Was the wait worth it! Oh, yes, because it means the new season is getting closer. I love Fixture Release Day! Being a fan of a proud Welsh club not even the rebranding of the Football League to the English Football League with the new logo EFL cannot spoil my enjoyment.
Did you get all excited when you woke up as if it was Christmas morning and you were a kid who could not open your presents until 9am? I remember when you have to wait until the local paper printed a full fixture list in the afternoon. A click of a button gives me access to the full fixture list has internet servers around the world took a spike in demand.
We now know who we play and when of course subject to alterations by TV companies, the police, Rugby internationals, and god. The normal appetizer the draw before the big fixture release of the first round draw for the League/Carling cup did not happen yesterday.
No South Wales derby after the West Wales scum managed to pull themselves away from relegation trouble and it helped that the Bluebirds screwing up a chance of promotion via the play-offs, always a long shot anyway. However, there are plenty of grudge matches to spice the season up. The list of competitors for Cardiff City’s promotion spot are Aston Villa, Barnsley, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Brentford, Brighton & Hove Albion, Bristol City, Burton Albion, Derby County, Fulham, Huddersfield Town, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Newcastle United, Norwich City, Nottingham Forest, Preston North End, Queens Park Rangers, Reading, Rotherham United, Sheffield Wednesday, Wigan Athletic, Wolverhampton Wanderers.
There are still some juicy fixtures next season with old rivalries. The Midlands will play heavy on the Bluebirds fixture list with relegated Aston Villa joining Birmingham and Wolves. The Sevenside derby with Bristol City is always a heated encounter. The longest trip will be to Newcastle and the trip to Norwich, which can be a pain. It’s not often hard-core travelling fans get to visit a new ground, Burton Albion will be a first for lots of fans.
A lot will be made of a top six finish for this new upcoming season, at least a Play-off spot. But I believe automatic promotion must be the target/goal as I am not a fan of the play offs preferring the top three are promoted. The first fixtures I look out for is the first and last games of the season then Boxing Day. There are 46 league games next season all together and not counting cup games that is a lot of football.
Sat 6 Aug Birmingham City v Cardiff City 3pm Kick off
Mon 26 Dec 15:00 Brentford v Cardiff 3pm Kick off
Sun 7 May Huddersfield v Cardiff 12pm Kick off
Other games Cardiff travel to Newcastle and Aston Villa in November with a busy Christmas holiday period Brentford, Brighton both away with a 2 Jan home fixture against Aston Villa. There is plenty of football to come enough for any football fan. Cardiff will face Severnside rivals Bristol City at home on Saturday 15 Oct and away on Saturday 14 Jan, however both fixtures will likely be shifted to earlier kick offs than the scheduled 3pm or the may fixture attract the TV camaras .
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