Barely an empty seat in the house at Molineux tonight.

"Out of darkness cometh light," read a banner held up by the Wolves fans in the home end before kick-off.

Can Blackburn dampen the enthusiastic mood tonight? That'll be their aim.

Away we go at a loud, packed Molineux and the 2026-27 Championship season has officially begun.

Wolves are in their orange-old gold commemorative 150th anniversary kit with the city of Wolverhampton’s coat of arms in place of their usual club crest.

Blackburn are donning their new white away strip with red and blue stripes down the middle.

BBC Local Radio

Broadcast rights mean we cannot bring you audio commentary of tonight's season opener between Wolves and Blackburn Rovers online.

But if you live in the areas covered by the stations, you can access BBC Radio WM and BBC Radio Lancashire commentary via the normal means.

We will also bring you a flavour of the radio analysis to go alongside our live text coverage here, so you won't miss out.

Blackburn Rovers

Image source, Shutterstock

Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray says he is "really excited" for this Championship season back at the club he managed for five years between 2017 and 2022.

But the 62-year-old, who overcame bowel cancer after being diagnosed in February 2024, is fully aware of the size of task at hand at Ewood Park.

"It is a big job," Mowbray told BBC Sport. "We have lost some players from last season, and the team is not as strong in numbers.

"The team needs more goals, a bit more magic – players that can get behind the opposition and score.

"It's about improving the individual and collectively making the group tighter and turning the small margins your way.

"Blackburn had a lot of draws, so we have to turn them into victories. I genuinely feel I can instil confidence into footballers."

Wolves

Wolves head coach Cesar Peixoto says his side will "embrace" the pressure of being among the favourites for automatic promotion - and is looking forward to "showing the world" how his teams can play in his first job in English football.

"It's normal. You have to embrace it. It's a positive pressure for me," he told BBC Radio WM.

"It's important we know the club, our team, our players, our big goal and we have to work hard to be ready to fight for three points in all of these games.

"When we don't win - stay organised, have a clear idea of the game, stay humble.

"To stay in first to get promoted - it's our big goal."

Image source, Shutterstock

With a new season comes fresh hope - or perhaps dread?

Either way, we want to hear from you and what you think will happen tonight and over the course of the next nine months.

Wolves fans, do you think you're well set to bounce straight back up?

Blackburn supporters, do you think you can push for a play-off spot or is it about survival?

And the rest of you, please feel free to share your thoughts on the Championship campaign that lies ahead.

To do so, simply tap the yellow Get Involved button on the left of this page if you are on desktop or tablet - or at the top if you are on a mobile device.

Blackburn Rovers

Image source, Shutterstock

Blackburn endured a disappointing 2025-26, finishing 20th in the Championship, just five points clear of danger under the guidance of Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill after Valerien Ismael had been sacked in February with the club in the drop zone.

It continued a pattern of good season, bad season for Rovers who have finished 7th, 19th, 7th and 20th in the past four campaigns.

Returning boss Tony Mowbray will hope that theme continues this time around with two extra play-off spots available, but there is a lot of competition for league places in the Championship.

Blackburn started their competitive season with a 2-1 win at League One Burton Albion in the EFL Cup but needed late goals from substitutes Andri Gudjohnsen and Jayden Fevrier to come from behind and avoid an upset.

Rovers dominated possession and registered 27 shots in that match but struggled to find a clinical edge - something they need to address to ensure this season is one of relative success.

They may face fewer tougher tests than tonight's opener.

Wolves

Image source, Getty Images

Wolves fans will, in many ways, be pleased to see the back of what was a miserable 2025-26 campaign in the Premier League.

It was a season in which they failed to win a game until January, tasted victory only three times and finished bottom of the pile, 21 points from safety with just 20 points - the worst ever tally in the club's history.

While relegation was clearly a major disappointment, it does at least bring about a fresh start under new head coach Cesar Peixoto after Rob Edwards was sacked in June and, in theory, Wolves will be expecting to win a lot of football matches and challenge at the top of the division this season.

The last time Wolves were relegated from the top flight before last season was in 2011-12.

It then took the club six years and a journey down to League One and back before they returned to the Premier League again.

They will certainly want to avoid a repeat of that and can set the right tone by starting with a victory tonight to follow on from their comfortable 3-0 win over Port Vale in the EFL Cup first round.

Image source, Opta

Wolves boss Cesar Peixoto makes just one change from his first competitive game in charge last Friday - a 3-0 victory over Port Vale in the EFL Cup.

David Moller Wolfe is in at left-back in place of Hugo Bueno, who misses out with a minor groin issue.

Kieran Trippier starts his first league game for the club, while returning striker Raul Jimenez is among the subs.

Fellow new signing Rafiki Said, who joined from Belgian club Standard Liege this summer, remains out with a knee injury sustained in pre-season.

Image source, Opta

Blackburn Rovers make two alterations from their 2-1 win at Burton Albion.

Kristi Montgomery and Andri Gudjohnsen are in from the start in place of Jake Garrett and Yuki Ohashi, who both drop to the bench.

Ex-Ipswich captain Sam Morsy, who signed as a free agent just four days ago, is on the bench along with Saturday's match-winner Jayden Fevrier.

Time for that all-important team news for the first game of the league season? Let's take a look...

Image source, Getty Images

These two sides did actually meet 18 months ago in an FA Cup fourth-round tie at Ewood Park, with Wolves running out 2-0 winners thanks to goals from Joao Gomes and Matheus Cunha.

Quite a lot has changed in a relatively short space of time, with Blackburn on their third permanent manager since then and Wolves their second.

And both start the new season with a fresh face in the dugout - albeit a familiar one for Blackburn with the return of Tony Mowbray.

The last time they faced each other in a league encounter was a goalless draw at Molineux back in April 2017, while it ended 1-1 in the reverse fixture that season.

As for recent history, Wolves have lost their past five opening day league games, though they are unbeaten in their previous four openers in the Championship (W3 D1).

Blackburn had won four in a row on opening day until a 1-0 defeat to West Bromwich Albion to start last season.

Glenn Speller
BBC Sport EFL journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Blackburn Rovers, Derby County, Middlesbrough and Millwall (twice) all have something in common which could be worth in the region of £150m this season.

Across the past five seasons, those teams finished eighth in the Championship table - a decent year but with no reward at the end of it.

All that has changed for the 2026-27 campaign with seventh and eighth being enough to get you into the play-offs for a shot at reaching the Premier League.

May 2027 might seem like a long way off, but the time to start getting points on the board is right now.

And those six play-off places up for grabs, instead of the usual four, might provide quite the dangling carrot for clubs like Blackburn.

Read all about the new play-off format here.

Kate Holloway
BBC Sport EFL journalist

Image source, Getty Images

After relegation from the Premier League, Wolves will be hoping lightning strikes twice and that, as with their memorable 2017-18 title-winning season, a mysterious, untested Portuguese manager will lead them to glory.

He may have a lack of experience in English football but there is plenty of it in the dressing room thanks to new arrivals - including full-back Kieran Tripper and the return of popular striker Raul Jimenez - and Cesar Peixoto's attacking football could inject a little life into a disillusioned Molineux.

The relationship between the fans and owners Fosun remains frosty though and you have to feel only a strong season will help to repair the damage done over several years of disappointing transfer windows.

Read more about how Wolves and the other two relegated Premier League sides, West Ham and Burnley, might fare this season here.

Alex Hoad
BBC Sport EFL journalist

Image source, BBC Sport/Getty Images

Here we go again then... you can leave the Viking Row, Wonderwall, Mexican ducks and (most) hydration breaks in the summer of '26 - proper football is back.

The open road of the Championship season stretches nine months before us, punctuated by 46 twists and turns along the way.

Whisper it, but it looks like being one of the most open and competitive seasons ever in a division which is already known around the world for being ridiculously unpredictable.

If you want to take a look at where your club is predicted to finish this season or have a nose at what to expect from the other teams in the division, we've got you covered.

Read our full 2026-27 club-by-club guide here, complete with input from BBC correspondents across England and Wales who know their teams inside out.

Image source, Getty Images

Good evening, one and all.

What a time to be alive... the first game of the Championship season is upon us!

Excitement, nerves and every emotion in between will be felt over the next nine months of unpredictable chaos.

Wolves have the honour of hosting the 2026-27 curtain-raiser at Molineux in their first season outside the top flight for eight years following relegation from the Premier League.

They welcome hardened EFL regulars Blackburn Rovers, who have spent 14 of the past 15 seasons in the second tier, barring one year in League One.

We're delighted to have you along with us so let's get the ball rolling for the new campaign...