TIME TO DIG OUT THE DIARIES AND START PLANNING

It is almost time for Cardiff fans to start plotting journeys up and down the UK's motorway network and try to work out how the Bluebirds can better last season's 12th-place finish in the Championship.

The road ahead for the 2024-25 English Football League (EFL) season will become clear when the fixtures are released at 09:00 BST on Wednesday.

The regular season will begin on the weekend of 10-11 August and run until 3 May, 2025.

The 46 rounds of games in the Championship will be played across 33 weekends, nine midweek programmes and four bank holidays.

Boss Erol Bulut will be hoping to improve on the start to last season, when City let slip a 2-0 lead at Leeds on the opening day, and had to wait until their fourth game of the campaign to record a League win.

Fans will no doubt hope for a better finish to 2024-25, too, than the heavy defeats against Middlesbrough and Rotherham that spoiled the end of last season.

Cardiff will be joined by relegated Premier League sides Sheffield United, Burnley and Luton along with promoted Portsmouth, Derby and Oxford.

The Wayne Rooney factor brings added intrigue - the England legend is back for his third spell managing in the EFL.

Rooney was appointed Plymouth Argyle boss after they narrowly avoided relegation last season and will hope to make a good start after his disastrous spell in charge of Birmingham City last season where he won just two of 15 matches - one of which came at Cardiff City Stadium in mid-December.

All fixtures will be on the BBC Sport website and app as soon as they are announced.

The draw for the first round of the Carabao Cup will be held at 11:30 BST on Thursday.

A new £935m five-year deal between the EFL and Sky Sports means that 1,059 EFL matches are set to be broadcast - four times more than now.

Click here for more info on what to look out for in the Championship next season.

2024-06-25T10:55:53Z dg43tfdfdgfd