look squad.

Additionally, Rovers will also learn the look of their finalised EFL Trophy group as well as their League Cup first round opponent. There is also the added factor of the new Sky Sports broadcast deal which could well see a couple of the Gas' early fixtures played at abnormal times for broadcast purposes.

With all that considered, here's everything you need to know ahead of fixture release day...

Where to find Rovers' fixtures?

Bristol Live will be running a live blog from 6am tomorrow as we build up and then react to the fixtures which will be released by the EFL at 9am. They will also be shared in Bristol Live's Bristol Rovers WhatsApp channel which you can join by clicking here.

Who will Rovers be playing?

It is worth noting that it is extremely likely that the Gas will be at home for their opening match of the season given that the opening weekend clashes with the Balloon Fiesta. Bristol City are always away from home that weekend and so it is expected that Rovers will kick things off at the Mem.

This is particularly significant because the Gas are rarely awarded an opening fixture in BS7, with just three of their past 10 first games being played at the Mem.

Additionally, the season will conclude on May 3 while, given they're expected to be at home on the opening day, Rovers could well be away on Boxing Day and at home on New Year's Day.

As a reminder, the 23 other League One teams that the Gas will play once at home and once away over the course of the league season are...

• Barnsley

• Birmingham City

• Blackpool

• Bolton Wanderers

• Burton Albion

• Cambridge United

• Charlton Athletic

• Crawley Town

• Exeter City

• Huddersfield Town

• Leyton Orient

• Lincoln City

• Mansfield Town

• Northampton Town

• Peterborough United

• Reading

• Rotherham United

• Shrewsbury Town

• Stevenage

• Stockport County

• Wigan Athletic

• Wrexham

• Wycombe Wanderers

Which games will be televised?

Rovers' opening fixture will definitely be televised on Sky Sports with every match across the three divisions broadcast but there is a possibility it could fall on Friday, August 9. Sky will show one match from League One that evening with the remaining 11 games being played on Saturday, August 10. However, on the Saturday it still hasn't been confirmed whether games in the third tier will kick-off at 12:30pm, 3pm or 5:30pm with each time exclusive to one division.

As part of the new deal, which will see Sky Sports broadcast over 1,000 EFL matches over the course of the campaign, 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.

Sky Sports will also televise every game from the opening round of the League Cup as well as all matches in the EFL Trophy, using their new streaming platform Sky Sports Plus, which is set to launch in August, to juggle this.

League Cup and EFL Trophy draws

Rovers will be ball number four in the League Cup first round draw which will take place on Sky Sports News from 11:30am on Thursday, 27 with the tie set to be played the week commencing August 12. 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

In the EFL Trophy, Rovers have already been drawn into Group G alongside Exeter City and Swindon Town but will have an under-21s side join them. The draw is set to take place on Sky Sports News from 2:30pm on Thursday, June 27.

Southern academy sides ball numbers

• 1 - Arsenal U21

• 2 - Brighton and Hove Albion U21

• 3 - Chelsea U21

• 4 - Crystal Palace U21

• 5 - Fulham U21

• 6 - Leicester City U21

• 7 - Tottenham Hotspur U21

• 8 - West Ham United U21