Carling Cup draw, league fixtures and other key dates

The draw for the first round of the Carling Cup will be announced at 9.30am on Wednesday June 16th. The first round will contain 70 league teams with relegated Hull and Burnley receiving byes. They will start in round 2.

The following day sees the release of the fixtures for the new season. They will be available from 10am on Thursday June 17th. The League will be sponsored by npower and called the npower Championship.

The 2010 / 2011 league season kicks off on Saturday August 7th, 2010. In the first midweek (w/c 9th August) the first round of the Carling Cup will be played.

The Christman fixtures will see matches played on Boxing Day (Sun 26th Dec), Bank Holiday Tuesday (Dec 28th), New Years Day (Jan 1st) and Bank Holiday Monday (Jan 3rd).

The FA Cup 3rd round will be on the weekend of Saturday January 8th.

The Championship season ends on Sunday May 8th 2011.