The Football League's competitions department who have confirmed the key fixture dates for the 2009/10 season.
Next season will kick off on 8th August 2009, with the Carling Cup - which celebrates its 50th year - getting underway a matter of days later during the week commencing 10th August 2009.
As ever, Christmas will be a busy period with four games in nine days, all kicking off on Saturday December 19th and will be followed by the traditional Boxing Day fixtures and before the weekend comes to an end there will be a full fixture list on the Bank Holiday Monday the 28th.
Once again, there will be no New Year's Day fixtures as the third Round of the FA Cup takes place the following day.
The Final of the Carling Cup will take place on 28th February 2010, with the Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final a month later on 28th March.
The growing number of international players in the Coca-Cola Football League, and the Championship in particular, has, once again, led to the Play-Off weekend having to be split over two weekends during a World Cup year.
Unfortunately, the call-up period for the 2010 tournament falls during the May bank-holiday weekend, the traditional date for the Play-Offs.
Therefore, following consultation with clubs it has been decided to schedule the Coca-Cola Championship Play-off Final on Saturday 22nd May 2010, with the Coca-Cola League 1 and 2 games being played the following weekend (League 2 - 29th & League 1 - 30th).
Consequently, the 'regular' league season for the Championship will finish on the weekend of the 2nd May, with the other two divisions finishing a week later.
June
16th - Carling Cup Round 1 Draw (10am)
17th - Fixtures released (10am)
July
1st - Players return for pre-season training
August
8th - Season Start
10th (w/c) - Carling Cup Round 1
24th (w/c) - Carling Cup Round 2
31st (w/c) - Johnstone's Paint Trophy Round 1
September
21st (w/c) - Carling Cup Round 3
October
5th (w/c) - Johnstone's Paint Trophy Round 2
26th (w/c) - Carling Cup Round 4
November
9th (w/c) - Johnstone's Paint Trophy Area-Quarter Finals
30th (w/c) - Carling Cup Round 5
December
14th (w/c) - Johnstone's Paint Trophy Area Semi-Final
January
4th (w/c) - Carling Cup Semi-Final (Leg 1)
18th (w/c) - Carling Cup Semi-Final (Leg 2)
18th (w/c) - Johnstone's Paint Trophy Area Final (Leg 1)
February
15th (w/c) - Johnstone's Paint Trophy Area Final (Leg 2)
28th - Carling Cup Final (Wembley Stadium)
March
28th - Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final (Wembley Stadium)
April
No Key Dates
May
2nd - Season Finish - Coca-Cola Championship
8th - Season Finish - Coca-Cola League 1 & League 2
22nd - Coca-Cola Championship Play-Off Final (Wembley Stadium)
29th - Coca-Cola League 1 Play-Off Final (Wembley Stadium)
30th - Coca-Cola League 2 Play-Off Final (Wembley Stadium)
