Iain Dunn
Former York City winger on BBC Radio York

The atmosphere is absolutely electric here, everyone feels up for the game and the wait is over.

Here we go again...

Goals galore in the five early games on the opening day of the League and Two programme, but what can we expect from the 19 games to come this afternoon?

Let's find out...

Peter Rhoades-Brown
Former Oxford and Chelsea winger on BBC Radio Oxford

Oxford should be happy with the way that things have ended. You go ahead and everything seems good but then find yourself behind and it is a real test of character. MK Dons have massively dropped two points here, but you are going to get games like this.

• Northampton have lost their past three opening day fixtures, the Cobblers last endured a longer streak between 1996 and 1999.
• 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.

Jared Evitts
BBC Newsbeat

While players get to enjoy a few weeks off over the summer, the hard work's not stopped for others at football clubs up and down the EFL.

And a summer consisting of five heatwaves has been a nightmare for one set of workers - the grounds staff.

BBC Newsbeat went to Gillingham's training ground ahead of their League Two opener against Walsall to chat with head groundsman Haydn Lawrance.

"It's not been ideal no, it gets to a point where, at 38 degrees, there's only so much we can do," he says.

"We are out here all day, sometimes 12 to 13 hours a day."

The 29-year-old says they usually get in at 07:30 BST but have been turning up two hours earlier during this summer.

"Just to get the moisture down before the sun's up," he says.

"When you're watering when the sun's up it's evaporating quicker than it's getting into the ground so you're not actually doing anything beneficial."

So do the players ever try and blame Haydn's pitches for bad performances?

"They tend to try, [but] we give as good as we get," he says.

"If a player starts giving me lip about how the pitch performed, I will tell them to look at their own review of the game.

"And say: 'Listen mate no-one's perfect so you might want to sort yourself out before you come to me about it'."

Image source, Shutterstock/Getty Images

League Two never fails to provide gripping entertainment right until the final day of the season.

If recent years are anything to go by, the 2026-27 campaign promises to be no different with Salford City tipped to win promotion to League One for the first time in their history and York City back in the EFL after a 10-year hiatus.

With today's curtain-raisers upon us, BBC Sport spoke to correspondents across England and Wales for their takes on the clubs they cover and what to expect this season.

Click here for our season preview in the fourth tier.

• 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.

Image source, Rex Features

Barnet know what winning feels like. Since the summer of 2022, they have picked up 99 league victories out of 184 games, a win percentage of 53.8.

It’s enabled them to mount three successive promotion challenges in the National League, culminating in claiming the title in 2025, before finishing eighth on their return to League Two last season.

Their new signings include players from rival League Two clubs which should lend them even more experience of this level.

Salford City, beaten in the play-off final last season, have made it clear that promotion is their aim. They sacked Karl Robinson and replaced him with former Malaysia boss Peter Cklamovski (pictured).

Macaulay Langstaff, brought in from Millwall, should be a fantastic signing for this level.

Image source, Rex Features

York City are back in the EFL for the first time in 10 years, but it’s been a far from conventional summer.

Stuart Maynard, who led them to that dramatic National League title win last season, was sacked a few weeks before the start of the new campaign, due to a "difference in direction and vision for the football club".

His replacement, Scott Lindsey, hasn’t enamoured himself to his new supporter base after defeat in the EFL Cup preliminary round against his old team Crawley Town.

The last time York were in League Two, Bristol Rovers went on to gain promotion. They will be aiming for a similar challenge this time, after finishing last season strongly under boss Steve Evans.

If they can harness that momentum from the start, they will be among the teams eyeing a top seven finish.

In light of Reading's 4-3 loss to Luton, during which Jack Marriott scored a hat-trick, here are some fun nuggets of knowledge:

• Matt Le Tissier in 1995-96 was the last player to score a hat-trick and lose on the opening day before Jack Marriott (Southampton 3-4 Nottingham Forest).
• Kerry Dixon was the last Reading player to score a hat-trick in a loss in September 1982, scoring 4 in a 7-5 loss to Doncaster!

• Accrington v Colchester
• Barnet v Salford
• Cheltenham v Rotherham
• Chesterfield v Fleetwood
• Crawley v Crewe
• Gillingham v Walsall
• Grimsby v Exeter
• Northampton v Swindon
• Tranmere v Shrewsbury
• York v Bristol Rovers

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.

• Huddersfield have won their past two opening fixtures, having lost nine of their 12 between 2012 and 2023.
• 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.
• 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.

Image source, Getty Images

League One has some titans joining the fray this season.

Leicester lifted the Premier League trophy a decade ago but now they return to the third tier for the first time since 2009, while Sheffield Wednesday are back to kick-off a new era under brand new ownership.

But with such recent, rich history comes mammoth expectation and for the Foxes in particular, nothing else will do other than promotion.

While for a club like last season's League Two champions Bromley, who have already reached a new height in securing promotion to League One for the first time, the pressure is off.

Could this be another year of the underdogs?

Click here for our preview of the 2026-27 season in the third tier.

• 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.
• Leyton Orient have lost their past three opening matches of a league campaign..
• Doncaster are looking to win three opening day fixtures in succession for the first time since 1995 in the EFL.

Another treat for us. This will be the first ever competitive meeting between Barnsley and Bromley.

The League Two title winners have previously spent 132 of their 134-year existence in non-league football while Barnsley have been in the EFL every season since 1898, made the Premier League in the '90s and were in the Championship as recently as 2022.

The Ravens have a proud record against Yorkshire sides in their two seasons in League Two.

They have taken 16 points from eight games against White Rose clubs and kept six clean sheets.

The Tykes kept just four across their 46 matches last season, four fewer than any other side, and only relegated Northampton conceded more goals than their 73 (74).

A promotion six-pointer on the opening day of the season? Not going to argue...

After a positive end to last season under Tom Cleverly, some eye-catching summer signings and with a wealth of experience in the squad, Plymouth are tipped by many to compete for automatic promotion back to the Championship this season.

Stockport were in the hunt for automatic promotion for much of last season but ultimately fell short in the play-off final against Bolton to mark the end of the Dave Challinor era.

Jimmy McNulty is now in situ after guiding Rochdale into the EFL last May but faces a tough opening fixture at Home Park where County have taken just a point from their past four visits, losing 4-2 here last season.

Argyle looked impressive as they saw-off Devon rivals Exeter in the first round of the EFL Cup on Monday night while the Hatters lost on penalties after drawing with Doncaster two days earlier.

• Barnsley v Bromley
• Blackpool v Wycombe
• Bradford v Peterborough
• Burton v Stevenage
• Cambridge United v Wigan
• Huddersfield v AFC Wimbledon
• Leyton Orient v Sheff Wed
• Mansfield v Doncaster
• Plymouth v Stockport

What a start to the new season!

After the excitement of the early games, we still have 19 games to come!

With kick-off about 20 minutes away, let's see what's in store.

Mark Stallard
Ex-Notts County striker on BBC Radio Nottingham

A point is no less than what Notts deserved. Leicester did have chances to win it as well but it was a great showing from the home side. They have very much matched a good Leicester side.

This result is a stepping stone and something to build on.