Sheffield United’s promotion in May sees the return of the Steel City derby to the Sky Bet Championship and the Blades’ clash with Sheffield Wednesday will be broadcast live to Sky Sports viewers at 1.15pm on Sunday 24 September.
The match concludes a busy weekend of EFL action, which will also see Forest Green Rovers feature live on Sky Sports with the Sky Bet League Two newcomers welcoming Swindon Town in a Friday night kick-off. Nottingham Forest’s visit to Aston Villa takes place in the 5.30pm slot on Saturday 23 September.
A further three games are to be aired over the weekend of Friday 29 September to Sunday 1 October with the focus turning to West London initially for QPR’s match with Fulham in the Sky Bet Championship.
A 5.30pm kick-off will see Reading host Norwich City on Saturday, before another big game takes place in Yorkshire with Sheffield Wednesday again the hosts as they welcome local rivals Leeds United in a 12.15pm kick-off on Sunday.
The final game confirmed today is Aston Villa’s visit to Barnsley which will take place at 5.30pm on Saturday 16 September.
The list of games selected for live coverage are as follows:Saturday 16 September Barnsley v Aston Villa 5:30pmFriday 22 September Forest Green Rovers v Swindon Town 7:45pmSaturday 23 September Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest 5:30pmSunday 24 September Sheffield Wednesday v Sheffield United 1:15pmFriday 29 September Queens Park Rangers v Fulham 7:45pmSaturday 30 September Reading v Norwich City 5:30pmSunday 1 October Sheffield Wednesday v Leeds United 12:15pm
Please note: one further fixture may be confirmed.
Throughout the course of the 2017/18 season, Sky Sports will exclusively show 127 live matches from the Sky Bet EFL season - including the Play-Offs - as well as 15 matches from the Carabao Cup and at least three from the Checkatrade Trophy.
TV SELECTION DATES 2017/18 (Illustrative but subject to a five-week minimum notice commitment)• Clubs notified of selections for 7 October to 11 November by 25 August.• Clubs notified of selections for 18 November to 9 December by 29 September
IMPORTANT NOTEAs with 2016/17, the EFL and broadcast partner Sky Sports have again committed to give Clubs and supporters at least five weeks’ notice ahead of any EFL League matches being selected for live television coverage.
As part of the agreement, the EFL will publicly announce any fixture changes within three working days of their selection (following Club consideration) in order to give EFL supporters as much time as is possible to allow for any alterations to travel plans that may be required.
If both the EFL and Sky Sports are unable to meet this timeframe then the clubs involved have the ability to choose not to be broadcast live on television. However, if both Clubs mutually agree to the rescheduling of the fixture within this five-week period then the game will be televised on the new date.
• Clubs notified of selections for 16 December to 13 January by 3 November;• Clubs notified of selections for 20 January to 3 February by 8 December;• Clubs notified of selections for 10 February to 3 March by 29 December• Clubs notified of selections for 10 March to 31 March by 19 January• From 23 February, a minimum five-week rolling selection commences for matches up to and including the penultimate weekend;• Clubs notified of selections for the final day made following the completion of the penultimate round of matches.
NB: The EFL has committed to publicly announcing any fixture changes within three working days in order to give EFL supporters as much time as is possible to allow for any alterations to travel plans that may be required.