Football in England is a relentless slog, with little time to catch your breath.
Ten months after the season kicked-off, Aston Villa and Fulham will meet at Wembley to contest the final place in the 2018/19 Premier League. Just 18 days later the Premier League fixtures for next season will be released.
Fans of EFL clubs will have to wait until 20 June – a week later – before their teams’ fixtures are released.
Traditionally, the draw for the first round of the League Cup was made a day earlier, but last year it was made five days prior to the EFL fixtures being released.
With Carabao again sponsoring the competition, the draw will probably be made on Friday 15 June. The first round is seeded and regionalised, so Charlton are likely to face one of these clubs in the opening round:
AFC Wimbledon
Cambridge
Cheltenham
Colchester
Crawley
Exeter
Forest Green Rovers
Gillingham
Luton
MK Dons
Newport
Northampton
Oxford
Stevenage
Swindon
Wycombe
Yeovil
The games will be played during week commencing 13 August.
The format for next season’s Checkatrade Trophy has yet to be decided, but the opening games will be played during week commencing 3 September.
The first round of the FA Cup will be played over the weekend of 10 November, and the last games in the regular league season will be played on Saturday 4 May.
There is of course the small matter of the World Cup in Russia to keep football fans entertained while their clubs take a break.
But summer seems to get shorter every year.
TAGS: Charlton Athletic