Luton Town will host AFC Wimbledon at Kenilworth Road in the first game of the EFL 2025/26 season.

The League One match-up between a side relegated from last season’s Championship and a side promoted from last year’s League Two will see them play each other at Kenilworth Road on Friday August 1st.

The match will be the first encounter of any EFL league next season, with the game being an 8pm kick-off and broadcast live by Sky Sports.

The encounter will be Luton’s first meeting with AFC Wimbledon and first game in League One since the 2018/19 season.

After that match, Luton’s first away match of the new season will see them visit Peterborough United on August 9th.

The opening month of the campaign will then see the Hatters play another away game at Bradford City the week after, before home games against Wigan and Cardiff, with August then ending with a trip to Burton Albion.

Boxing Day will see Luton host Wycombe Wanderers, in an encounter against manager Matt Bloomfield’s former club. The return fixture in Buckinghamshire will be in mid-March.

Luton’s last away game before Christmas is against Reading, while after the Wycombe clash, they finish their 2025 programme with a match on December 29th at home to Leyton Orient.

The Hatters then begin 2026 on New Year’s Day with an away match against Exeter City in Devon.

Over Easter, Luton’s two matches see them play the reverse of their opening two games. They welcome Peterborough to Kenilworth Road on Good Friday (03/04) before travelling to AFC Wimbledon on Easter Monday (06/04).

The final game of Luton’s season will see the Hatters travel to play Bolton Wanderers on Saturday May 2nd, with their last assignment at Kenilworth Road of the 2025/26 season seeing them host Barnsley the week before.

Northampton Town have announced their latest signing after the arrival of midfielder Tyrese Fornah, who has signed on a free from Derby County.

Fornah has signed a three year deal at Sixfields, with the 25-year-old becoming Northampton’s 9th summer signing in a busy transfer window for the League One side.

The London-born midfielder had broken through at Nottingham Forest, making a first team debut in an FA Cup tie in 2020 for the East Midlands club. He spent time out on loan with Portuguese side Casa Pia, followed by further spells on loan at Plymouth, Shrewsbury and Reading.

In the summer of 2023, Fornah signed for Forest’s East Midlands rivals Derby County. He made 24 appearances in all competitions for the Rams, while he spent the just-completed season on loan with League Two side Salford City. He made 43 appearances in all competitions for Salford.

Northampton manager Kevin Nolan told the club’s official website that he was looking forward to working with Fornah next season.

“Tyrese is a player we have monitored for a long time and we identified him early on as someone we would like to bring in.

“We have done a lot of homework on him and we feel he will link and balance with Dean Campbell, the two of them should work together well.

“He can play as a defensive midfielder but he can also play further up as well and help get us up the pitch and drive us forward.

“He travels well and carries the ball well and they are great attributes to have.

“We spoke to him, as we do all potential signings, about where we feel we can help develop his game and that is his work in the final third and adding goals and he was very receptive to that.

“We are really pleased with this signing. Tyrese is a good age with an excellent pedigree, and he is the sort of player I am sure all supporters will enjoy watching in a Northampton Town shirt.”

MK Dons will play Bristol City in the Carabao Cup while they face EFL Trophy matches against Reading, Swindon Town and the West Ham U21s.

A busy day of fixture announcements saw the 2025/26’s league game sequence revealed, which will see the Dons begin their campaign at home to Oldham on August 2nd.

The draw of the Carabao Cup was the last major announcement of the day and drew the Dons to play Championship side Bristol City at Ashton Gate.

The match will take MK Dons to Bristol in the week beginning Monday August 11th, with a specific date, time and TV coverage to be confirmed in due course.

MK Dons are due to play the Bristolians in pre-season, with Bristol City coming to Stadium MK in late July for their sole pre-season friendly at home. The Carabao Cup tie will be the Dons’ first competitive meeting with the Robins since the 2015/16 season.

Bristol City finished 6th under the charge of former MK Dons boss Liam Manning, qualifying for the play-offs only to lose to Sheffield United.

The Robins recently confirmed former Barnsley, New York Red Bulls, Red Bull Salzburg and FC Koln boss Gerhard Struber as a replacement for Manning, who left Bristol City to take the Norwich job earlier this month.

Meanwhile, the Dons’ matches in the EFL Vertu Trophy will see them face League One side Reading, fellow League Two outfit Swindon Town and the academy side of Premier League West Ham United.

A pre-draw held yesterday (25/06) paired the Dons with their two EFL opponents in the two sides on the M4 corridor.

West Ham’s U21 team were added in a draw to allocate the academy teams earlier today (26/06), completing the formation of Group D in the Southern portion of the contest.

Specific fixture dates for the three games will be confirmed in due course.

Rob Edwards has returned to management in his first job since leaving Luton Town after becoming Middlesbrough’s Head Coach.

Edwards has replaced Michael Carrick, who was dismissed by the North East club earlier this month after two and a half years in charge. Boro finished Carrick’s last campaign in 10th position.

The move has seen Edwards sign a three year contract at the Riverside Stadium, with Adi Viveash and Harry Watling joining as part of Edwards’ coaching staff.

Edwards previously won promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs as Luton boss in the 2022/23 season, with the former Welsh international joining Luton during the 2022 World Cup hiatus after previous boss Nathan Jones had left to join Southampton.

Following the promotion, Edwards lead the club in their first season in English football’s top flight in over 30 years. But a difficult 2024/25 season saw him leave Luton in January after a run of four straight losses.

In an arrival interview with the official Middlesbrough website, Edwards said he was excited to get going at the club from Teesside.

He said, “It’s a real privilege to be given the opportunity to be head coach of this great football club. It’s something that’s not lost on me, how big this is, how important this is, and what it means to people. There is an amazing fanbase.

“It felt instantly that this was right for me and it got me excited. If I was going to come back in, I wanted to come back in at a place where we had a chance, and we have a really good chance here.

“We have a brilliant owner who historically gives his coaches time, support, and the tools needed to try and be successful. I can’t wait to get started now.”