A long throw from James Gibbons on the right draws City keeper Alex McCarthy off his line but he can't get a punch on the ball and it is looped beyond him causing an almighty scramble.

it eventually breaks to Cal Roberts who lashes inches over the bar.

All County so far, Leicester holding on...

Fast start from the Magpies at a packed Meadow Lane.

Inside a minute Alex McCarthy is quickly off his line to gather a loose ball in his area with Cal Roberts at close quarters.

After 82 long days, EFL action is here..

FIVE games are kicking-off now across League One and Two.

Oh it's good to be back.

Away we go...

BBC Local Radio

Unfortunately due to broadcast rights we are unable to bring you live radio coverage of today's games on this page.

If you live in the local area then you can access the commentary from BBC Local Radio in the old-fashioned way, of course.

If not, don't worry, we'll stay across the airwaves on your behalf and bring you a flavour of their coverage in written form on this page to make sure you don't miss a thing.

• Newport have won just one of their past 12 opening games of an EFL season (D5 L6).
• Northampton have lost their past three opening day fixtures, the Cobblers last endured a longer streak between 1996 and 1999.
• Oldham have failed to win on matchday one of an EFL season in nine attempts (D3 L6), failing to score in six of their past seven.
• Port Vale have lost three of their past four opening day away games (W1), after remaining unbeaten across seven in succession before that.
• Rochdale have lost each of their past three EFL openers and will be looking to avoid losing four in succession for only the second time after four defeats between 1951 and 1954.
• Rotherham have won each of their past five opening fixtures in League Two.
• After remaining unbeaten across their first five opening EFL fixtures (W3 D2), Salford have lost their past two in a row.
• The past 10 Shrewsbury fixtures on the opening day have produced just seven goals in total (W3 D3 L4 - 3 goals for, 4 goals against).
• After winning each of their eight EFL openers between 2014 and 2021, Swindon are winless across their past four (D2 L2).
• Tranmere have won just one of their past 10 opening fixtures.
• Walsall have started a league campaign with victory in seven of the past 10 seasons (L3), including the past two.
• This will be York City’s first home game in the EFL since April 2016, a 4-1 loss to Bristol Rovers when they were already relegated.

• Accrington Stanley have lost just one of their past eight opening day home games since 2015 (W4 D3).
• Barnet have won just one of their past 12 opening matches in the EFL (D4 L7), a 1-0 victory over Morecambe in 2011.
• Bristol Rovers have won just one of their last 13 EFL openers (D2 L10), failing to score more than once in any of them.
• Cheltenham have lost on the opening day in seven of their past nine attempts (W1 D1), though won their last on home soil against Newport in 2024.
• Colchester have failed to win on matchday one in each of their past 12 attempts (D8 L4), losing their past three on the road while conceding nine goals in the process.
• Crawley have won their first home game in five of their past seven EFL seasons (L1), though lost 2-1 to Newport last term.
• Crewe beat Salford 3-1 on matchday one last season, but haven’t won their opening game in back-to-back campaigns since 1994-95.
• Exeter have lost on matchday one just once across their past nine EFL campaigns (W5 D3), though that defeat came last season at Doncaster.
• Fleetwood are looking to win three opening day games in succession for the very first time in the EFL.
• Grimsby have failed to score in four of their past five opening day matches in the EFL, though did win on matchday one last season against Crawley.

• Huddersfield have won their past two opening fixtures, having lost nine of their 12 between 2012 and 2023.
• Notts County are winless across their past six opening EFL games (D3 L3), since defeating Stevenage 2-0 in 2015.
• Oxford United have begun just won just one of their past eight openers (D2 L5), a 2-0 victory over Norwich in 2024.
• Peterborough have lost their opening fixture in five of the past seven seasons (W2), though none of their last 24 matchday one games have finished level.
• Reading have lost seven of their past nine opening games (W1 D1); their last win coming against Derby in 2020.
• When facing London opposition on the opening day Sheffield Wednesday have won just one of their past eight matches.
• After winning just one of their 11 EFL curtain-raisers between 2010 and 2020, Stevenage have since won their past five.
• Stockport have won their past two opening games 2-0, though they’re winless in five attempts on the road (D3 L2).
• Wycombe have lost three straight opening day fixtures, one more than across their prior 13 seasons combined.

• Barnsley have lost eight of their past nine league games against London opposition on the opening matchday, though they did win their last 1-0 against Fulham in 2019.
• Blackpool have won four of their past five home matches on the opening day, keeping a clean sheet in each of those victories
• This century, Bradford City have kicked off a league campaign on home soil on 13 occasions, with the Bantams losing just one of those matches (W5 D7).
• Bromley remain unbeaten on the opening day in the EFL, beating Harrogate 2-0 in 2024 before drawing 0-0 with Shrewsbury last season
• Burton Albion have lost eight of their past 10 opening games, though did win 2-1 at home to Mansfield last season.
• Since the start of 2014-15, Cambridge United have started a league campaign on home soil on eight occasions, remaining unbeaten (W6 D2) while conceding just two goals in total.
• Leicester are unbeaten across their past seven opening matches (W4 D3), since a 2-1 defeat to Manchester United in the Premier League in 2018.
• Leyton Orient have lost their past three opening matches of a league campaign..
• Luton have lost two of their last three EFL openers away from home (W1) after going unbeaten across their previous seven such matches.

• Doncaster are looking to win three opening day fixtures in succession for the first time since 1995 in the EFL.

Image source, Getty Images

The 2026-27 season will feature an unprecedented number of new laws, mostly designed to tackle tempo disruption and make the game quicker.

These rules were all initially rolled out at the World Cup, but still caused confusion in the first round of the Carabao Cup last weekend.

These changes will be deployed right through English football, from the EFL kick off today, Sunday's Community Shield, to the Premier League and right down to Sunday league - apart from the video assistant referee (VAR), of course.

The idea is to cut out those moments which cause supporters real frustration, and get more football played without adding on loads of stoppage time.

Click here for more.

Here we go again, a clean slate for all.

What do you make of your club's summer activity so far? What are your expectations for the season? What do you think you need before the transfer window shuts on 1 September?

And, just for fun, who is going up and who is going down in League One and Two?

Just click on the yellow button to get in touch and share your views and we'll publish the best comments right here throughout the afternoon.

Andrew Aloia
BBC Sport, East Midlands at Meadow Lane

There has been a huge summer clear-out of underperforming big earners after successive relegations at Leicester.

Among the high-profile departures has been former England international Harry Winks, Zambia forward Patson Daka, Ghana winger Jordan Ayew and Danish defender Jannik Vestergaard.

It means that just three players that started in the draw against Hull City in April that consigned the Foxes to the drop started against Notts County.

Image source, Opta

Martin Paterson has named a new-look Magpies side from the one which reached League One with victory in the play-off final in May.

With Alassana Jatta, Matty Dennis, Oli Norburn and many more moving on, there are a host of new faces including 22-year-old Australian forward Luka Smyth and other new arrivals Cal Roberts, Ollie Cooper, Jack Evans and James Gibbons who all start.

Russell Martin's first Foxes league XI features veteran keeper Alex McCarthy, new arrivals Liam Cullen and Wes Burns, as well as a mix of players who have remained with the club, including Bobby De Cordova-Reid, who leads the line and is one of three players who started the final game of last season against Hull, when relegation was confirmed, along with Oliver Skipp and Luke Thomas.

New striker Admir Bristric and Brighton loanees Tommy Watson and Harry Howell are on the bench, but there's no Stephy Mavididi.

Harry Souttar, who has been heavily linked with a move away from the King Power, skippers the side.

Image source, Opta

Andrew Aloia
BBC Sport, East Midlands at Meadow Lane

Walk through Meadow Lane's big heavy main metal gates and the first thing you see is a sign that states you are at the home of 'The World's Oldest Professional Football Club'.

It's grand way to distinguish yourself, and the Magpies have always been fiercely proud of their place in history. I'd argue that they have embraced it all the more since the club endured exile in the non-league ranks for a few years.

Today, they are up against English football's great dream catchers - Leicester City. They did what was previously almost unfathomable, winning the Premier League title in 2016 at odds of 5,000-1.

But how times have changed.

Today, after back-to-back relegations dropped Leicester into League One, the Foxes start just their second second season in England's third tier in their 142 year history at one of the game's most historic clubs.

It's almost fitting.

Image source, Shutterstock

What a way to start the season this is...

Back-to-back relegations for Leicester have resulted in the 2016 Premier League title winners dropping into the third tier for only the second time in their 142-year history, 17 years on from their only previous campaign in the division.

When the Foxes won the FA Cup in 2021 the Magpies were in the National League but they continued their resurgence with a League Two play-off final win over Salford in May and now they meet as equals in League One.

This will be the first league meeting between the sides since a 4-1 victory for the Magpies in March 1994 - their only win in 13 home games against the Foxes.

Leicester won just one of their final 13 away league games last season, though that victory did come in their last match on the road when they beat Blackburn 1-0, but it's a fresh start under new boss Russell Martin.

This should be fascinating...

Image source, Opta

Three Reading signings make their debuts this afternoon, with Josh Stokes, Kyreece Lisbie, and Udoka Godwin-Malife coming into Leam Richardson’s side.

Jacob Brown, meanwhile, finds himself on the bench against his former club.

Likewise, it’s a triple debut for Luton as Emilio Lawrence starts for the first time since he re-joined the club after successful loan spell from Manchester City last season.

Defender George Johnston also makes the cut, alongside midfielder Kasey Palmer who returns to Luton after signing from Hull

Image source, Opta

Image source, Shutterstock

As Reading kick off their fourth season back in League One, it also marks four years since Luton got their first ever Premier League campaign under way.

The Royals have mixed expectations this season with even the most optimistic fans hoping their side can maybe sneak into the play-offs. However, the club’s owner is going a step further, publicly stating his target is promotion to the Championship.

Luton, meanwhile, finished the 2025/26 season in style, going April and May unbeaten, with Jack Wilshere’s side eventually missing out on the play-offs by two points.

Fans will expect the Hatters to pick up where they left off, and Leam Richardson will hope to conjure up the same spirit which inspired Reading's stunning 3-2 win at Kenilworth Road back in March.

Image source, Opta

Oxford United name an unchanged team from the one that started the EFL Cup defeat at Leyton Orient last Saturday.

Winger Stanley Mills – who is set to join Preston in January – is not in the squad, despite manager Aaron Ramsey saying he expects the 22-year-old to play for the club until the move is officially confirmed.

MK Dons hand first league starts to five summer signings – centre-back Charlie Goode, midfielders Daniel Barlaser, Cohen Bramall and Ryan Wintle, and striker Sam Nombe.

Curtis Nelson captains the side in the absence of Alex Gilbey, who remains sidelined by an injury picked up in pre-season.

Image source, Opta

Image source, Getty Images

A new manager with only three games of dugout experience; a transfer embargo meaning they go into this season with broadly the same faces as last; and the ever-present potential of a relegation hangover – it’s unclear what to expect from Oxford United at the moment.

New boss Aaron Ramsey will hope that the football can provide a welcome distraction from the off-field issues that dominated the summer, but defeat by Leyton Orient in the EFL Cup last weekend has not dulled the noise.

MK Dons, by contrast, are upwardly mobile after promotion last season and will be aiming for another promotion challenge under the experienced Paul Warne.

Ryan Wintle, Cardiff City’s player of the year last season, looks the stand-out of the new arrivals but their strength may be in the consistency of selection, unity and momentum from last season.

Image source, Opta

Newport give SIX players their first league starts this afternoon, with hot shot Shaquille Gwengwe hoping to add to his 46-goal tally from last season.

Meanwhile, Cameron Norman, Kyle Cameron, Harrison Biggins, Christian Doidge, and Yahya Bamba all make the cut.

For Rochdale, only two of their 12 summer signings make the starting line-up.

Ex-MK Dons defender Sam Sherring completes the backline, and Dajaune Brown starts up top after joining on loan from Derby.

Image source, Opta

Image source, Shutterstock

It’s all change at Newport as they start life under a new manager this afternoon, and get to do it against Rochdale, who return to League Two after three years out.

Hayden Mullins steps into the dugout just weeks after Christian Fuchs unexpectedly quit despite leading the club to football league survival on the final day of the 2025/26 season.

Rochdale, meanwhile, will be feeling confident coming fresh off the back of an exciting EFL Cup penalty shootout win over Tranmere lastweek.

And with plenty of new signings between the two sides, there is no way to predict what might happen this afternoon at Rodney Parade.