The EFL have confirmed the start dates for the 2026/27 season, with a couple of eye-catching changes.
In a break from recent tradition, the Carabao Cup will kick off the new campaign, ahead of the first weekend of league action.
Also revealed on the EFL’s website was when the Vertu Trophy Group Stage commences, the competition that League One and League Two clubs take part in.
Opening League Weekend
All three divisions of the EFL will begin on the weekend of the 15th August, with a likely televised match on Friday, 14th August. For comparison, the 25/26 campaign got underway a week prior on Friday, 8th August 2025.
While nothing was confirmed in the article, it can be presumed that the later start is linked to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The final of the competition will be played on Sunday, 19th July, leaving less time than ever before the next campaign gets underway. That doesn’t appear to directly affect the EFL, as it’s unlikely many of its players will be involved in the latter stages of the tournament.
But the later start for league action is a direct consequence of the League Cup starting earlier than usual.
Carabao Cup Given Different Role
The EFL Cup has been a midweek competition, aside from the final, but that has changed this year. Round One is scheduled for the second weekend of August, as opposed to falling after the first league matches of the season.
It does make the domestic cup feel like a final pre-season friendly, rather than elevating its status. There is no further confirmation on the remaining rounds of the competition, which will be revealed closer to the start of the season.
Ahead of this season’s competition, the League Cup had a preliminary round, due to nine Premier League clubs playing European football. It was the first time that this change was required since the 2011/12 campaign.
Later Start For Vertu Trophy
The knock-on effect of this delayed start to next season sees the EFL Trophy pushed back towards the end of September. Matchday One will take place on the week commencing 21st September. That date is also the start of the first international window of the season, which is another of the changes ahead of the next campaign.
Instead of the usual three windows for international games in September, October & November, the first two have been combined into four games across both months. That creates its own issues, meaning the first month of the season is likely to be packed full of football.
European football dictates when the third round of the League Cup takes place. Coupled with a midweek matchday of league action for the lower two tiers of the EFL, this has created a scheduling nightmare for the footballing authorities.
It’s an unenviable job, but the first pieces of what will be a different 26/27 season can now begin to be put together.