2025-26 Fixture Schedule and Changes

[SamD]

2025-26 Calendar

Premier League key dates (including related events)
As usual, some match dates will change for television coverage and other reasons

Sun 1 Jun 2025 - Summer transfer window open until Tue 10 Jun; open again Mon 16 Jun to 19.00 BST Mon 1 Sep
Sat 14 Jun - (new 32-team) Club World Cup in USA until Sun 13 Jul
Wed 18 Jun - PL fixtures released at 09.00 BST
Sat 9 or Sun 10 Aug - Community Shield, Wembley - Liverpool v Crystal Palace
Wed 13 Aug - UEFA Super Cup at Udine, Italy - Paris Saint-Germain v Tottenham
Fri 15 to Mon 18 Aug - PL season opening round; season comprises 33 weekends and five midweeks
Mon 1 Sep - International break until Tue 9 Sep
Mon 6 Oct - International break until Tue 14 Oct
Mon 10 Nov - International break until Tue 18 Nov
Sun 21 Dec - Africa Cup of Nations to Sun 18 Jan 2026
Thu 1 Jan 2026 - Winter transfer window open until 23.00 GMT, Mon 2 Feb
Mon 23 Mar - International break until Tue 31 Mar
Sun 24 May - 38th (closing) match round
Mon 1 Jun - International break until Tue 9 Jun
Thu 11 Jun 2026 - (48-nation) World Cup in US, Mexico & Canada until Sun 19 Jul

[SamD]

EFL Championship, League One and League Two

Thu 26 Jun 2025 at 12:00 BST - EFL fixtures released
Fri-Sun 1-3 Aug - League One and League Two start
Fri-Sun 8-10 Aug - Championship starts
Sat-Sun 2-3 May 2026 - Last weekend of regular season
Sat 23 May - Championship play-off final
Sun 24 May - League One play-off final
Mon 25 May - League Two play-off final

Carabao League Cup

Thu 26 Jun 2025 - draw for First Round
12 Aug midweek - First Round
Sun 22 Mar 2026: Final
other dates pending, including possible preliminary round which may be necessary as nine PL clubs in Europe (one more than usual) are due to enter League Cup in Third Round

FA Cup

Final is set for Sat 16 May 2026; earlier round-dates pending

UEFA Champions League, Europa League & Conference League

Excellent, comprehensive schedule is published by Bert Kassies at https://kassiesa.net/uefa/calendar2025.html

[SamD]

New three-year UK TV deal begins in August 2025: https://www.premierleague.com/news/3807882
TNT (ex-BT) covers 52 matches per season. Sky broadcasts a minimum of 215 matches, including all 10 final-day fixtures live for the first time.

Package A - TNT, 52 matches
- 18 second picks; 14 fourth picks; all 20 matches as part of 4th and 5th midweek rounds
Matches per club: maximum six; minimum one
Primary kick-off time: 32 matches at Saturday 12.30

Package B - Sky, 50 matches*
- 14 first picks; 18 fifth picks; approximately 6-10 rescheduled matches but not at Sunday 14.00; all 10 matches as part of 3rd midweek round
Matches per club: maximum six; minimum one
Primary kick-off time: 32 matches at Saturday 17.30

Package C - Sky, 66 matches*
- 14 second picks; 18 fourth picks; 30-38 rescheduled matches at Sunday 14.00
Matches per club: maximum five; minimum one
Primary kick-off time: 32 matches at Sunday 14.00

Package D - Sky, 44 matches*
- 18 first picks; 14 third picks; up to two Round 37; all 10 Final Round
Matches per club: maximum five; minimum one
Kick-off times: 32 matches at Sunday 16.30

Package E - Sky, 58 matches
- 18 third picks; 14 fifth picks; all 20 matches as part of 1st and 2nd midweek rounds; six additional matches
Matches per club: maximum five; minimum one
Kick-off times: 32 matches on Friday or Monday at 20.00

*approximate number of matches based upon ranges detailed above

BBC TV continues to hold free-to-air highlights rights.

UK live audio rights to BBC and talkSPORT are detailed at https://www.premierleague.com/news/4165261

[murf]

6 sets of matches (5 midweeks and last day) have all 10 broadcast = 60 games
32 (weekend) sets have 5 of 10 broadcast =160 games
numbers suggest 42-54 extra/rearranged games but seems to be 'minimum 47'
267 (min) of 380

That only leaves 113 games (max) not broadcast, less than 30%

[jimmy ching]

Amazing how coverage has changed. I was brought up with radio football. The match on tele was the FA Cup final, followed by the Home Internationals. Then wow, if it was World Cup year. It was the Pink Un or the Green Post to find out the results as quick as possible. Then Ceefax arrived. I remember thinking Ceefax was so advanced. Now you can watch your team anywhere. It's really good today.

[forestfan]

Amazing how coverage has changed. I was brought up with radio football. The match on tele was the FA Cup final, followed by the Home Internationals. Then wow, if it was World Cup year. It was the Pink Un or the Green Post to find out the results as quick as possible. Then Ceefax arrived. I remember thinking Ceefax was so advanced. Now you can watch your team anywhere. It's really good today.

Yeah, we can watch nearly every game live now, legally... but the old methods still have their place too! Five Live on the radio when you're in the car, Soccer Saturday/Final Score, phone score alerts/BBC text commentary as the successor to Ceefax, and we've still got good old MotD to finish off Saturday evening with a nice single malt.

[forestfan]

6 sets of matches (5 midweeks and last day) have all 10 broadcast = 60 games
32 (weekend) sets have 5 of 10 broadcast =160 games
numbers suggest 42-54 extra/rearranged games but seems to be 'minimum 47'
267 (min) of 380

That only leaves 113 games (max) not broadcast, less than 30%

The standard televised kick-off times are staying the same, so I get the impression most of the extra live games will be ones where teams in Europe get moved to a Sunday but wouldn't ordinarily be selected for broadcast. So good news for those of us who support Europa/Conference teams.

[maxi123]

6 sets of matches (5 midweeks and last day) have all 10 broadcast = 60 games
32 (weekend) sets have 5 of 10 broadcast =160 games
numbers suggest 42-54 extra/rearranged games but seems to be 'minimum 47'
267 (min) of 380

That only leaves 113 games (max) not broadcast, less than 30%

The standard televised kick-off times are staying the same, so I get the impression most of the extra live games will be ones where teams in Europe get moved to a Sunday but wouldn't ordinarily be selected for broadcast. So good news for those of us who support Europa/Conference teams.

I support the play-offs teams: Fiorentina (ITA), Nott'm Forest (ENG), Mainz (GER), Rayo Vallecano (ESP), Strasbourg (FRA).

[SamD]

FA Cup round dates are due to be released this Friday, 13 June.

As mentioned in second post of thread, the Carabao Cup will include a preliminary round in August. This means the record nine Premier League clubs in UEFA club competitions will receive byes to Round Three of the League Cup. The other 11 PL clubs will begin in Round Two.

Extract from EFL site: https://www.efl.com/news/2025/june/12/c ... 26-season/

The format of the Carabao Cup will be amended to introduce a four-team preliminary qualifying round. This will reduce the number of clubs in Round One and Round Two in order to accommodate all Premier League European Clubs in Round Three.

The Preliminary Round will consist of the two promoted Clubs from the National League (Barnet and Oldham Athletic) and the Clubs finishing in 21st and 22nd place in League Two (Accrington Stanley and Newport County). The ties will be regionalised North and South as per Round One, with Accrington playing Oldham and Barnet playing Newport County.

The First Round draw will take place live on Sky Sports News at 4:30pm on Thursday 26 June, as part of the EFL’s Fixture Release Day.
The Preliminary Round of the competition will also be drawn at this time to determine the home Clubs for the two ties.

Carabao Cup Round Dates

Preliminary Round: w/c 4 August 2025
Round One: w/c 11 August
Round Two: w/c 25 August
Round Three: w/c 15 September and w/c 22 September **
Round Four: w/c 27 October
Round Five: w/c 15 December
Semi-Final First Leg: w/c 12 January 2026
Semi-Final Second Leg: w/c 2 February
Final: Sunday 22 March

**Round Three will take place on the same basis as last season, with split weeks for those clubs participating in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.

* Please note: this thread is intended to be factual rather speculative. Anyone feeling the need to discuss contents is invited to avoid quoting a whole post, especially if it's immediately above the response. Thanks! *

[SamD]

2025-26 FA Cup Round Dates https://www.thefa.com/news/2025/jun/13/ ... d-20251306

First Round: Saturday 1 November 2025

Second Round: Saturday 6 December

Third Round: Saturday 10 January 2026

Fourth Round: Saturday 14 February

Fifth Round: Saturday 7 March

Quarter Final: Saturday 4 April

Semi-Final: Saturday 25 April

The Final: Saturday 16 May 2026

[SamD]

PL fixtures will be released at 09:00 BST this Wed, 18 June: https://www.premierleague.com/news/4324 ... as%20usual

How list is compiled: https://www.premierleague.com/news/261976

[SamD]

Premier League opening fixtures:

Friday, 15 August
Liverpool v Bournemouth (20:00)

Saturday, 16 August
Aston Villa v Newcastle United (12:30)
Brighton v Fulham (15:00)
Nottingham Forest v Brentford (15:00)
Sunderland v West Ham United (15:00)
Tottenham Hotspur v Burnley (15:00)
Wolves v Manchester City (17:30)

Sunday, 17 August
Chelsea v Crystal Palace (14:00)
Manchester United v Arsenal (16:30)

Monday, 18 August
Leeds United v Everton (20:00)

Initial schedule: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/pr ... es/2025-08

[murf]

Charadeee Shield confirmed on Sunday August 10 in a 3pm BST kick-off. It will be broadcast live by TNT Sports in the UK.

Liverpool v Palace

[SamD]

Nottingham Forest v Brentford has moved from 15:00 on Sat 16 Aug to 14:00 on Sun 17 Aug: https://www.premierleague.com/news/4325259

This is due to a clash with cricket's The Hundred at Trent Bridge on Sat. Under the new TV rights deal, match becomes the seventh live fixture in the UK over the opening weekend.

Friday 15 August
20:00 Liverpool v AFC Bournemouth - TNT Sports

Saturday 16 August
12:30 Aston Villa v Newcastle Utd - Sky Sports
15:00 Brighton v Fulham
15:00 Sunderland v West Ham
15:00 Tottenham v Burnley
17:30 Wolves v Manchester City - Sky Sports

Sunday 17 August
14:00 Chelsea v Crystal Palace - Sky Sports
14:00 Nottm Forest v Brentford - Sky Sports
16:30 Manchester Utd v Arsenal - Sky Sports

Monday 18 August
20:00 Leeds Utd v Everton - Sky Sports

[murf]

Under the new TV rights deal, match becomes the seventh live fixture in the UK over the opening weekend....
Sunday 17 August
14:00 Chelsea v Crystal Palace - Sky Sports
14:00 Nottm Forest v Brentford - Sky Sports

Getting into overload already - 2 Sky games on at once.

[SamD]

Premier League fixture changes, for TV purposes, are due to be announced as below: https://www.premierleague.com/news/4324684

Period of matches (MatchWeeks) -- Date of estimated release
August-September, MW 2-6 -- 9 July
October, 7-9 -- 20 August
November, 10-13 -- 17 September
December-January, 14-24 -- 15 October
February, 25-28 -- 17 December
March, 29-31 -- 21 January
April, 32-34 -- 4 March
MW35 -- 25 March
MW36 -- 1 April
MW37 -- 8 April
MW38 -- Post-MW37

[SamD]

Premier League moves in Matchweeks 2-3* plus Lyon win appeal against relegation** to put Palace's Europa League hopes in jeopardy.

* https://www.premierleague.com/en/news/4 ... -in-august

MW2
Friday 22 August
20:00 West Ham v Chelsea (Sky Sports)

Saturday 23 August - 15:00 unless stated
12:30 Manchester City v Tottenham (TNT Sports)
Bournemouth v Wolves
Brentford v Aston Villa
Burnley v Sunderland
17:30 Arsenal v Leeds (Sky Sports)

Sunday 24 August
14:00 Crystal Palace v Nottm Forest (Sky Sports) - due to Forest's participation in Conference League playoff the preceding Thursday
14:00 Everton v Brighton (Sky Sports)
16:30 Fulham v Manchester United (Sky Sports)

Monday 25 August
20:00 Newcastle v Liverpool (Sky Sports)

MW3
Friday 29 August
20:00 Aston Villa v Crystal Palace (Sky Sports)

Saturday 30 August - 15:00 unless stated
12:30 Chelsea v Fulham (TNT Sports)
Manchester United v Burnley
Sunderland v Brentford
Tottenham v Bournemouth
Wolves v Everton
17:30 Leeds v Newcastle (Sky Sports)

Sunday 31 August
14:00 Brighton v Manchester City (Sky Sports)
14:00 Nottm Forest v West Ham (Sky Sports) - due to Forest's participation in Conference League playoff the preceding Thursday
16:30 Liverpool v Arsenal (Sky Sports)

** Lyon stay in Ligue 1 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/ar ... 2zy8497pdo