ByIan Woodcock

BBC Sport England

Relegated Burnley and West Ham will meet on the opening weekend of the Championship season on Sunday, 16 August.

The Clarets, whose bid to appoint Wales manager Craig Bellamy as boss looks to have fallen through, finished 19th in the top flight last season and will host the the Hammers, who went down on the final day.

Fellow relegated side Wolves will play the league's curtain-raiser against Blackburn at Molineux on Friday, 14 August.

Elsewhere, Southampton, who will start the season on minus four points after the Spygate scandal, travel to Watford on the opening weekend and promoted Cardiff welcome Welsh rivals Wrexham on Monday, 17 August.

League One champions Lincoln start the season at beaten play-off finalists Middlesbrough on Saturday, 15 August and third tier play-off final winners Bolton begin the campaign with a home game against Preston on the same day.

The Championship season starts a week after clubs play their first competitive fixture in the first round of the Carabao Cup and one week before the Premier League gets under way.

Championship first round fixtures in full

Friday, 14 August

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Blackburn Rovers (20:00)

Saturday 15 August

Bolton Wanderers v Preston North End (12:30)

Bristol City v Millwall (15:00)

Charlton Athletic v Derby County (15:00)

Middlesbrough v Lincoln City (15:00)

Norwich City v West Bromwich Albion (15:00)

Portsmouth v Queens Park Rangers (15:00)

Sheffield United v Birmingham City (15:00)

Stoke City v Swansea City (15:00)

Sunday, 16 August

Watford v Southampton (13:30)

Burnley v West Ham United (16:00)

Monday, 17 August

Cardiff City v Wrexham (20:00)

All times BST

Can relegated Premier League sides bounce back?

Burnley, West Ham and Wolves will all be looking to secure Premier League promotions at the first time of asking.

The Clarets have now been relegated from or promoted to the top flight in each of the past four seasons.

However, now less than two months out from the start of the season they remain without a manager following the departure of Scott Parker in May.

West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo has remained despite them dropping out of the top flight after 14 seasons.

The Portuguese led Wolves to the Championship title in his one previous season managing at this level in 2017-18.

Wolves finished bottom of the Premier League in 2025-26 and sacked boss Rob Edwards earlier this month to bring in Cesar Peixoto.

They have bolstered their squad with former England defender Kieran Trippier and returning Mexico striker Raul Jimenez.

However, all three will be aware that in both of the past two seasons a team relegated from the top tier has suffered a second successive demotion to League One.

Former Premier League champions Leicester City went the same way as Luton Town had in 2024-25.

New rivalries and familiar foes

Southampton were expelled from the play-offs in May after a member of staff was found spying on Middlesbrough training before their Championship play-off semi-final.

Saints admitted to also watching training sessions at Oxford United and Ipswich Town in the regular season and as well as being removed from the play-off final and replaced by Boro, who they beat 2-1 on aggregate, were deducted four points for the 2026-27 campaign.

They host the Teessiders on Saturday, 28 November in the first league meeting between the sides.

Among the stand-out derby fixtures in the division there is a huge day on Saturday, 19 September.

Millwall welcome East London rivals West Ham for the first game between the two since February 2012 and Wolves host West Brom in the first league fixture between the two in front of fans in 14 years.

Elsewhere, south coast rivals Southampton and Portsmouth meet at St Mary's on Saturday, 10 October and the first east Lancashire derby of the season will be played at Turf Moor on Saturday, 21 November when Blackburn visit Burnley.

Say hello to the new boss(es)

Burnley might still be on the hunt for their new manager but six Championship sides have appointed a new boss this summer.

Bristol City brought in Michael Skubala as Gerhard Struber's replacement after Skubala led Lincoln to the League One title and a first season in the second tier of English football in 65 years.

The Imps have replaced him with Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw, who were on the staff under Skubala.

Tony Mowbray has returned for a second spell at Blackburn after Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill chose not to extend his short spell with Rovers.

Alessio Dionisi has taken over at Watford after Ed Still's brief and unsuccessful period at Vicarage Road.

West Brom have given James Morrison the managerial role on a permanent basis after he led them to safety last season and Black Country neighbours Wolves will be hoping that Peixoto can do what Portuguese compatriot Nuno did last time they were at this level and guide them to promotion.

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